Lots More Juice

My husband texted me this afternoon: “Talked to a young guy with two cochlear implants. Really interesting. Nice guy, too.”

I answered, “What did he say about having them?”

My husband, “Hard at first, but changed his life. He said you (JJ) need to hang in there. Worth it.”

I answered, “It takes longer than I think, right?”

My husband, “Three months for him, but he had two. He went from zero to 80 percent.”

He went from zero to 80 percent? From ZERO TO 80 PERCENT?

Do you know the juice I would have if I had 80% hearing? I’d be able to do almost anything. I could do what I used to do. For as long as the rest of my body would allow. That could be a long time.

Unbelievable. And just when I’d decided to really lean in to my hearing loss. Now I’ll need something else to lean into. And it could be anything.

That’s an amazing prospect.

Options vs. coping. That’s huge. Mammoth.

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Note: It was three months to hearing for this guy but we don’t know how long it took for him to understand speech. He had been deaf since age 2, so a much bigger hurdle than what I am facing.