CI complications, recovering from surgery

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Franz K

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Hi All,
Yet another question about cochlear implants. I have a pretty good sense of what side effects come after CI surgery, and how long before I'd be activated. But how long do you have to wait to go back to normal physical activity? I'm a very physically active person, and I read somewhere that you shouldn't lift anything heavier than a gallon of milk for 4-6 weeks. What??!?

Also, how many people have had either big or small complications over the long term-- either due to explantation, infection, device failure, or other causes. Did anybody have problems with dizziness or their vestibular system in general?

One last question-- after you were activated, how long did it take for things to sound "natural?" How long before you were able to comprehend speech?
 
To answer your questions...

1) Yep, that is not a misquote. I was told don't lift anything heavy for at least a month. My audi told me a story about one of the patients didn't listen to her. The guy was lifting some 50lb bags two weeks afterwards. His CI never really did work right after that. All that lifting elevated his blood pressure and muscle movement on his neck and head had some kind of effect on the implant itself. They are not telling you this for fun.

2) No real complication. Just weird tinnitus spells starting at the fifth month for about four months. After that, it was gone...I suspect the healing process in the cochlea had something to do with it during that time. My mild tinnitus went away when I woke up from surgery. I still don't have any.

3) I understood speech right away which is not typical with everybody. It took a couple of days to a week for things to sound normal all around.
 
I think the main thing for me, after surgery was the throbbing in my head... Its the biggest headache I have ever had or imagined I could have. The pain medication worked well though. I had no major complications at all. I was down and out for about a week. As far as physical activity... I guess that would depend on what physical activity you are doing. I was doing normal things like walking and going to the store 5 days after surgery. I also have yet to have a long term complication (I have had my Cochlear Nucleaus 24implant 6 years).

I was comprehending speech as soon as I was turned on. But then again I was able to hear all my life before the implant (just the gap of 2 years when I lost my hearing I could not hear at all). At first, things sounded like mickey and miney mouse... But after about a month and all the remapping, I was good to go. I was talking on the phone the first day I was turned on (note: my audiotologist said that isnt normal - I was just a really good canidate and had a great operation).

If you would like to know more, email me...

Good Luck!
Ryan
 
The worst symptom I experienced after both surgeries was a migraine headache. However, I'm not sure if the migraine headache was due to my migraine history or the tightness of the bandage.

When my first CI was activated, everything sounded metallic and extremely high pitched. I couldn't make sense out of anything I heard. I would say that it took a good two weeks before I was able to understand speech.

In terms of "natural sound," it took approximately 6 months before voices and environmental sounds seemed "normal" (i.e. as I remember with HAs). It was a gradual process where sounds were metallic and unclear in the beginning, but became clearer and more distinct the longer I used my CI.

When my second CI was activated I was able to understand some speech -- even though my second CI made this more difficult. Just as with the first CI, it took about 6 months before voices, environmental sounds and music started to sound "normal."
 
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