The battery dead, I'm slow!

When your implant battery dead, don't you feel so slow untill you have put a new one in?

Since i've had the cochlear implant and hearing thousands of things, I've been soo lively and that I am like a big kid that never want to grow up. (these pictures shows you that I don't want to grow up). I'm always out and about and having fun.

When the battery dead. I feel so slow that I am a robot that won't walk or go out unless it has a new battery!

Don't any of you feel the same when the battery dead?

This time last year!

Do not look and read this post if your squeamish : some pictures might put you off. close your eyes and scroll down the page to see the pumpkins :-P


This time last year, has been one of thoses days I shall not forget it been one of the most painful experince I have ever been through. The reason for that. I was actually in hospital with a serious ankle injury after playing football and a nasty tackle by another player has caused 3 ligaments in my ankle to snap.

After being taken to hospital I had no choice but to have an operation to fixed the ligaments. That time the surgeon said that I may not get the full movement back in the ankle again which I was pretty upset that it might affect my football cerear. After 5 and half hour surgery to fix the ligaments. I had to be put in a cast for 9 weeks to heal and to hop around with crutches for 12 weeks

9 weeks was along time for me, it really did annoy you when you needed a scratch but couldn't and we wasn't allowed to put anything down there to scratch it. Also the crutches really did get on my nerves because I needed to use my hands to communicate as I refused to use my voice at the time and every time I wanted to say something I hand to stop and get my hands out to sign what I want to say.

Every 3 weeks, my cast was removed and then replaces with a new cast because it was getting lose and was able to move my foot around a bit in it. So, while they changed the cast I was allowed to pick a colour, so first 3 weeks I had blue, the 2nd 3 weeks I had bright green and the last 3 weeks I had purple. That was the only thing I liked about the cast because the colours.

After 9 weeks being in a cast it was finally removed and my scar is neat (you can see in the picture) and the MRI pictures shows that my ligaments was all fixand the cast was ready to be taken off. I coundn't remove my foot at all when they remove it. It was sooooo stiff that I had to have alot of rehabiliation at the physio. I was at physio almost every day for 2 hours for a good 3 months. It was hard going to physio and going to college to catch up the works I missed. The first 3 weeks of physio I was learning to put weight on my foot again and eventually I was able to walk without crutches, I was pleased about that as I did hate them.

We did lots of foot work exercise and I also had lots of massage from the physio to help it relax and get it to move. Physio can be very painful but at some point I enjoyed physio because the last half an hour we got to play badminton or volley ball on our bums. It was fun and it helps me to stay motivated and work hard with my foot movement. After 3 months of rehab my foot finally had some movements and I was able to walk, jog, jump and run. The only thing I couldn't do is turn my foot inwards fully, which that is the only movement I won't be able to do and still can't do it.

I got back into football after being out for almost 7 months. There were lots of fitness training to catch up on but the only problem I had was I wasn't able to dribble quicker with my left foot like I used to. So, I learnt to use my right foot and became better at it. So, bacially I just use my right foot to either shoot or cross the ball and my right foot to dribble to different spaces, before I just used my left foot all the time.

It shows that I worked soo hard and that I didn't give up. Now after a year of hard work I have manage to make 2 caps for england and I am looking forward to make more international caps :-D

Pumpkin with a C.I

This evening me and Richard decided to have fun and make a Pumpkin, not only it had a evil face, we tried to make it have a Cochlear implant. It was tricky, but wedid it :-D

so, here's us making them!

Me with my plain Pumpkin!
Richard with his pumpkinYuk, how horrible is this!

Woohoo, he's made his hole!
and I've have done mine too ;-DWoop, i've finally finished the face! ;-)Richard has too!

It took us a while to cut out the faces! Now it was time to do the cochlear implant. And check this out!

Here's mine with an Advanced Bionic Cochlear implant with a t-mic just like mine :-DHere's Richard's pumpkin with a Cochlear 3G
All finished and this is the results in the dark. Mines on the left and richards on the right. Phew, that was hard work but it was great fun!

New Blog photo (Halloween)

Check out the new blog photo that I have created for this weeks Halloween! I'm so looking forward to the halloween party. This year I am attending two halloween party, woohoo!

What do ya think to the pictures? - let me know!

Even my dogs Oscar (vampire) and Lady (devil) loves there out fit that they will be wearing at the party too. and You could see Lady above tried to put a evil face on. lol

Anyway, I better set off now, I have got some pumpkins to make! I'm gonna see if I can make one with a cochlear implant. It's tricky but it'll be fun :-P

It's been a while!

Hey, I'm back.

Well, I didn't go anywhere, apart from being soooo busy with the univeristy life. I mean, the amount of assignments we get, it seems like i'm gonna get grey hairs in my 20's. lol.

anyway, how's the 'hearing' of mine. I must say, it's still improving and its still getting better. I begining to wonder if I could have a 2nd implant on my right ear. That way I could hear out of both ears. Well, doubt that will happen just yet with the NICE guildline etc. I suppose i'll have to wait so, that's what i'm hoping for at the moment. The hearing aid for the right ear is pointless. I never bothered wearing it.

My confidence is still growing and I've now notices that I don't rely on the interpreters as much now than I used to. I still have them at university, but I do like to listen to the lectures myself and if I didn't quite understood what's being said, I look at the interpreters.

I also like to use my voice alot more now. At uni, I'm always chatting away with my mates and I do like to answer any question that the lectures ask my self, poor interpreter that I have sits there and do nothing and only does some work when I ask them something. My English is also improving, it's getting better and hearing the language makes it easier. :-)

So, what have I heard over the past few weeks? I heard Voices on the tv that I am able to understand some words without subtitles. Last weekend I watched the X-factor.

X-factor is another talent show that I've started to watch. Last year, I never bothered with it. This year, I have been because I able to hear them sing. While I were watching it, they were at the stage where they had to vote someone off, because the subtitle delay while the programme is on 'LIVE' I got fed up waiting to see who were voted off, so, I tried to listen to the names they called out between the 2 people that won't be coming back the following week. So, when they shout out the name that is not coming back to next week live show, I was able to follow it. Wow, I was surprised that I heard the name right. woop!

anyway, over the next 2 weeks. I have alot of things coming up. I have a Halloween day at Alton towers with a few friends, I have still not yet decided on what to wear, though I better nip into town this week to get some halloween dress, maybe I should be a witch or a maybe grotbags. It be good to see what spooky noises I could hear while I'm at alton towers. Last year I went and I dressed up as a devil and while we were walking one of my hearing friends jumped out from behind theses trees and I were looking the other way and he shouted boo! Somehow, he forgot that I were deaf and I didn't respond to him or got scared by him when he tried to make me jump. This year, now I can hear, I better watch out!!!

Saturday next week, theres an Adults C.I users day going off at the Ear Founation, so, this should be a good day for me to attend and see what new to learn and of course meet some other C.I users. so, I'm looking forward to that ;-)

Also there bonfire night coming up. I'm dying to see some fireworks setting off, so, hopefully I will hear it. I haven't yet heard them so that's something I'm really looking foward to.

so, that's it for me now and Happy Halloween, ;-P Don't get too frighten and please be careful with the fireworks,make sure you stand somewhere that is safe to watch!


take care
k x

Meeting and Hearing My Idol!

Heard of Gareth Gates? Well, if you don't know him he was in the first series of pop Idol and came 2nd.

Pop Idol is a talent show which they have thousands of singers that want a record label. Since it first started I didn't really bothered with it and all my family watched it. Since Gareth entered that showed and when I first saw him. I start to enjoy watching him because he was handsome and of course he never let his stammer affect his singing. At first I thought there were something wrong with the subtitles as he was saying "G-G-G-Gareth" Which turn out to be that he has a severe stammer.

Since he never let his stammer get to him, I have enjoyed watching him even though I couldn't hear his voice weather it was good or not. Throughout the show I have supported him all the way and watch Pop Idol every week till the final. When I found out he didn't win the final and Will Young won it. I was pretty gutted though he did work so hard.

Since it finished and didn't win the record label. He got sign up by another record label and since then I have become a big fan of him and went to a few of his tours and met him at some of his signing Cd session. I have all his Cd, I have my bedroom covered in Gareth Gates poster but ever Since I have liked him I never heard his songs even though I have read his lyric.

Since I have now got the implant and I am able to hear. I've been listening to his music on my ipod all the time. Even though he hasn't stop singing. He has gone to try something different and has lot's of exciting things coming up this year.

This december he's in a panto which I am going to london of the 15th of Dec with my mum to watch him perform Cinderalla. He's going to be the handsome prince. I am so excited to see Gareth at the panto, it will be the first time I am able to hear his voice as in person because last time I met him I couldn't hear him and had to lipread him in silent to understand him

So, bring on December. I can't wait to meet my idol again!

6 month!

wooohoo, I finally get to celebrate my '6 months journey' well, on the appointment letter it say 3 months and guess what I'm certainly going up hill and getting better.

Last thursday, I went for my 6 months reveiw. Just like the other mapping I got connected up and going though some bleeping test to tune up my implant After I was set at a right level, Carina switched me back on again :-D. When I were switched on the volume sounded a little different but the speech were much more clearer and it sounded better.

So, after all the tuning we did a hearing test to see how much I am hearing. I'm starting to hear more quiet sounds which is great. After that we did those BKS test and CUNY test (the boring old man)

Wooohooo, done them and guess what the results are...

BKS - tested at 60db - 50%
Cuny - tested at 60db - 85%

When we did the test, Carina and I couldn't belive the results and it showed that I have worked so hard and that's how I would learn quick!

Anyway, on that day I went for my speech therapy, like every week, we worked on the volume of my voice and thoses 'S' and last week it was my last lesson with Dyan and the hard work with Dyan has improved too.

I'm starting to get better with my 'S' which I have practise alot by reading books with dyan and making sure I say the 's' without missing it out and I only tend to miss the 'S' out a bit and I can do them if I remenber them. So, no more speech therapy lesson for now. I will be back sometimes with her next year on one of my implant review.

so, that's it for me now. I better start making tracks to uni now. anyway look out for the 6 month video that we've been editing which I will be posting up sometimes this month once we've finished it (that's a promise)

take care for now!

k x