I'm baaack!!

After a long sabitical I've returned with news. I started having episodes when I was 29. I'm 64 now and have in the last few months received my first cochlear implant. There were several times during those years when I had the misfortune of running into several doctors (we've moved a lot) who were brutally honest with me and told me that I would lose all my hearing. I was in denial BIG TIME and got very angry and cried all the way home. I even refused to go back to one doctor because I was convinced she didn't know what she was talking about.

The good news is you don't have to worry about going deaf any more. As I'm sure you already know. Now there are Cochlear implants to make hearing possible again. I couldn't hear enough to function, but my audiologist was giving me incorrect information. So if you get to the point that you think you are missing out, don't wait. The criteria is getting easier and easier everyday and insurance usually picks up the bill since it is considered durable medical goods. Yes, it does take some effort on your part. There is "homework" to do after the implant is put in place, but if you do what your (knowledgeable) audiologist tells you. You can be up and hearing in no time at all and you may find your hearing is the best it's been in years.

 

The cochlear implant is not a turn on and hear kind of thing. All the videos you see of people and their "ah ha" moment aren't really what you think. Everyone is different, (yes, you're hearing that again), but CI's take practice. You will have to do homework on the computer everyday or every other day depending on your audiologist. For me it will take probably a year before my hearing is up to speed, but my left ear (the implanted one for now) had not had hearing in twenty-one years. Yes, you will be able to talk on the phone, BUT again it takes work on your part. Some people whose hearing hasn't been gone for quite so long have an easier time with the homework. (By the way, with one distributor, the homework is called, Angel Sounds and it has to be downloaded on your computer.) It's all about retraining the brain to hear those sounds again and that just takes time and practice. There is no way to replace those bass tones you used to hear in music, but you can still learn to have good music comprehension. It takes practice. Personally, with my hearing absent, I have a tune in my head everyday without hearing assistance, i.e. when getting a shower and blowing the hair dry. I thought I was a little strange (nuts) because of that, but actually there is a name for that. It's called musical ears. It is the brain trying to replace sound that is not there anymore. It is my understanding that the people who have that have an easier time learning to appreciate music again. I'm not to that point in my training yet. Yes, you will still have to use a streamer for TV. Yes, you will be able to talk on the phone, but you may have to use an extra appliance. Things in the CI area are changing it is amazing. Cochlear (one maker of three brands right now) has just come out with an update to the Neucleus 6 (N6), the N7. It has the ability to use an app on your IPhone to replace the remote control and other appliances. It is amazing!!! CI's are getting smaller all the time. No longer are they as big as they used to be. By the time some of you get a CI it will be so different that you may find a lot of what I'm saying is obsolete, but there will always be the adjustment period and that period of time differs for every person. Yes, you will still lipread. At this point you may be saying, so why get a CI. This sounds just like my hearing aid. Well, there will come a time when the hearing aid just won't do the job anymore, and besides the sound quality of a CI is soooo much better than a hearing aid. No more feedback for one and there are many more. I was told early on,"this is a marathon-not a sprint," and that is exactly what it is. It takes time and lots of patience, but you can hear again. Just remember, "nothing in life is free," but if you are tired of the isolation, are tired of being left out, are tired of being backed into a corner by your hearing deficit, then there is a way to hear again and changing your life is in your hands. You will continue to have tinnitus to some degree. Some people have it only when the CI's are removed at night. Some people continue to have it, but to a lesser degree. Again everyone is different. CI's can work after gent injections, but as for the other surgeries, I'm just not sure. Those are questions for your doctor, but for the most part affirmative answers are happening. Many people can have successful implantation after all kinds of surgical procedures. I, for one, had a PLF and shunt surgery in 1996. Because of scar tissue, my doctor punctured my ear drum during the implantation procedure. All I had to do was just keep water out of that ear for thirty days until the eardrum had time to heal. If you have any other questions, I invite you to peek in on the group, Cochlear Implant Experiences. There is a world of information there from people literally all over the world. It is a great place to gain knowledge about CI's. People receiving CI's is growing like wild fire. There are over a million world wide of one distributor alone. It's a wonderful thing to be living in this age where you don't have to be isolated because this disease stole one of your vital senses.

I am rusty posting on this site so I sincerely hope my responses get to all who posted. If not, I sincerely apologize.

 

I'm so glad. It was my pleasure!

 

Yes, it is a Facebook group.