Prior to my adjustment appointment, Envoy requested that I fill out a questionnaire addressing what sounds are comfortable for me as well as any situations that have been difficult for me to hear in over the last 2 months (since my activation). I have outlined the answers to this questionnaire below.
What profile/volume do you use most of the time?
I use C3 or C4 most of the time. If I am in a noisy environment, B3 is most comfortable.
How often do you change your settings?
I progressed through the settings fairly quickly. I increased the volume about every two days and was at comfortably at C3 (without having to go back to the B settings every once in a while) after about two weeks. Since then, I have been going up and down from C3 to C5 depending on how much head congestion I experienced on a particular day.
Which other settings have you used?
I have used them all at some point in the progress.
Are there environment(s) where you feel that you may have some issues with your hearing? What are the environment(s)? What were the issue(s)? What profile/volume did you try to use in that environments(s)? What profile/volume did you change while having the issue(s)? How did this impact your hearing? Did you ask a normal hearing companion if they had a similar experience to any degree in this environment?
Road and Car Noises While Driving. These noises sound loud, muffled, and interfere with my ability to understand what others in the car are saying. If I turn it down to the B settings this produces less interference. I asked my husband and he said that car noises are muffled, can be loud, and can sometimes interfere with his ability to hear. However, he is almost always able to carry on a conversation while driving with me or others.
Music from a speaker (e.g., my computer or on the radio) or with my ear phones (e.g., ipod). While live music sounds great, music from these venues do not sound natural to me. Parts of songs will sound okay, but then all of a sudden there will be a squeaky noise that is a bit distorted and feels uncomfortable to my ear. I have tried different volume combinations on my Esteem and the music source and cannot find a combination that feels comfortable for me. It is either too soft for me to really hear it but no squeaky distortion, OR it is loud enough for me to hear with the squeaky distortion. The setting that fits "best" is B3. I asked my husband to put the music at a volume that is comfortable to him and told him what I experienced and his reaction was not the same.
Large Group Meetings at Work. I have a difficult time hearing people at a distance from me and find myself pretty dependent on looking at people to understand what they are saying. Background noise, such as the heat blowing, interferes with my ability to hear and understand people. The volume I found to be best in these situations is C4 or C5. I did not ask others about this situations but everyone in the rooms seems to be able to follow.
Watching TV. I have a difficult time hearing my TV and am still pretty dependent on closed captioning for understanding. C4 or C5 is the setting that is the easiest for me. My husband says that 13 is a comfortable volume for him and I liked to have the volume at about 23 so that I can actually hear. Turning my device up helps a little, but not enough that I could hear comfortably at 13.
Group Settings/Noisy Places (e.g., restaurants). I have a difficult time filtering out background noise in these settings and find that people voices blend with the background noise. I still have to read lips in order to understand and follow along in conversation. I find that one-on-one interaction is easier than group settings. The A settings make everything too quiet and the C settings are too loud. I found the B programming to be best in this type of setting. When I have asked people about this, they do tell me that the place is just "really loud"; however, I feel like they are able to understand everyone and follow along in conversation pretty easily.
My Work Phone. I am able to hear pretty well on my cell phone but I have a VERY difficult time talking on my work phone. Voices are a bit distorted and crackly and I actually find my hearing aid to produce a clearer sound. I have tried a few volume combinations with my Esteem and the phone, and still find it difficult. I did not ask others about this but all employees use the same type of phone regularly without issues.
As you can imagine I am more than excited for my readjustment and hope that after some tweaking, I will be able to hear better in all (or at least most) of these situations.
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