Hello, and I'm pleased to be here! My name is Paul and this is my first post.
Hi Paul, I'm Valerie and I have bilateral cochlear implants. I hope several of the ci users can help with questions. I have had my implants for a year now.
I have a bilateral sensorineural hearing loss in which I use digital hearing aides. The hearing aides are the GN Resound Canta 7 series and they were state-of-the-art when I first got them back in 2001 ... I think they still are! With the aides on, I have about a 50% loss in my right ear (I hear higher frequencies the best) while my left ear has a whopping 90% loss (I faintly hear low-frequency bassy sounds only). Over the years, however, my hearing has gotten steadily worse in both ears, to the point where my audiologist now recommends I seriously consider a CI for my left ear.
Did you audie schedule an appointment with the cochlear implant audiologist? The next step is that and to schedule an appointment with the CI surgeon. Your audie will have the name so the doctors that do this surgery.
I have recently earned my Ph.D in environmental sciences and meteorology and am very proud to have achieved this goal! Despite having the digital aides, I felt that seminars hosted by the professors and students in my department placed me at a disadvantage, since the lights were dimmed (during the Powerpoint presentation) and I had a hard time reading lips in a darkened room to supplement the residual hearing I had left, so I didn't attend many of these seminars. Now that my education is complete, and I am searching for employment in the field, my parents are seriously pushing me to consider a CI.
Congratulations. I remember the struggles in college for my B.S. and M.S. too.
The initial concern, and it's a big one for me, is the relatively invasive (in my eyes) surgery involved to install a CI behind my ear. The turning point for me was this past summer, when I was hearing my friends talk on the beach yet found it nearly impossible for me to understand the words in our crowded area. Even with the "Restaurant Mode" on my hearing aides activated (front microphones are turned on while the aides minimize lower-frequency sounds around me), I never felt so lost. That day, I decided to go ahead with the surgery and get a CI. As a bonus, my insurance fully covers one CI!
The surgery is minor. It is same day surgery. Mine too over 5 hours because I had both ears done at once. Most surgery takes 2 hours and your back on your feet within a week. Check the three makers sites, Advanced Bionics, Med-El, and Cochlear it explains the surgery and outcomes. Research is your best tool.
For my fellow forum members who have CI implants, what did you do to overcome your initial trepidation regarding surgery? My audiologist told me that most of these implants are successful, while a few of them might not be (which is why he does not recommend a CI for my right ear ... the good ear). I heard that there are different kinds of CIs, but does each one work with a common "base" installation? That is, do I need to choose what kind of CI I want to have before surgery, or is the feature option an "external" one behind the ear?
The internal device involves the surgery. The external device is the speech processor, It looks like a hearing aid except the magnet rest on the internal device. Since I wore hearing aids for 27 years, it is not different to wear than the aids. The outcome is very different.
I live in New Jersey reasonably close to NYC and would appreciate some suggestions on how to find an ideal CI surgeon who specializes in this kind of surgery. Are there some certifications I should consider when choosing a surgeon or office? It seems that, ideally, I would want a surgeon who is old enough to be experienced and successful with CI surgery yet young enough to be familiar with the recent CI implants. I know this is ideal but I certainly want to keep my options open and not limit myself based on the age of the surgeon but his EXPERIENCE. Any advice or suggestions?
I am 37 years old and have known my audiologist since I first got hearing aides when I was 6 years old! He has become like a family member to me, and even traveled to hear me defend my Ph.D research!! That is, I have known my audiologist longer than he has known his first ex-wife!
I hope that my questions start some engaging discussion.
Thanks again for your time, patience, and advice. You bet I look forward to hearing from you.
Also I recommand you visit deafvillage. It contains blogs of people who share there experiences. Many post their activation videos. My blog is talesfromacigal.blogspot.com
Paul