Video, and Updates!

First off... Here's my activation video!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nzFUutSMun0

Thanks to my friend for getting that recorded and edited and such. Sorry that took so long to get up, we're both very busy.

Sorry about no posts in months, I've been very busy. This semester seems much, much busier than last semester was. Today I've since decided to go back to my restaurant job and pick up shifts as needed. I think this time around will be much easier now that I've got my cochlear implant! I may ACTUALLY hear voices!

Getting the cochlear implant in January has been a complete life changer for me. I still get asked questions daily about how it is and what it is like after being activated. The best way I can describe it is like having a sense opened up to you in a completely amazing way. It's like you didn't have a sense that everybody had, and than with the flip of a switch all of the sudden you can hear the sounds of the world. It's completely awesome!

I still hear completely weird things that I never knew made a sound. I've begun relying on my deaf ear for little things. I'm starting to think my old reliable ear has started to die and I'm starting to rely on my right ear for day-to-day listening activities. The other day I heard chirping birds for the first time. That signaled to me that Spring was on it's way (or is it already here? You don't know with Oklahoma...). Hearing that sound was one of the coolest things that I had experienced since being activated.

Most people that read this blog have their hearing, and they never realize what they hear when they hear it. Think about it.... right now your probably hearing all kinds of different sounds while your reading this blog.

For instance, you may be listening to music, hearing the TV, hearing somebody making dinner, hearing the keys click as you are texting on a phone,  or hearing your computer's motor's fan, (or in my case I keep hearing my brother blowing on his trombone...). These are all sounds that somebody with hearing aids or a cochlear implant must learn and get used too, and sounds somebody with their hearing takes for granted (which they should, don't get me wrong!)

Getting the cochlear implant wasn't an easy decision for me, as many people around me know. There were endless debates and back and forth arguments about it. I changed my mind in my head a thousand times. I got worried, I got sick, I felt excited, I felt nervous, I felt alone a lot, I felt supported, anybody reading this may ask "why?".

Because your making a permanent life decision. It may not be as successful, and you cannot go back if you don't like it. Nobody close to me knew what to say, because they had never made that decision for themselves. I am very happy that I decided to get one now that it is all passed.

Something I had to come to realize for myself is that there will never be going back to the old ways of life when it came to my situation. I had to come to accept the fact that the past was the past and I had to accept that and move on. Once I did that, my decision to get the surgery and accept the fact that I was "deaf enough to get it" became much, much easier. I've used that philosophy for several decisions in my life, "the past is the past, it will never come back, but this is what I have now and I need to make the best of it for me and everybody around me".

I hope everybody is having a good semester! Check out my video if you haven't yet!

-Connor