Visit with Rheumatologist  was a waste of time..took an hour to see him and the visit lasted less than 5 minutes..no blood test to see if the pills are doing damage. Just a few questions and an appointment in 6 months. Sigh.. I am supposed to see my Audi soon but hesitate to make an appointment as I have been hearing about the N5 failing.. No news is good news, Right?
 There has been an increase in sounds that actually make me cringe/hurt and I am worried about this big time. I do not want to have to go through the surgery again, especially with the ossification problems I have had. I guess I am just going to have to bite the bullet and call.

I have my first appointment with my Rheumatologist since being put on my new meds on Thursday. I imagine they will draw blood to see if there has been any damage to the liver. Hopefully not. Switching from just eye drops to eye drops and pills is a gamble but my eye doctor and I felt there was no other choice. The pressure in my eyes just would not go down and he found vasculitis in both eyes. I know the course of treatment is working and my eyes are white and no longer water constantly.

I used to listen to music all the time. I loved it all, country, classical, rock and roll, r&b, didn't matter. It all sounded good. If I heard a voice that was awesome, I would even get goosebumps, or shed a tear. Then, it was all gone. Don't get me wrong, CI's are a medical miracle. They just can't make music sound like it once did. I can understand the lyrics, sing along (only when I am alone because I have no clue how I sound anymore), recognize the song after a few lines but I have no clue who the artist is (except for one song, at least that one time..I knew it was Elvis singing when I hear "In the Ghetto").
 Case in point: hubby took me out to eat dinner and they had music playing outside the restaurant. I knew the song.. "It's a wonderful world" but I had to ask the hubby who was singing it..was it Louis Armstrong? Was it Michael Buble? I had no idea.
So, why am I bringing this up? The answer is the show called The Voice. I don't know if you follow it or not, but I loved the concept of the judges picking singers by the sound of their voices alone. No first impressions other than the voice. I can't always appreciate the voice, but I still like the show and love the judges and their banter.
This past season was exceptional. Enter Chris Mann..a classically trained Opera singer. This guy was awesome!! While I didn't have the same response when he sang outside his comfort zone, I cried each time he sang opera. Still not 100% sure why, just happy that I could feel that gut reaction once again. I was able to close my eyes and "hear" the way I knew he sounded. That is my biggest CI moment to date..and I am grateful for it. Such a shame he came in 4th. I thought he should have won..but, go figure?