Christmas!

I've been very busy with college work as the deadlines are coming closer and I've got lots to do! Although, I did manage to complete one project in Photography so I can get on with the second project and finish off my art project as well. It's crazy at the moment!

I've been having problems with my old cochlear implant as the processor was failing over the last two weeks, so I was suffering then! In the first week, my Freedom processor kept blanking out at random times, even though the screen is still on but frozen as I was unable to use any buttons. So I had to disconnect the parts and give it time before I connect altogether and turn it on again! But it got worse over time as it increasingly blanking out and eventually, it blanked out 10 seconds after I turned it on! I was so frustrated that I decided to make an emergency appointment because I needed my processor for college and driving lessons. So I went on last Friday, and finally sorted it out. My audiology wasn't sure why it was blanking out as she's done different ways, but she assumed it was either that the power of transferring between the internal implant and the external implant (the magnet and the processor) was weakened, or it was down to a faulty part of the processor. At the end, she gave me a stronger magnet... In a mis-matched colour! I have a silver coil, and she gave me a beige magnet because she didn't have any silvers in stock. But I was really happy at the end after not hearing for a whole week! It was a nightmare!

My new implant is still managing okay, nothing's changed much. So you can really see how long a bilateral implant really takes.

Also, I've finally booked my driving practical test! It will be on 20th of January, and I'm really excited and quite nervous! I can't wait to get the lessons out of the way so I could focus on my college work properly, and hopefully steal the family car to college, ahaha!

So December has struck... Are you looking forward to Christmas? I am! I need that long rest!

Merry Christmas :)

First Half Term's Gone!

Greetings, everybody!

I finished my first half term last week and am I so not happy about that! I was enjoying my relaxation from the college work that I had been working so hard for.

I stayed in Nottingham over the week, visited my sister in university and I needed someone to model for my photography work so my sister stepped in.
Even though I did some photographic work, everyone in my class haven't reached the point where I am yet! My tutor said that we would have to hand in our coursework around February and I'm almost finished! So, here's what I'll do... I'll extend the project and enjoy taking more portrait photos, even though I am running out of ideas!

My driving lessons are going well and my instructor thinks I am ready. So he'll book the practical test with me in the next lesson as he said I would need to 'double' book the test (I don't fully understand the meaning of this but apparently it's still the same as a normal test...) as you can't do that online but to call the driving centre up. I'm really excited to finish my lessons so I could have more time on the day of the lessons (and a lie-in as they're in the mornings!). And of course, be able to drive in my own way so I could get comfortable.

So far, I think everything's normal. I've noticed that I am slightly getting headaches but they're not too bad as I tend to ignore it all the time.

Ta-ra!

Center Parcs

It's been a few of busy weeks at college for me! But slightly boring as I tend to not like the beginnings of the subjects as they are sort of like introduction so you're not exactly learning just yet. But I'm nearly there to creating my own art work in Fine Art and Photography, so I'm just being patient myself...

Last few weeks, at college, has been pretty much normal for me, the daily routine of travelling on a bus for two hours in the morning to attend lessons, lots of research in lessons, creating work, writing essays, watching presentations and travelling another two hours back home.

I don't think there has been any change in my hearing, so I'm just assuming that my brain is taking its time to adapt to the new hearing but I focused on my college instead.

I have just been to Center Parcs in Sherwood Forest over last weekend, it was my second visit as I last attended when I was a young child (I didn't remember much at the time) and I really enjoyed the stay. I was stubborn at swimming at first as I wasn't keen on water because apparently I'm sensitive to chlorine as I get ill so easy from it but I got away with it this time. I went on the slides, underwater and all that fun, and also I went to one of the Aqua Zumba classes. It was a great time, and even better we stayed at the villa that contained a hot tub, a steam shower and a sauna inside but unfortunately the hot tub stopped working so we got a little refund for that. I've been feeling guilty to have eaten a lot of bad food because I was supposed to be on a diet already...

Take care, guys! :)

First Week at College - DONE!

I just finished my first week in A2 course at college... It was quite satisfying although my friends had left the course to move onto BTEC courses due to their results from AS... So I was quite lonely for a week there but I did manage to catch up with some of my friends and I stayed with my assistant because her car broke down over the summer holidays as she's usually home during breaks.

Great news about college though! Last year, I was the only deaf student for a short period of time at the college (there used to be two of us, but she left her catering course to concentrate on her football career), until now! I was called into the canteen by a hearing practitioner to meet two new students, and I felt no longer alone. I got to know to them, about their courses and we talked about friends who we both might know. One's doing Engineering and the other is doing Health & Social Care. I felt better because before I came to the college, I was in a school with a department for support so I had a lot of deaf friends there whom I hung out with everyday, then I came to college and the atmosphere was suddenly different so I had to adapt to that. Even though there are new students in college this year, I'm still surrounded by hearing people in my course, but I'm already used to it because I already knew people in my groups and my tutors are the same from last year (except Art as my tutor left last year!), so I will be fine. Even better that I still have the same assistant, she's a fantastic person to have, we're both similar so we tend to mess about!

Nothing's changed about my cochlear implants, I think I'm actually at the point where I am very much used to them now. It's funny how you compare the past and now on your journey of bilateral implants. At the beginning, I remember getting painful headaches and increased tiredness and now I'm much better where I am. I hardly get any headaches anymore, and I feel more confident with two implants than one as I'm beginning to recognise where sounds are coming from. I'm really proud of myself on the decision of having a second implant, and I think it's a BIG worth it! I'd definitely recommend it but everyone's different so not everyone will have the same results.

Ta-ra!

Countdown to A2

I hope you guys are having a great time over the holidays or had a good holiday if you've already returned to school/college/work!

I'm still on my holidays, counting 11 days until I start college again for A2 year. Honestly, I am rather bored myself and I would like to go back to college already!
I've got my results back for the AS and I'm rather pleased with it as I achieved full marks in Photography, and a B in Fine Art which I am very satisfied with, but since I unfortunately got an E in Business I am resitting. I was surprised though, as the second unit in Business I got an U which I did not expect at all and got a C in the first unit so it kind of saved me there. I do quite enjoy Business but it's not something I truly enjoy like Photography and Art. But I find Business to be extremely helpful to me as I wanted to learn how a business works so I would have basic knowledge when I go into work.

Over the summer holidays, I've been pretty much travelling to Nottingham to stay over at my boyfriend's, and few day outs with friends, especially to London with one of my close friends, it was fantastic although it was 27 degrees! Also, I went camping with old friends from London and went a bit of shopping.
Apart from that, I've managed to complete my college work which I'm finally relieved about.

I've noticed that I am getting used to the second implant as the headaches seemed to have gone away but I do get tired at the end of the day. I think this can also go away in few years' time once I get used to the implant... Hopefully!

Lost Motivation...

Hope you're all enjoying summer (with a bit of rain earlier...) but it was definitely sunny in my area today!

I just had my appointment in Nottingham yesterday, and my audiologist told me that I quite improved than last time which I am rather pleased with. Although, I do feel like it's been a slow progress between yesterday and 6 months ago. Right now, I'm now less tired with the second implant, I don't feel too worn out at the end of the day and I guess that's because I've not been in college and relaxing so I guess I feel more energetic. I'll have to find out when I return to college in September and compare then...

Speaking of this post's title... I've definitely lost motivation for summer college work. I rather miss working, and I'm rather sad that I can't get myself some motivation to actually finish the work, as I have two projects to work on: Fine Arts and Photography. At least I finished Business Studies work a few weeks ago! Slowly progressing... I can guarantee myself that I will have finished work when I return college because I can easily get paranoid when it comes to deadlines even though some students tend to hand in their work really late, which in fact in the previous academic year, I managed to complete work in every deadlines and not one student has completed that like me, which means I was the only student to keep on time... Oh well! It's enjoyment!

Enjoy the sun, guys while I try to avoid being tanned or sunburnt!

Progress & Driving Lessons

I've been busy with my A Level revision and coursework but for now I have finally completed my AS year at college!  Also, I just recently been awarded two awards; The Most Deserving Student in Photography and Film Studies, which I am really pleased with. Also, being awarded meant prizes for me :P Because I was given TWO awards, I have £20 to spend in Boots, ooh la la.

At this point of time, I would say that I'm beginning to notice how I'm feeling drained out at the end of the day of wearing both implants. Taking off the second implant feels a lot better because it was like breathing out after holding your breath or, like finishing your jog run after 30 minutes because your legs are tired. It's just like that. I would probably guess that my mother's more determined for me to get used to the second implant but you have to understand that you need to be patient because sequential bilateral implant requires a massive period of time. I mean, massive. I feel like I've got more than three or four years to learn from the second implant. I still feel like it's the still the same since last few posts - high pitches. This is why I've stopped wearing the implant on weekends and on some days but I do wear it when I go out of the house because I feel more alert in the environment. Also, I will be having my hearing appointment again in few weeks and hopefully I'd have made a better progress that before.
 I've just started my driving lessons and it's been four lessons now. My instructor has an experience with students with particular disabilities as well as his daughter, so he understands more. Although, he is trying to learn from my hearing so he could be more aware of how he is going to help me in learning to drive because obviously you can't really see him when you're driving. He does use a bit of gestures such as which way to go, and then he'd stop the car to show me diagrams on his iPad as teaching me different situations of driving. He has commented on how I'm progressing well, which I'm rather happy with. I've had him through my sister who's recently passed her test, so that is how I found him. If you're looking for a driving instructor with deaf awareness, visit the local government website as they have information on driving instructors for hearing impairment.

Till then!

Countdown to Birthday

2 days until my 17th birthday!

But that day is planned already, with many hours of college work. Normally, I'd stay at home and do some work because I think education comes first, and there's always a birthday next year to celebrate. So, at the moment, it is pretty much tight for me as I actually have under two weeks of photography work to complete until the exam and I have over 30 pages to complete. So, that means no slacking off on social networking! (I am very unfortunate to be ridiculously addicted to social networking sites...)
Last night, I was on the way home from filming, which I got home at half nine, I discovered that I actually get headaches if I keep my new implant on after 6pm. It's kind of fun to explore with your new implant, to how it works, what happens when, and that kind of thing, even it may hurt.

Hope you have a good March!

TIP: If you get headaches from the new implant, don't keep it on too long, 8-10 hours is enough (but it's different for everyone).

Exams!

Greetings!

I was a lot busy before February half term as I got tied up with photography work as I had a deadline in short of time so pretty much I was working every single day to try to complete it! Although, I didn't manage to get in time (mainly because I couldn't help but stuff a lot of work in sketchbook, I'm that productive...), but that's okay because the official deadline isn't until early May so I have time to complete it after my exam due in four weeks. As usual, I am not nervous or anything about exams coming up, but probably not until the last few minutes before the time.

So, this is the term which I pretty much will be a lot busy than ever because basically, I've been given two examination projects to do in Fine Art and Photography, and still learning for Business and Film Studies exam along with a film coursework too. I can tell this is going to be really busy for a while... At least I wouldn't have to stay in home stuck in boredom because that's the worst I can get in my whole life.

So far in my hearing experience, I've been rubbish in memory because I really have bad memory so I keep forgetting to turn on my new implant (I don't turn it on after I wake up or else I'll get headaches at the end of the day so I prefer to turn on when I get to college to give me time to settle down in the early mornings), so it is kind of a waste but I'm starting to remember more for now. I'm thinking of starting my hearing practices with my new implant alone when I finish both Photography and Fine Art exams, because they're both the most stressful subjects in work for me.

TIP: If you don't feel like you're hearing enough from the new implant, consider practising by speaking to yourself with the implant alone. It just takes patience.

Headache

Hope this month's going okay for you.

Just recently, I've been experiencing headaches, and that made me forgot that I actually have had headaches for a while before that. But this time, it isn't so bad. It just kind of hurts for a few minutes and goes away or other times, it'd just hurt for an hour. I think it's still better than before, so I assume it's the high pitch kind of thing but I'll never know.

Honestly, I actually never expected headaches before I got the second implant. It was just because I've NEVER experienced headaches in my first implant since I was four, so I guess I was that blind back then. So it kind of disappointed me, but I know I'll get through somehow. It's just upsetting the fact that a second implant can jeopardize your whole hearing thing with just headaches because you were absolutely fine with the first implant, no pain at all. It's something I'll have to sort out but that's if I can just balance the time to figure a way of avoiding headaches and college work.

College has been a lot busy for me, but not long until I finish for the AS year, as apparently I finish in May, but if I'm wrong then it's June. I believe that the months since September had gone fast, it felt like I didn't live through those months.

FACT: Consider a second implantation carefully, not just benefits but also disadvantages. 

Happy New Year!

I hope you all had a great Christmas break, especially the freedom from all the hard work! I have to admit, I sure am a lacking student when I became too lazy to do my art homework. But it isn't so bad, all I need to do is take a couple of photos and that is all. So, I'm quite safe.

I had many great presents, as a lot of them were absolutely useful for me to use in my lifestyle, such as jogging clothing, and photography equipments. Also, few clothing that I found really nice, especially that cute puppy eared hoodie top!

So, this is a second year of my bilateral implant life. Let's hope there's more improvement, I really do hope so... What I aim to do for this year, is to start practising my new implant alone for ten minutes from the start daily, so my brain can learn the new sounds. And definitely get back to my jogging schedule, as it stopped since the operation and the GCSE's last year.

Things I am looking forward to this year, is definitely college, because every lessons come with new things to learn, it's just the best feeling. College is way better because they teach you a lot more new things that you have never heard of. However, I do feel less of a photographer because everyone knows me as an 'expert' in photography, but in Photography lessons, I so disagree with them. I never even knew about manual settings on a SLR... I've always used Automatic mode... Oh well, I will come out of college with many photography techniques and also in other subjects.

Also, I am hoping to catch up with more deaf friends as I've been so busy at college.

TIP: Please please please do your homework at the start of holidays...