krazykatkitty's operation (second implant)

krazykatkitty

krazykatkitty

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I am happy to report that my operation went well yesterday. It was a long day. Stayed in hospital over night. Next milestone is swtich-on. Feb 21st here I come. :)
 
Congrats!

I was first implanted in 2003, just got my second one last month. Been activated for 3 weeks now. Wow, what a difference, and my mapping is not done yet.

What is very interesting is how I 'naturally' turn my head to the direction the sound is coming from, never did it since I was 4 years old.

Like you, hearing aids stopped working for me.
 
green427 said:
Congrats!

I was first implanted in 2003, just got my second one last month. Been activated for 3 weeks now. Wow, what a difference, and my mapping is not done yet.

What is very interesting is how I 'naturally' turn my head to the direction the sound is coming from, never did it since I was 4 years old.

Like you, hearing aids stopped working for me.
Click to expand...

That's awesome. When you switched on (the second one) does it work out really well with two implants on immediately or sounds a bit weird?
 
krazykatkitty said:
That's awesome. When you switched on (the second one) does it work out really well with two implants on immediately or sounds a bit weird?
Click to expand...

Everything sounds weird and annoying during the first week, second week was better, third week is even better.

Like the first one, it takes a few months for my brain to get used to the new sounds. After the third week, I am already hearing a lot more words without looking at people. My left ear seems to pick up all the high-frequency sounds a lot better than my right ear. It has been a month now, and I already cannot live without both of them on.

It is interesting, I must say.
 
green427 said:
Congrats!

I was first implanted in 2003, just got my second one last month. Been activated for 3 weeks now. Wow, what a difference, and my mapping is not done yet.

What is very interesting is how I 'naturally' turn my head to the direction the sound is coming from, never did it since I was 4 years old.

Like you, hearing aids stopped working for me.
Click to expand...

Green 427, what implant do you have, how was your hearing prior to the CI and how was your results after first CI and 2nd one
Thanks in advance
 
Fl885 said:
Green 427, what implant do you have, how was your hearing prior to the CI and how was your results after first CI and 2nd one
Thanks in advance
Click to expand...

Born hearing, infection ate both cochleas at 4 years old. Wore HA in the right year for 33 years. HA in left ear for 25 years. Had very limited hearing, not exactly HOH, but not fully deaf either.

Right ear: Nucleus-24 implanted in 2003. Left ear - Nucleus-5 implanted Dec 21st of 2010.

After first implant: Got about 80% of hearing back. Second implant too soon to tell.
 
green427 said:
Born hearing, infection ate both cochleas at 4 years old. Wore HA in the right year for 33 years. HA in left ear for 25 years. Had very limited hearing, not exactly HOH, but not fully deaf either.

Right ear: Nucleus-24 implanted in 2003. Left ear - Nucleus-5 implanted Dec 21st of 2010.

After first implant: Got about 80% of hearing back. Second implant too soon to tell.
Click to expand...

Very interesting green, wish you the best, I understand how you got excited about the direction where are the sounds coming from, this happened to me with my HA (no CI yet), it happened when I changed them 4 years back to a new set that was better in directional sound or something and wow, I was amazed how I could identify which elevator was coming or where the sounds coming from, it kind of like you were dizzy before and the air it's just so clear now.
 
krazykatkitty said:
I am happy to report that my operation went well yesterday. It was a long day. Stayed in hospital over night. Next milestone is swtich-on. Feb 21st here I come. :)
Click to expand...

Hey thats my birthday ;)
But I hope it all goes well!
I will be getting my operation very soon, around the 14th or within that week or next. Will find out this friday.
 
green427 said:
Everything sounds weird and annoying during the first week, second week was better, third week is even better.

Like the first one, it takes a few months for my brain to get used to the new sounds. After the third week, I am already hearing a lot more words without looking at people. My left ear seems to pick up all the high-frequency sounds a lot better than my right ear. It has been a month now, and I already cannot live without both of them on.

It is interesting, I must say.
Click to expand...

Thanks for sharing. Yeah very interesting. So N5 is better than your old one right? Wow. I am excited about that. Then the hard work starts. Lots of learning to listen the new ear of no useful sound after a long time. I am ready for it!!!! The hearing aid is sooooo useless!!!
 
Fl885 said:
Very interesting green, wish you the best, I understand how you got excited about the direction where are the sounds coming from, this happened to me with my HA (no CI yet), it happened when I changed them 4 years back to a new set that was better in directional sound or something and wow, I was amazed how I could identify which elevator was coming or where the sounds coming from, it kind of like you were dizzy before and the air it's just so clear now.
Click to expand...

Same here. Very interesting to hear other people's experience with bilateral implants. 2 implants is better than one I'd say.
 
krazykatkitty said:
Thanks for sharing. Yeah very interesting. So N5 is better than your old one right? Wow. I am excited about that. Then the hard work starts. Lots of learning to listen the new ear of no useful sound after a long time. I am ready for it!!!! The hearing aid is sooooo useless!!!
Click to expand...

I started out with the Sprint and 3G. The Sprint is the body worn box, and it is the best-sounding processor I've had. The bte 3G is a piece of shit. Never could get the mapping right, and it breaks easily. Got the Freedom processor in 2007, much better than the 3G. Had to have parts replaced several times, as it is too sensitive to rain & sweat, and weird problems have come up. Kind of bulky with 3 batteries.

I have 2 new Nucleus-5 processors, one is on my new implant, the other is on the shelf until Cochlear puts the finishing touches on compatibility software before I can use it on my old implant.

When you get turned on the first day, be prepared for the new sound. It is going to sound like a very bad hearing aid, and your ear is going to be sore from the new simulating. You are activating parts of your cochlea that haven't been used in a long time, so it is going to be startling. Hearing people that lost their hearing recently do much better, as their cochlea and brain are used to the simulation, but long-term deaf people take a lot longer.

The CI industry is pushy, they want everyone to believe their CI's are the answer to everything, but you need to keep your expectations low. I was led to believe I would have close to perfect hearing, but that was not the case.


What do I hear, exactly? Here is an example.

When listening to normal spoken speech, a hearing person hears:

"Hello, my name is Bob. I am interested in learning about turtles. I am especially interested in snappers. The bigger they are, the better they are."


This is what I usually hear:

"Hello, -- name is Bob. I am --- --n --- about turtles. I am esspec--- -- snappers. --bigger -- are, -- better ---- are."


As you can see, I pick up words, not necessarily the whole sentence. Now, if the same person spoke to me as if I were a 4 year old, I will pick up ALL the words.

Some people are clear as a bell, while others sound like crap. When my son talks to me while I am not looking, I hear every word he says, but when my wife talks, I only hear half of what she says (probably by choice LOL). About 50% of the people in my office are perfectly understandable, while the rest are not due to their accents, their pronunciation, etc, etc.

Cell phones, speaker phones, and radios do NOT sound the same as if spoken by a person next to you. The electronics add some static to the sound, which throws you off. You can hear the person talking, you can make out the syllables & pitches, but you can't hear what the hell they are saying. The only way to get clarity is to have that person speak very slowly and clearly, which 99% of the hearing population has absolutely no patience for.

The best parts of having a CI over HA?? Music clarity. No squealing. No ear infections from scratching your ears. You can plug your iPod in your N-5 and listen to Ozzy Osbourne and no one in the library will hear a thing.
 
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