Now that's why I love you guys.  I know I should skip the MTX I was going to
take tonight.  So I can have a nice relaxing glass of wine.  Better wait
till the house painter finishes and leaves for the day before I head for a
warm bath though.

Jo

Hmm.  I used to joke that God took my hearing to keep my grandkids from
driving me nuts.  Of course I no longer have to drive them around while they
try to kill each other in the back seat.

It will be a tense month till they turn it on.  And I learn what I can and
cannot hear.

Jo

Well said and the way it is.
Harv

Well I'll know in more detail after its done, but what I've got so far.
They drill a hole behind my right ear.  I'm profoundly deaf in that one so
if it doesn't work no real loss.  They thread a "wire" into the cochlea that
is designed to curl into the natural curl of the cochlea.  This in attached
to a processor that is embedded under the scalp behind the ear.  And they
send me home for a month.  In a month after it heals they use a remote to
turn it on and an outside processor is stuck to the scalp over the internal
one.  And they use the remote to program sound levels, etc.  There is a
period of training or retraining as a lot of these go into kids who have
never heard.  I haven't heard anything in this ear for about four or five
years.

10% of the time it doesn't work.  They do not know why and cannot predict
who it will or won't work for or how well it will work.

I keep reminding myself the procedure is done on babies all the time.  Its
safe.  Etc, etc, etc.  And I am more anxious about how it will work than I
am about the procedure itself.  But they are gonna drill a hole in my head
so I reserve the right to be a little freaked out.

Yesterday when I got the news about the close date I really did just freeze.
And when I read Duckie's post I decided a little deep breathing couldn't
hurt.  I looked at my nails and they were even turning blue.  And realized I
had tensed up to where I really was taking very tiny shallow breaths.  So it
did do the deep breathing off and on and it helped.  Must remember to
continue that.

The painter worked till dark.  The weather for him is wonderful.  Clear,
cool, and a light breeze.  Beats our 100 degree summer days.  My house is
going to look wonderful.  Maybe we can get him back to paint inside this
summer.  We have to replace all the flooring first.  And maybe the kitchen
cabinets.

Then the grands didn't go home till after nine.  But I finally got my hot
bath and a whole sleeping pill so I'm doing much better.

Never got my glass of wine, but I'm sure I will really enjoy one at some
point before Tuesday.

Now.  Two more tax returns.  My daughters and mine.

Jo

Also get a couple of  relaxing CDs and listen to the music.

Laughing at that one.  God that is something I miss.  I don't know if I'll
get music back or not.  It was the first thing I lost so I don't know.
First everything started to sound flat.  Now everything has lost all
variation in pitch.  Sounds like all voices are monotone etc.

But listen to a good CD for me OK?  And send along the good vibes.  And I'll
meditate and remember some of my favorite music.  Music memory is very
clear, kind of like scent memory.

Jo