Ok. Here we are 6 months post operation.
We sadly left Japan but returned to the home, we love in Mallorca, Spain. I remembered 6 months earlier, being wheeled through the airport, unable to walk and in the world of silence. Now I am walking pretty straight and with a head full of electronic noise. My brain is doing an amazing job of unravelling this data and month by month more pieces are falling into place. Bruno sounds like a dog, not a mobile phone and the kids voices are no longer cartoon chip monks. I am discovering sounds each week, its quite a geeky buzz to recognise new ones. The sea sounds like the sea but music is still a mystery.
I can swim, run and hike, with little grace, though riding a bike I feel will remain a comedy to see.
One-on-one communication, in a quiet place is very doable and will get better as my lip reading and brains digital data understanding improves. It's notable that how someone sounds is really not so important. The warmth and passion of a conversation genuinely still comes across. I often miss the conversation point but life seems a lot more interesting this way. Just don't trust my gossip!
My family seems intact. The kids, like all kids, accept and adapt. Ulrica, my wife, is emerging from the rubble too. Our family structure was turned over and I became a dependent not a provider. I couldn't walk, call, hear etc. This is better and my independence is back. We miss the spontaneity of conversation but still have a laugh. If my communication isn't better in 6 months then we are learning sign language. It's technically as rich as any spoken language. The love is still strong.
It takes effort to communicate with me so often group decisions are just made and changes of plan are often a surprise. I see the same in the way we all treat our elders. We are in too much of a rush to take the time to involve them properly (our maybe this is just my poor old Mum!) .
We are all disabled to some degree. We are all some way short of the perfect human being, whether it be intelligence, fitness, social skills, etc. This adventure has made me consciously more inclusive to others and look for the positives, not the negatives.
I won't be posting for a while. Hope this helped someone. It was good therapy for me to write and I would be happy if someone in need of my limited council would seek it.
Thanks all.
Andy
