HOH people who recieved an CI, pls look here!

[hailstorm100]

Are you hard of hearing? Are you an adult? Did you
receive an CI as an adult? You hear most of your
life, and then slowly lose your hearing to the point
where you can't join in on group conversations, talk
with others like you do everyday, lip
read more, can't hear on the phone or cell phone
very well, and your hearing is just going downhill to
the point where you are mostly likely to become an
candidate for an CI? Please tell me your story...I
am exactly that person too.

I was born hoh, my mother had me when she
was only 6 months pregnant and I weighed only
2 1/2 pounds, so I was a preemie and thats what
they think is why my hearing did not progress.


I've grown up my whole life wearing to hearing aids,
no problem, lost hearing in my left ear, couldn't even
wear the aid anymore and now, since Jan, my right
ear hearing has gone downhill big time...it's so
frusterating! I'm so used to being able to hear..
Now, I am waiting to go to see a dr in Vancouver,
BC to see if I am a candidate for an implant.
Just wanting to hear your stories/experiences, please.
Thanks for reading!

Neecy, you can share yours here too...

 

[ismi]

We're not entirely sure on the details, but I was diagnosed as HOH (and got my first pair of aids) when I was 5. Looking back, it's obvious that I was HOH before that - I spoke really loudly, my parents had to speak loudly to get my attention, and when I was young enough to be carried, I used to grab the face of the person carrying me and turn it towards me if they were talking to someone else (so obviously I was lip reading really early).

By the time I was in middle school, my loss was severe to profound; sometime in high school or early college it became profound. My oral skills are still pretty strong - I can do one on one conversations without too much trouble, and I can use the phone with my family, although people I don't know are pretty hit or miss. But group conversations - or one on one convos in a crowded room - are difficult to impossible, depending on the situation. And I'm relying on lip reading more; I've always used it pretty heavily, but now, there are situations where all I can do is lip read, instead of using it as a supplemental tool like I used to.

I've just gone through the evaluation process, and I'm getting a CI in early June of this year. I'll be doing the last round of audio testing in two weeks to decide which ear to implant.

 

[shel90]

Can HOH people recieve CIs? I know that profoundly deaf people are qualified but didnt know that HOH people are too? Is that a new critera now?

I dont have anything to share cuz I dont have a CI and dont plan on getting one so I shouldnt be posing here but I had to ask about the critera for hoh people getting CIs. Thanks...

 

[hailstorm100]

We're not entirely sure on the details, but I was diagnosed as HOH (and got my first pair of aids) when I was 5. Looking back, it's obvious that I was HOH before that - I spoke really loudly, my parents had to speak loudly to get my attention, and when I was young enough to be carried, I used to grab the face of the person carrying me and turn it towards me if they were talking to someone else (so obviously I was lip reading really early).

By the time I was in middle school, my loss was severe to profound; sometime in high school or early college it became profound. My oral skills are still pretty strong - I can do one on one conversations without too much trouble, and I can use the phone with my family, although people I don't know are pretty hit or miss. But group conversations - or one on one convos in a crowded room - are difficult to impossible, depending on the situation. And I'm relying on lip reading more; I've always used it pretty heavily, but now, there are situations where all I can do is lip read, instead of using it as a supplemental tool like I used to.

I've just gone through the evaluation process, and I'm getting a CI in early June of this year. I'll be doing the last round of audio testing in two weeks to decide which ear to implant.

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? How do you
feel about getting an CI? You nervous and all that? What
exactly is the whole evaluation process? I've been good
about hearing all my life with my hearing aids, talked one
on one, group convos no problems, well unless it was
some man with a huge beard over his mouth..lol. It's
now that I'm having a huge problem. I had tubes put
in and out of my ears which caused a lot of damage,
that we now know...I had a tube in my right ear(which
is the one we're talking about now) that was taken
out in Jan after 8 years!!! After it was taken out, my
hearing was waaaayyyy down....so, that's when this
all came about. Just found out the other day, that there
isn't much to do anymore here with my ear and that
the next step is to go to see this other Dr in Van.

 

[hailstorm100]

Can HOH people recieve CIs? I know that profoundly deaf people are qualified but didnt know that HOH people are too? Is that a new critera now?

I dont have anything to share cuz I dont have a CI and dont plan on getting one so I shouldnt be posing here but I had to ask about the critera for hoh people getting CIs. Thanks...

I've heard of hearing people getting CI's. I don't know what
the critera is, but I do know that, hoh people are just as
qualified as deaf people. I don't think it is as new though..
not sure.

 

[shel90]

I've heard of hearing people getting CI's. I don't know what
the critera is, but I do know that, hoh people are just as
qualified as deaf people. I don't think it is as new though..
not sure.

hearing people getting CIs? Or u meant to say hard of hearing people getting CIs? The reason I asked cuz I have seen some AD members posting about how they dont qualify for CIs since they arent profoundly deaf. I can be wrong ...just was curious. No biggie.

Anyways..good luck in getting your CIs!!

 

[nightcrickets]

Can HOH people recieve CIs? I know that profoundly deaf people are qualified but didnt know that HOH people are too? Is that a new critera now?

I dont have anything to share cuz I dont have a CI and dont plan on getting one so I shouldnt be posing here but I had to ask about the critera for hoh people getting CIs. Thanks...

yes they can, in fact they make a better candidate for CI than profoundly deaf .

I am severe HOH in both ears since birth. I wore hearing aids all my life. I speak, read lips, and I don't do ASL. I attended mainstreamed public school from K-12 and the only class I took for LD because of my hearing loss was English. I took regular classes for all my other subjects.

I just had my cochlear implant 3 years ago when I was 27 years old and it is alot better than my HA's in my opinion.

 

[shel90]

yes they can, in fact they make a better candidate than profoundly deaf for CI.

I am severe HOH in both ears since birth. I wore hearing aids all my life. I speak, read lips, and I don't do ASL. I attended mainstreamed public school from K-12 and the only class I took for LD because of my hearing loss was English. I took regular classes for all my other subjects.

I just had my cochlear implant 3 years ago and it is alot better than my HA's in my opinion.

Ok thanks..

 

[nightcrickets]

hearing people getting CIs? Or u meant to say hard of hearing people getting CIs? The reason I asked cuz I have seen some AD members posting about how they dont qualify for CIs since they arent profoundly deaf. I can be wrong ...just was curious. No biggie.

Anyways..good luck in getting your CIs!!

The only time HOH don't qualify is that if they do really well with hearing aids. Why change it if it working out well for them already?

 

[hailstorm100]

yes they can, in fact they make a better candidate for CI than profoundly deaf .

I am severe HOH in both ears since birth. I wore hearing aids all my life. I speak, read lips, and I don't do ASL. I attended mainstreamed public school from K-12 and the only class I took for LD because of my hearing loss was English. I took regular classes for all my other subjects.

I just had my cochlear implant 3 years ago when I was 27 years old and it is alot better than my HA's in my opinion.

I sound exactly like you with my growing up.. pls share your
experience with the ci surgery, before and after, if you don't
mind. Where did you get it done?

Thanks Shel90..

 

[hailstorm100]

The only time HOH don't qualify is that if they do really well with hearing aids. Why change it if it working out well for them already?

exactly! I take out my hearing aid and I can't hear
a thing, I put my hearing aid in, I can hear(well not
like I used to), I don't want to go backwards..
I remember hearing the birds and the frogs and the
fish tank years ago, not now though..

 

[deafskeptic]

Can HOH people recieve CIs? I know that profoundly deaf people are qualified but didnt know that HOH people are too? Is that a new critera now?

I dont have anything to share cuz I dont have a CI and dont plan on getting one so I shouldnt be posing here but I had to ask about the critera for hoh people getting CIs. Thanks...

I was born with a severe to profound loss in both ears. To tell the truth, my loss is mostly in the profound range (around 115 dbs across most frequencies) range. I'm told that candidacy in the USA candidacy is limited to those with loss of 70 dbs or above and speech compredsion of 60% or less. If you're on Medicare, speech compredsion is limited to 40% or less.

 

[ismi]

Can HOH people recieve CIs? I know that profoundly deaf people are qualified but didnt know that HOH people are too? Is that a new critera now?

My loss is 90-95 dB, so technically I'm just over the line to be profoundly deaf. But I grew up HOH, and from a cultural perspective, that label fits me better than Deaf or oral deaf. I would assume that's how Hailstorm is using it as well.

 

[ismi]

How old are you, if you don't mind me asking? How do you
feel about getting an CI? You nervous and all that? What
exactly is the whole evaluation process? I've been good
about hearing all my life with my hearing aids, talked one
on one, group convos no problems, well unless it was
some man with a huge beard over his mouth..lol. It's
now that I'm having a huge problem.

Sure. I'm 20. I'm not really nervous about this - I've had a lot of surgery in my life (mostly before I was a teenager, although I had a mastoidectomy last year), including skeletal surgery that required some pretty serious physical rehab work. By comparison, this is a relatively minor surgery, and while there's still rehab involved, I doubt it'll be as intense as those!

The evaluation process varies a bit. In my case, I had been talking with my audiologist about trying some new digital aids. Then, from a combination of the usual progression of my hearing loss, and the mastoiditis I had last year, my hearing continued to drop. I got the aids anyway - they're more helpful than my old ones, even if they don't take me where I want to be. So during the fitting process, my audiologist suggested I make an appointment with the other audi in her practice, who works only with CIs. She did some more audiogram testing, I got a CT scan to confirm that my cochlea wasn't damaged (no reason to think it would be, just a precaution), and I spoke to the surgeon who would do the surgery. I waited about 6 weeks while the surgeon thought about it (I think that's unusual - I had some weird infections in my history that made her want to think for a bit), and then got a letter saying that I was approved.

The hope is that because I've used my hearing so much in the recent past, it will only take me a month or two to get my speech comprehension back to where it is now, so I'll do the surgery and then return to school. I'll continue auditory therapy after that, of course, since the goal is to *improve* my hearing, not leave me at the same level I'm at now.

 

[nightcrickets]

I sound exactly like you with my growing up.. pls share your
experience with the ci surgery, before and after, if you don't
mind. Where did you get it done?

Thanks Shel90..

well, before the surgery, I couldn't hear far off sounds in another room like the microwave beeping. I could only hear close up sounds, but I could hear natures like you described. . But after the surgery, I was able to hear sounds from another room but I still have trouble understanding speech but I could understand it ALOT better than my hearing aids. I have not been going back to mapping as often as I should though.(I have to drive 3 hours to do that) If I did went for mapping often, I probably would have gotten even better result from my CI. When I first was activated, it was very noisy and I could not understand anyone or anything and it gave me a major headache from being overwhelmed. But I had to keep it on because that's what my My audiologist wanted me to do and she wanted me to come back on the next day for more mapping. When I went back the next day, she did some adjustments and it sounded ALOT better. She told me that she had to turn on all the channels (or something like that) on the first day so we can figure out what kind of mapping that will work for me. I got home and everything sounded very crisp. I could hear a slight paper crumble that I never could hear before. And water running sounded so calming! My husband felt that my speech have improved alittle bit.

Right now, I am hoping to get an new processor that suppose to be better, but I am waiting to see if my insurance will approve it. I would love to get a 2nd implant, but I am afraid it might be too expensive. Anyhow, if I don't get it, I still need to go back for a mapping. I made an mistake from my last mapping when I told them everytime I wake up and put on my CI, it sounded like a tv blasting in my ear. She adjusted that and now I don't like the sound of my CI at all. It keep automatically filtering out every sounds that I WANT to hear.



I got mine done at University of VA.

BTW, I have about 80 to 85 db lost in both ears. When they do a evaluation, they want you to hear naturally as possible, they don't want you to try hard to hear because it gives them a false result on how you do in everyday life (trying hard to hear IS overwhelming if you do it everyday all day long)

 

[hailstorm100]

What exactly is "mapping", anyway?

 

[nightcrickets]

What exactly is "mapping", anyway?

sound adjustments. Somebody probably can explain it better than I can.

It is kinda like learning from school. you move up to the next grade to learn new stuffs until you graduate, except you can never stop learning. Well your brain is learning new sounds and it will never stop learning it.


It is recommended that CI should go for a mapping every year after the first year.

 

[hailstorm100]

Geez! Being 37 too...

 

[kayla123]

Sound adjustment sounds about right. The audi will continue to adjust the high and low pitch frequencies until the sound gets comfortable for you. You will have a few different settings that you can switch to. You will go back for quite a few mappings in the beginning and they will test you in the sound booth to find the right map for you.

 

[highlands]

The only time HOH don't qualify is that if they do really well with hearing aids. Why change it if it working out well for them already?

hmm... I am hoh with 92 Dbl loss in both ears... more than your loss and I don't qualify for a CI in my country ... I got digitals six months ago and I am getting better results from my digitals than my old analog but speech still sucks for me if I cannot see the speaker and cannot lipread I don't know if a CI will be right choice for me since I can hear many environmental sounds with my hearing aids but I can't get 'crispy' speech .. I can hear sounds of the hot tea on the fire in the kitchen if I pay attention to it but cannot understand one whose face I can't see while he/she is in the same room with me..

I am confused and got frustrated a lot currently.. hearing world makes me tired.