Tests, tests and more tests. Day 1. Part 2.

That afternoon we went for my CT scan. It was over very quickly. Next I met a doctor who undertook a simple health check. Once that was over it was back to the audiologist.

I had to watch a video of a man saying several sentences. I had to do this with no sound. I only understood one which was “Clean your house before your guests arrive”. This caused a bit of hilarity as Housewife of the Year I most certainly am not!

I then had to repeat this exercise with sound but no video. I could not understand anything. I did better with both lip-reading and hearing aids but not brilliantly.

Lastly I was to listen to a variety of sounds including SH, TH, CH etc and select which sound I thought I was hearing. I got most wrong. These tests were to show how much benefit I received from lip-reading and hearing aids. The video test was a real eye opener for me. It showed me just how deaf I was.

I had to complete a computer questionnaire where I had to rank where I thought my hearing would be after my implant on a scale of 1-10. This was to check my expectations were realistic.

Finally I was able to view the different types of Cochlear Implant. My centre offers three brands – Cochlear, Advanced Bionics and Med El. I felt that Cochlear had a better success rate. I opted for black to blend in with my hair.

It was a very long and exhausting day. I had another assessment day the following week which I will blog about soon.