"Will you still need Cherelle?"

Tomorrow by this time I will be undergoing cochlear implant (CI) surgery. For information about CI go to

http://s3.medel.com/mediaGallery/videos/23602_HTMSW_RONDO_INT_r1.0_ipod.m4v

I have jokingly been referring to the procedure as getting a bionic ear. When I talk about the implant one of the first questions that frequently pop out of people's mouths is "Will you still need Cherelle to be a hearing dog?"  Well yes and sometimes no. "Huh?" The person will say as their brow wrinkles in puzzlement.  Understandable because the general myth about a cochlear implant is that it gives the recipient "normal" hearing. Alas, it does not. Make no mistake I will be able to hear sounds in my left ear that I have not heard in almost 30 years. And every CI wearer that I have personally spoken with has said their ability to understand speech increased tremendously after the implant. This speech understanding has usually come about after a multitude of hours doing what I refer to as "listening rehabilitation". Some of that rehabilitation is done with an audiologist and some will be at home on the person's own time and initiative. Oh goodie homework. It's been awhile since I've had to do any of that. The sounds heard via the circuitry of a CI are different than what is heard through hearing aids and there is learning curve. 100 percent hearing? Nope. Noisy listening environments? Still a challenge but hopefully less so.

But here's the deal. Without the technology; hearing aids and cochlear implants. I am and still will be partially deaf, partially hearing. Except after the CI I will be more on the deaf spectrum. The procedure that will allow me to hear much better on my left side will destroy the little hearing that I do have remaining in that ear. It means that every night as I prepare for bed, (or when taking a shower) whenever I remove the external processor that communicates with the implant from the left side of my head and take out my hearing aid from my right ear, I will be deaf. Still unable to hear the smoke and Co2 alarms. Still unable to have an alarm clock wake me up. Clueless if someone should try to rouse me by pounding on the front door or ringing the door bell. Continued total dependence on my husband for a sense of safety. Heaven forbids if he needs or wants to go out of town! And how could he reach me in an emergency?  So yes, I still feel I need Cherelle to alert me to all those sounds.

And yet no. The sounds that she works for me, that I cannot hear now while wearing hearing aids, I will be able to hear once I put on the external part of my CI. Will I know from where the sound is originating? Only time will tell but I will hear those sounds and so will have less need for Hearing Dog Extraordinaire,Cherelle. As long as I am "plugged in" and the batteries working. Yep more batteries! 

My plan is to still let her "work the sounds"; Cher hears kitchen alarm, she taps me with her nose, heads towards kitchen with me in pursuit, she gets praise and yummy treat.  However at almost nine years old she is beginning to slow down. Lately I have noticed that she is slow to respond if she has been sleeping and there has been a time or two where she has missed an alert.  Her eyes are beginning to cloud and a full day out in public takes its toll. I have begun the process of preparing her for retirement. Although not my main rational for having the surgery, a cochlear implant will allow me to handle her retirement better. As to the time when Cher is no longer with me, hopefully a few more years off, will I get another hearing dog? I'll have to wait and just play it by ear (pun intended). In the meantime she and I will continue traveling through our lives as a hearing dog team.

Warmest Regards from me.

Tail wags from Cherelle aka Cher

http://www.motorhome.com/motorhome-travel/a-new-leash-on-life/

My new friend, writer Chris Goodier, did this article about Hearing Dog Cherelle and me and our RV travels for MotorHome Magazine.  Please check it out. Cher sends tail wags out go everyone.



http://www.motorhome.com/motorhome-travel/a-new-leash-on-life/

Journey of different kind

Here I sit with my hubby and hearing dog Cherelle waiting for an extremely important appointment with the surgeon who will be putting in my cochlear implant (CI) at some point in the near future.

I am at Oregon Health Science University also known as OHSU after having just completed a MRI on my head. 

Next will come the serious talk about what will be in store for me when I have the surgery on my left ear. Just to be clear. What will not be happening is "normal hearing". I will not be free from needing to wear an external device using batteries and without the device activated I will be as deaf as before. Technically more deaf because what little hearing I have left in my left ear will be destroyed from the surgery. What I hope to gain is more hearing with the CI than what I currently have with my hearing aid. And with speech therapy and hard work the odds are good that I will have improved abilities to understand speech better in that ear. 

No guarantees but at least improved odds. Something I am willing to gamble on.

For more information about Cochlear Implants go to:  http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Cochlear-Implant/

Or: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/ent/services/hearing-cochlear/cochlear-implant-systems.cfm?WT_rank=3

Warmest Regards to all 

With tail wags from Cherelle AKA Cher

Stay tuned..........

Settling In?

Very soon, as of this Wednesday, Cher and I will be ensconced in our new home in Albany, Oregon. Well at least it is new to us if not exactly new to the neighborhood, since it was built in 1999. 

Ms. C, in her almost seven years with me has lived the life of a country pumpkin, then became a nomad when we sold the house for full time travel and living in the motor home. Now she will live the life of a city girl with neighbors all around and a fenced in yard to call her own. OK so Albany, Oregon may not be considered a "city" when compared to say Albany, NY. And those in LA, California (where we attended the Dogs for the Deaf "HollyWoof - 2" event a couple of weeks ago) may scoff at my use of the term, but by Oregon standards it is considered a city, granted a small one. 

Cher has already been working the sounds during our daily work visits to the house as my hubby and I prepare the insides with the requisite new coats of paint on the walls and the cleaning frenzy that overtakes those who have purchased a house that has had previous owners. Today new carpeting will be installed in some of the rooms, making that the final "to do" before we trundle our belongings through the door. 

Until Cher and I become known in the neighborhood I will be putting her hearing dog vest on her when we take our walks.  My neighbors will be learning about service dogs, in our case hearing dogs, and hearing loss and even Deafness, when they see fingers fly when my Deaf friend come visit. Well my friends' fingers fly, mine kind of jerk along. I know that there will be misunderstandings as my neighbors encounter what they may see as my over protectiveness of Cherelle. Why would anyone have so many rules about how to interact with a dog for heaven's sake? Why does that woman make such a pucker face whenever she sees an off-leash dog? Then of course there will be the inevitable mistaking my unresponsiveness as unfriendliness, not understanding that I simply did not hear a neighbor's greeting or spontaneous comment. And there will be the thoughts sometime expressed, sometimes not. "She can't be really partially deaf. Her speech is too good!"  Eventually, the people I call neighbors, will get it, at least as well as someone who is "hearing" can. I am hopeful that Cher and I will be accepted. We will then be what I consider "settled-in".

And before I forget, as promised. Below is the URL where you can see the "HollyWoof - 2" event photos from Dogs for the Deaf. Enjoy.

www.dogsforthedeaf.org/photo-albums/hollywoof-photos-2

Best Wishes from me and tail wags from Cherelle, aka Cher.

Making Miracles Happen

Wow what an experience! Lovely Hearing Dog Cherelle got to meet the very lovely and loving Betty White! Ms. White is a supporter of Dogs for the Deaf (DFD) the organization from which I received Cherelle almost seven years ago. She generously gave of her time by attending the DFD fundraiser "HollyWoof 2 - The Sequel" on October 27th. She also made a matching donation for money raised at the event. I feel very honored to have met Ms. White.  Her love for our furry canine friends is very evident. She is also a most gracious women and has the ability to put everyone at ease.

My hubby's cell phone pic is a bit blurry. I think he was as excited as I was and perhaps his hand not too steady!

We also had the privilege of meeting a number of cast members from the television show "Switched At Birth" who also generously gave of their time to support Dogs for the Deaf at the event. Thank you 

Ms. Marlee Matlin!

And Constance Marie, Ryan Lane, Lea Thompson and (not pictured), Stephanie Nogueras. Ms. Nogueras was kind enough to pose for a photograph but it was so fuzzy as to not do justice to the actress. 

I am very grateful to CEO Robin Dickson and General Manager Vaughn Maurice of Dogs for the Deaf for giving me the opportunity to speak at this event and to share what having Cherelle in my life has meant to me and to thank all of those present for their support in helping DFD to continue their work of rescuing dogs and helping people. Hearing Dogs do make miracles happen in the lives of those who receive them. 

When Dogs for the Deaf posts information and photos from the event I will add a link to this blog.

Until then.......Warm wishes to everyone from me and tail wags from Cherelle aka "Cher".

 

Going to HollyWoof!

Cherelle and I have been invited to be presenters at the upcoming Dogs for the Deaf fundraiser, "Hooray for HollyWoof....the Sequel".  We are doing the Snoopy happy dance! The guest host for this event is Betty White! I am such a huge fan. Another one of my idols, Marlee Matlin will also be in attendance! To get more details and to see who else in Hollywood will be at this fundraiser go to:

http://www.dogsforthedeaf.org/hooray-hollywoof-2-sequel

I suppose I should mention that my often overlooked husband, Larry has been invited too. It is not unusual for the spouse of the hearing dog team to find him or herself standing in the background. After all the person with the dog is the focal point. But make no mistake the spouse is an important part of the team. That person has "on call", backup dog duties whenever the hearing dog recipient is for whatever reason, either incapacitated or not with the hearing dog.  He or she also helps with the ongoing training that is involved with having a hearing dog. This can include the introduction of new sounds for the hearing dog to work.  So this is a chance to acknowledge the lesser known  "Star" in Cher and my lives, my husband Larry Holcomb. This will be his opportunity too.

We will be driving from Corvallis, Oregon to LA but this time not in the motorhome. Since we are in a long term rental spot here, it would have meant that while we were in the immediate LA area we would have been paying for our space in Corvallis, a space to park the RV just outside LA and then our hotel rooms for the day before and night of the event. Cher and I have some rehearsal time the day prior to the event which means we need to be close to the country club where it is to take place. Oh boy now that will be interesting. I haven't done a rehearsal since my high school theater days!  We decided it would be less hassle to hop in the car and take a leisurely two day drive to LA, and then two day drive back to Corvallis after the event. I will admit it will seem strange being on a road trip without the motorhome! 

I have more news to share but I will keep you in suspense a bit longer. Stay tuned............

Warm wishes from me, and tail wags from Cherelle (aka Cher).

Hunkering Down

Well the three of us are preparing to "hunker down" by becoming home owners once again. Larry and I have made an offer on a house in nearby Albany, Oregon. We are hoping that before the holidays arrive Cher will have her first fenced backyard to call her own, a new neighborhood for "walkies", new neighbors to get to know, both two legged and four legged. We have one more big adventure before year's end and that will be the topic for our next blog. A trip of Hollywood proportions. That was a clue that I tossed in there.

Before signing off I thought I would post a few more photos from our time on the road. Some favorite spots we visited.

Warm Wishes to Everyone from me and Tail Wags from Cherelle (aka Cher).

Cher with her human Dad at Grand Tetons National Park in Wyoming near Jackson Hole.

From our trip through South Dakota. Cher in front of the abandoned Frerichs Mine in Deadwood SD., located in Whistler Gulch. The former mine is now the home to a bat colony. The fence keeps people out but the slats are spaced to allow the bats to come and go.

In Butte Montana we spent some somber minutes at the Miners Memorial. Butte is a fascinating city, rich with history of mining in the U.S.  

 

Cherelle meets some members of the Rotary Club of Revelstoke in British Columbia. Larry and I attended a meeting as visiting Rotarians. Cher and I did a "meet and greet" after the meeting ended. As always she was very popular and a first class ambassador for Dogs for the Deaf.

Cher does her balance beam routine at the Benton County Fairgrounds. I gave her a "10". The Benton Oaks RV Park and Campgrounds (located in the fairgrounds in Corvallis, Oregon), is where we started and ended our four month experiment of living and traveling full time in our motorhome.