PLEASE VOTE FOR MY PHOTO ENTRY! (NF)

PLEASE VOTE FOR MY PHOTO ENTRY! DONT WORRY ABOUT THE PREVIOUS ONE, BECAUSE THIS ONE IS DOING BETTER! IT IS ALREADY RANKED NUMBER 19, AFTER 2 DAYS. WITH YOUR HELP AND YOUR FRIENDS AND FAMILY MEMBERS VOTING FOR MY PHOTO ENTRY, IT COULD WIN! IT IS EASY! JUST PRESS THE GREEN BUTTON! THANK YOU IN ADVANCE! IF YOU WANT TO JOIN WEBSITE, IT IS FREE, BUT YOU DON’T NEED LOGIN TO JUST VOTE! PLEASE VOTE NOW! AND AS MANY TIMES AS YOU CAN!

The photo is me after NYC Marathon with NF Endurance Team, and the other part is from a school race, but for contest rules, I removed team names and logos (other than the swoosh, because it is sponsored by nike) What it says can be enlarged by clicking on the image, and it is true story, which is a fragment from a essay I wrote about my life and NF, titled “Silenced Marathon”

GO TO THIS LINK TO VOTE! IT TAKES ONLY A MINUTE! AND PLEASE POST THIS TO YOUR FRIENDS / EMAILS / AND PROFILES! THANK YOU!

BELIEVE IN THE RUN Sponsored by Visit NIKE USA

PLEASE GO TO LINK AND CLICK THE GREEN BUTTON TO VOTE FOR MY PHOTO ENTRY!

Believe in the RUN! Please vote (green button) for my entry!

BELIEVE IN THE RUN Sponsored by Visit NIKE USA

It was my dad that first convinced me to go out for cross country in high school. I could not run 400 meters without stopping to gasp for air. 7 years later... over 9,000 miles, 200 races, 100 blisters, 10 black toenails, 6 cross country seasons so far, 5 stress fractures, 5 half marathons, 4 tumors surgically removed from my brain and spinal cord, 3 track seasons so far, 2 full marathons, 2 ears gone- lost my hearing, 2 strained and tired legs, AND.... 1 thing to keep me sane and pull through it all, and that ONE thing is RUNNING! I may not be the fastest, or even that great, but I BELIEVE IN THE RUN!

New Products for sign language and NF Endurance Team

check it out!

http://www.zazzle.com/runchick87

http://www.active.com/donate/nfli2009/AShigley

NEW PAGE IS UP FOR NEW EVENT…. CHECK IT OUT TO DONATE FOR NEUROFIBROMATOSIS!!

If you want to join the team, its easy… Just go to ctf.org/endurance

http://www.active.com/donate/nfli2009/AShigley

http://www.active.com/donate/nfli2009/AShigley

http://www.active.com/donate/nfli2009/AShigley

By the way, if YOU happen to be in this collage I made, I sure do hope that YOU AND A FRIEND (at LEAST ONE ADDITIONAL FRIEND) will be at this event! Also, it has half, and full, and on the day before that it also has a 10k, 5k, and 1 miler, in case you have any reason to not be doing a half or full.

“You need running, friends, and me to make yourself whole.”, said the Lord…

I’m going to go run tomorrow morning. you cannot stop me. the doc said i can and the coach said not until the end of this quarter, which is still another month away, but im so addicted to to running that being not allowed to run really hurts me deep on the inside of my heart. I have / had some weird running injury for which i was never given intelligent diagnosis, because they said i had stress fracture but then the sports doc couldnt see that on my MRI i got done in Dec. so its all pretty much crap! and ya know what my friend said …  “screw track and what the coach said. do runs on ur own”. well, that sounds like a good idea! i’m going to be careful, but my leg doesnt hurt anymore, so i think it will be fine. running has become a part of who i am, and having not run for more than like 5 miles total since thanksgiving 2008, is reallly a pain in the ass! so, if im about to do another stupid thing, screw it. im also planning on running spring track and a half marathon in early may with the NF Endurance Team!

i believe that God has given me the gift to run, and when i’m out there in his nature, i feel more connection with Him, because its just my mind, my body, God and the natural beauty of this world. I will run in the freezing cold, so that way i can feel no pain, if by chance i am still injured. my “friend” told me that i need the lord badly and that i do not know god! I do not understand why she feels that she has the right to speak so harshly to me. it really hurts me and left me crying. she doesnt understand why i am how i am and why i love to run so much, or that i find connection with that and my faith, which is strong but she does not truely know me.

I have the Lord and I know God, but what i NEED is real friends!

Its like a “sweat condom” for the BTE!…

…but it is a water balloon! my friend and i went to wal-mart today… (after she took pictures of the HUGE amount of snow on my car, which she found to be humerous, while watching me clean most of it off!) …and when she asked what i wanted to buy, i responded “water balloons”! …(I live in a dorm building on the 12th floor) and she in all SERIOUSNESS began telling me that I CANNOT drop the water balloons out the window onto people! …(thanks for the great idea!) … but that was not why i wanted to buy water balloons! its because I like my new BTE sound processor for my ABI, but the problem is that I SWEAT LIKE A PIG! … Even with putting it in the dry store box each night, i workout almost every day, and the sweat has been managing to somehow get way inside of the processor, even into the battery compartment! its not supposed to do that! and i have the Freedom processor which is supposed to be water resistent! …so after experiencing these problems for the past 2 months ( I got it in November.) … I decided it was time to give the “implant sweat condom” a try! so this is what i found out….

*it looks really cool! I got the groovy tie-dye colored balloons!

*it keeps the sweat out!

*and you can still hear pretty well with it on there, but try increasing the sensitivity level. I took it off later, but have like 100 of these balloons, because i thought it seemed to have slight effect on the recieved sound quality in conversation.

* use a key tip or sharp pen or pin to make hole in 2 places on the balloon for the hook and for the coil insert. yeah, the hole will probably stretch, to thats why its such a cheap solution for active people and those who prespire a lot or live in humid places!

*its pretty easy to do! takes just a couple minutes!

*DO NOT use this for swimming! haha. i did see something on youtube, but have not tried it, (looks too complicated!) where they seal the whole implant inside of a freeze store air tight bag, put on head and hold it with a swim cap.

*This is not induced my the COCHLEAR CORPORATION, and I have no connection with that company, other than being a patient, customer, and recipient of the auditory brainstem implant!

*and last of all… that friend of mine…. she sure does love to shop!  😛

Hey, other BTE-users- bloggers! Does anybody know if these (or something else??) would be recommended solution for moisture problem that i have been experiencing?! I have cochlear Freedom BTE-processor for my AB I, since November.

http://hsdcstore.com/browseproducts/Super-Seals-Kit.HTML

http://www.gearforears.com/

http://www.hearingaidsweatband.com/

Like i said in previous post, I switched the mic protector last night, but it still happening! (after a month a half.)  I had not thought to try the following until after i saw coment on my previous blog posting, but after practice it was acting weird again, like turn on, but VERY QUIET sound!  And I stuck my pinky-finger in the big hole where you pull out the battery (recharable, but cell one probably do same)… and when i pulled my finger out, it was wet!

I know I sweat a lot, but i’m just trying to come up with a reasonable solution! its NOT like I was standing under Niagra Falls with it!

Any suggestions or advice appreciated.

** OMG! I was shocked! Yesterday i got 93%  on hearingjourney.com’s “Listening Room” ADVANCED level asessment test (multiple choice), in Clix program!!!! **  ….Sorry, not bragging. To clarify, I’m late-deafened, and got my Auditory Brain-stem Implant in summer 2007, but recently got Freedom.  I can hear “10 sounds” (10 elecrodes on), so I was really shocked about that score!

Moisture problems with “Behind-The-Ear” sound processors??

I need suggestions!   …  I got the Freedom (by cochlear co.) BTE sound processor for my ABI, back in November, but a few times recently I have noticed the batteries seeming to die like super-duper fast! i know my ABI program probably would use more power than most CI programs but still! So, it has happened exactly like this at least twice… arrive for practice. switch to new batteries, bc don’t want to miss something if coach needs to talk to me and interpreter is no-clue-where (other side of track, maybe) … go upstairs to bike / elliptical even though I’m on track team, bc i am injured now… gym is super-boring with cardio-machines, so plug i-pod into outlet on processor… listen to some techno, rap, or whatever… approximately 30 minutes later BAM… batteries indicate they are dead! (this happened today, and I took it off, and put it back on later with the same batteries and its still on now.)

I think this might be a problem with moisture, more than “stupid i-pod used up all the power!”. Anybody else out there that is athletic, sweating a lot, or whatever? PLEASE give suggestion or feedback.  What do you do about it? Oh, and I use the “dry-store” box each night also.

My family (and i agree) is even concerned about it as a safety issue, because well when I’m not injured, I love to run outdoors, often alone, but also with team. I keep my eyes open and alert to surroundings, but sometimes that is hard when you are nearing dehydration on summer runs, for example. (If you are distance runner, you will understand what I mean about losing full focus, especially if you have ever experienced ‘Runner’s High” or “hitting the wall”!)

If the solution is “don’t workout with it, if you sweat like a hog!”, i think there is better solution. The Freedom is made to protect from sweat, right?! I can explain an example why….

I ran NYC Marathon about 3 weeks before getting the BTE processor, and so I never wore the big one when I ran bc I found it to be too cumbersome and downright annoying. After the marathon, I was getting ready  to cross intersection, and saw the walk light signal change and began to step out into the street… about 50 yards away an ambulance was about to whiz through that intersection, with the siren blaring. I had no idea, since I couldn’t hear it, and then my dad pulled me back! … I’m 21, and my dad is not going to always be there to “pull me back,” every time I start to do something crazy like that! I need to get this figured out.

Please leave suggestions or feedback, positive and good advice only, please!  Thank you!

My Sidekick 3 was stolen!

My precious sidekick 3 was stolen last week! I already got a cheap replacement phone for just $20 (i’m not on contract right now, but still have service with t-mobile.), and its “okay” but just slow text messaging (15 button keypad). I am thinking about getting something else in a little while, but havnt decided what.  Please post comment if you know of good options…

I want full ABCs keypad, so i can text a ton!

I think the touch-screen would drive me crazy, so I want the buttons.

Since I have recently discoved that I can talk on the phone some, I’d like to get something with HAC – (hearing aid compatibility) , M3-M4, T3-T4.

I have doon some looking at T-mobile, AT&T, Verizon, and Sprint.

I want unlimited texting and small vioce minutes available, without having to purchase 2 seperate plans.

I want to find incredibly good deal on pricing with reasonable monthly service bill.

I thinking ablout Sidekick LX, Gravity, or Blackbery (but it is costly.)

Please let me know if you have nay opinions on what is good cell phones. thanks!

Merry Christmas! (late)

random: (not related to hearing implant / deafness / running)

and There would be Peace on Earth.

night after… i havn’t blogged in a while… I’m at home and had a nice christmas with my family (though trying to keep some distance, since all of THEM are sick… as dogs!) …and i’m healthy as a horse!

Remember the Wise MEN were LATE?! (the blog matches!) If only it had been women!…

Three Wise Women would have…

Asked diresctions,

Arrived in Time,

Helped deliver the baby,

Cleaned the stable,

Made a casserole

Brought practical gifts and

There would be

Peace on Earth.