The Healing Power Of Speeder.
Life In a Cone of Silence I feel more wonky than last surgery.I have a slope and a swagger that gives me the illusion of still being under the anesthetists magic spell.Perhaps some residual goo still in my system, but I gotta figure that the invasiveness of the cochlear implant surgery is the cause of my malaise today.It was good to spend night one under the watchful eyes of a nurse. Every tw...
Fri, Jul 25 2008

Elevens Rock!
Life In a Cone of Silence The warming sensation of the morphine is welcomed by the body. The ache is somewhere in my head, but I can't quite define the area. The sensation is oddly familiar and I try to place it in my liminal state of consciousness.It was around 100 days ago that I went through this cochlear implant surgery on my left side.I am back here today, July 23rd, for the surgical im...
Thu, Jul 24 2008

Dave's Now Bi
Life In a Cone of Silence Just a quick post to let you know that Dave's surgery was completed today and he is resting at Sunnybrook Hospital overnight. I'll be picking him up first thing in the morning as he is in the post-op surgery area and they need the space for the morning incoming patients therefore they want him cleared out quickly. I left about 7:30pm after he enjoyed a bowl of soup...
Wed, Jul 23 2008

Can You Take Out A Song During Surgery?
Life In a Cone of Silence My mood about surgery in four days is much more pragmatic this go then my April 8th surgery.Emotionally I am probably more secure in the outcome as I have been through this. My surgery, on Wednesday, is my second cochlear implant.Still, anytime a high speed drill travels millimeters from my brain, sweat beads form on my brow, and my mind does a little scary wander.I ...
Sat, Jul 19 2008

Still Here. Still Deaf As A Stump
Life In a Cone of Silence Did ya miss me?No, tell me honestly.I have not gone far, just doing stuff. Nothing amazing, nothing worthy of a Pulitzer or a Nobel prize. Just stuff.Met with the incredible Dr. Ned, the surgeon with the magic hands who will skillfully put another on-board computer in my melon again.Right side this time as my left one is being stubborn for goodness sake.There is a si...
Tue, Jul 15 2008

Why Is Good News Always Tempered?
Life In a Cone of Silence I am amazed at how the curves at the speed of life can get tossed at one.Friday: Five of my 16 electrodes were not giving me sound. No explanation other than it happens.No worries, I have 12 left, I can live with eight as a bare minimum, I am told by other cochlear implant buddies.The kind souls that lend me advice with comfort are correct that having the brain ...
Thu, Jul 10 2008

Double Up!!!
Life In a Cone of Silence I'm going Bilateral baby!My wish and my dream of being a "double magnet head" is about to become reality.This morning my surgeon's office telephoned and left a message for us to call. Janet took the message off and telephoned Donna at Dr. Ned's office."Time is of the essence. Assessment next Monday then surgery July 23rd . Good with you and for David"?That's right,...
Wed, Jul 09 2008

Damn The Torpedoes
Life In a Cone of Silence I have just returned from a bit of a blogging sabbatical if you will. I needed to step back and see if I could cure a bit of my cynicism, deal with some cochlear implant problems, work on why my pain is increasing daily and not the opposite, find a reason why Janet's body is fighting her stem cell transplant and giving her unbelievable pain in the host rejecting the g...
Sun, Jul 06 2008

Balance
Life In a Cone of Silence "We have overstretched our personal boundaries and forgotten that true happiness comes from living an authentic life fueled with a sense of purpose and balance".Somewhere along our paths, we got confused. Lost.For some reason or another we thought that nice things, pretty things, make us happy. Not sure at what point in time that we decided that bigger and better equ...
Wed, Jul 02 2008

Return Of "Rin Tin Tinnitus" And "Audie Hallucination".
Life In a Cone of Silence At times it gets too loud to hear.As odd as that statement looks, especially coming from one who is profoundly deaf. And considering my struggle in comprehension as I tackle the nuances of hearing via a cochlear implant. My old nemesis "Tinnitus" is back with a vengeance.He, (Mr. Rin Tin Tin), pretty much went away after activation day (May 1st). But his other b...
Tue, Jul 01 2008

Boys And Music Of Summer
Life In a Cone of Silence My love of music was contagious enough to be caught by my Dan, my son, many years ago. The car was the classroom of musical history in the formative years, as we crossed roads and highways of musical eras and genre. Likes and dislikes were determined and discussed. Preferences of mine were offered up as choices to fit in Dan's newly explored world. I had and have a v...
Sat, Jun 28 2008

Crutches In Hearing.
Life In a Cone of Silence I seem to becoming more anti-social in my cochlear hearing world.The ever fluctuating comprehension levels that dog the sound that is fired at my cerebral areas has made me even more apprehensive about engaging in conversation with people.Janet voice is received at the highest level of comprehension. I suspect because I spend the most time listening to her. So my brai...
Thu, Jun 26 2008

A Comedy To Those Who Think.
Life In a Cone of Silence The new Get Smart Again movie hits theatres today.If my "rally cap" was to give me a touch more "hearing juice", I would make be my privilege and honour to make it the first movie of my comeback.Since I fell a few steps backwards in my comprehension level, I will wait until my mapping on Monday to see if I can make the giant leap into the world of moving pictures on ...
Fri, Jun 20 2008

I Need To Hear The Next President.
Life In a Cone of Silence I have never heard Barack Obama's voice.By the time he was a nightly fixture and feature of every news and current event show on earth, I had long lost any form of hearing.Now that I have a cochlear implant that gives me a semblance of sound, and allows me to hear one on one conversations, most days; I still have not heard a "voice" on television or radio.Yes I do he...
Thu, Jun 19 2008

Where Did My Digital Comprehension Go?
Life In a Cone of Silence I seem to be sliding backwards in the cochlear implant hearing department.My comprehension level is abysmal! It went out for a Fourbucks (may be more by now) Tall (still tiny) skim milk latte yesterday morning, and has yet to return.From a crude guess and unscientific model, I figure I am at 30% in sentence comprehension.So what happened?Where did you go my new dig...
Wed, Jun 18 2008

The Love You Get...Even If I'm Still Deaf!
Life In a Cone of Silence In the past 8 months I have pretty much earned a medical degree, I figure.I have spent more hours in hospitals and medical practitioners offices, than I have in the solace of my home.I have, and will, consider all types, theories, classes, and categories of treatment.It matters not country of origin, or age of theory. I am indeed open minded, ready, willing and abl...
Sun, Jun 15 2008

Reminded Of My Status
Life In a Cone of Silence Cyborg: a person whose physiological functioning is aided by or dependent upon a mechanical or electronic device.At times I forget that I am a Cyborg. An organism that has both artificial and natural systems. Hearing with only the aid of a surgically implanted cochlear device. A manufactured device that only functions as a hearing replacement when the processor is ma...
Wed, Jun 11 2008

Please Sir, I Want To Be A Double Magnet Head
Life In a Cone of Silence Today my audiologist tweaked my current "personal" program, and gave me a new one for crowded areas. Problem is, the "tweaking" knocked me down a notch in comprehension.It was all kosher and dandy in the cozy acoustically perfect confines of her office, but as soon as I left and got in the car, the road noise was drastic enough to make me throw switch to "noise" progr...
Wed, Jun 11 2008