Hear This

This evening I was sitting in a tree with my friend Nutmeg. I know. I don't really enjoy sitting in trees either--all that rough bark and no way to find a really comfortable seat. Nutmeg likes it though so I climbed on up. Never let it be said that foxes aren't willing to branch out. Or that squirrels don't drive you up a tree. Ha! I crack myself up.

Anyway, I asked her to tell me about her cochlear implant. I thought you might like to learn what she told me.

She says that a cochlear implant is a device that helps her hear. She wears a processor on her ear. It collects sound from a microphone. It converts the sound to an electronic impulse that travels through a coil to a receiver that was implanted under her skin. The receiver sends the electronic impulses to a series of electrodes which in turn directly stimulate her auditory nerve.

She told me that it doesn't restore her hearing or give her super-sonic hearing. She can't overhear whispered conversations at the coffee shop 16 blocks away. But she can hear the wind blow, the leaves rustle and the nuts fall. She says it is a lot of hard work to learn what the different sounds mean. Once, she answered her telephone when her alarm clock went off. And she doesn't always understand what people are saying to her. But she thinks being able to hear is really cool! And I think she's really cool for trying to learn!

Sincerely,
Creme Brule