MY THIRD MAPPING

I have just returned from my third mapping. It has been 1 month since my last one. The Audie first put me in the "torture chamber" to see how I was doing. In the range of the speech frequencies, I was 20 to 25 DB, which she said was above the normal speech loudness. My word discrimination was 88%, up from virtually zero prior to my CI. Her reaction was "fantastic"! I told her that the environment still sounded like whistles and chirps and speech had a noticeable echo. She did some tweaking, and we ended up with the one program I did so well at. She gave me control of the volume though without going from program to program. The net result so far is the echo is pretty well gone. I still have yet to test the environment, but she said that will come around in time. My next mapping/status check will be in 3 months.
I and my family are continually amazed at what I can do with my CI. This week I have already spoken on the speakerphone with my daughter and niece in New York for about 1/2 hour each. While it is not 100% perfect, it is probably 90% for which I am very thankful. Speech sounds very natural, especially with those whose voices I remember. Music is still a blur, but I am confident that will come also. Right now, I am looking for a job.