Picking a CI

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TAMI SAM

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I am reading about so many different kinds of CI's.How does one find what is best for you? I thought you were pretty much told by the Dr. what you were going to be implanted with.Can someone help me understand in the simplest laymans terms.I have alot of hearing discrimnation problems(right term?) alot of Donald Duck and fluctuation in loudness and clarity ect. Will this be eliminated with CI?It will be at one steady sound level and clarity once youre mapped?
 
i'm not sure what your post question is about...

but i assume you're asking...

the doctor doesn't decide what implant for you.. you decide what ear, what brand...

but the doctor can recommand you which ear you should pick (normally the better ear is where they'll implant)


about the clarity.. It depends on invidiually.. and how long you're been deaf.

for me.. at my first mapping.. everything sounds awful and not right.. the words are just like robotic,odd sounds not normal.. i suffer for 2 days.. 2nd mapping is much better but its still not clarity the sounds of words arent regonized such as SSS... SHHH... or MMMM, OOOO whatever the sound level is almost the ssame.... it took me about 1 year to regonize the sound sss... shhh.. chhh.. eee.. lala goes on.. 2nd year is much better i can regonize more.. the short vowel, and long vowel, the end of word.. begin of word.. so it depends on invidually and how you call it "good clairty" mine is over my expections and i'm impressed.
 
Well I was implanted and activated recently with Med-El and I'm still having trouble with the H, F, V, P, B, and L constants but then this is just my first mapping and hopefully I'll get better results with my next mapping which is on May 22 - not May 20th as I first thought. I can hear the s, th, ch, sh, t, and the other constants just fine though. I've always been able to hear vowels but constants were a problem for me with my HA.
 
Just compare all the different CI's and then decide which you think would be best for you.. which program is best, or which design you like better, stuff like that.
 
Clearing up my question

Sorry I guess I didnt make it clear.I am going to have my right ear(bad or dead as they call it) implanted as long as all vestibular testing is better for that ear.The Doc's say its no use to me anyway so if it doesnt work I'm not losing anything. My left ear or "good" ear still has some hearing with hearing aid but that is were all the dicrimination comes from.Ive got my hearing test in front of me I wish I could tell you exactly what it means so I'll just copy whats written :my right ear SRT 85dB. 32% at 105db .My left ear SRT 70 dB.80% at 100db. My left ear (hearing ear flucuates from 40 words to 80% words on hearing test) As you can tell I am late deafend. I lost the hearing in my right ear somewhere about 15 yrs ago but my left ear will be 1 yr. on May 20th. iThe hearing wasnt great but I would do anything to have back what I had . I could still hear on phone and even hear whispers in my ear. Now I cant hear at all without hearing aid and even with it I need it to be completely silent to understand. What I was asking I guess was how do you know the right manufacturer and then model that will work best for you. Is the piece that is implanted under the skin compatable with all makes or do you pick one and hope for the best? You guys are actually able to take apart a word to know what parts dont sound right huh? If I dont get something it may take a minute before i figure out what the word was-sounds like-OK. I guess I'm just so garbled right now there is no way to figure out the sounds I can hear and cant.Do I dare leave the decision in the hands of the CI team. They probably know more than I do because when I read what some of the threads I feel stupid that I cant understand what you all are talking about.I got that there are 16 and up signals going out of the cochlea but from there I'm lost! So thats what I was asking,How do you figure out which brans is best for you?Thanks for wading through this question :bowdown: with me.
 
Something I have noticed is that everyone seems to be pretty happy with their brands. Also, all the three manufacturers frequently update their products and make them backward compatible. So something that is perceived to be the most advanced today, may not be so in two years time and vice versa, for example. The computer chips inside the implants have a very big capacity to allow for adaption to upgrades -which is important.

No, the internal implant is not compatible with all makes - you have to stick with the same brand.

I think it's fine to trust your surgeon/CI team when it comes to choice. Speaking for myself, I'd rather go with something that they are familiar with so that any future problems can be quickly identified and resolved. They may carry spare parts for that particular external processor but not for another one. However, some people here feel like they want more control, so they do their own research and choose their own brand. That's fine too.
 
The others pretty much said what I was going to say also. You choose for yourself what brand you want to go with between the Cochlear Americas, Advanced Bionics, and MedEl. Your Dr./hospital may not even work with one of the 3 companies, like my hospital isn't currently working with AB for now.
You pretty much choose on your own list of pros and cons for each of the 3. Like batteries life, design & so on. . .

I was drawn to the Freedom right away, even before I had my CI evaluation. I also liked the AB but felt that my heart was telling me to choose Freedom. I even think it's cool that CA named it "Freedom" 'cause it makes me think "I'm getting the freedom to hear!" Sounds corny, I know. :)

My husband even looked at al 3 an he, too was also drawn to the Freedom.
And I've joked to him "Now we can tell our certain friend "Freedom!" and he'll understand excatly what we mean. It's an inside joke thing with us. :]

The Audi & Dr. both told me that you can't really go wrong with whatever you've decided to end up with.

Good luck in whaever you do end up with. :]
 
Well thank you R2D2 and Deafmama that eases my mind to feel more comfortable with going on their expertese but still being able to voice my own thoughts about it. There is one I was drawn to right away and maybe will follow my gut after some research and dr.s opinion.So pissed, as should be farther along in testing, got a green light on my MRI today and CI DR. says where are the hearing tests from local ENT? Sheesh looks like the nurse screwed up as they were faxed on the 2nd.Once those are read Im on to meet the CI team. Cant Wait! Yes Dmama you are going to be free at last -free at last! wishing you all the best and cant wait to hear how you do-Please keep us posted.
 
looking at the Nucleus freedom Smartsound I see it there is Beam-Adro-Whisper-Autosensitivity Are these different choices or all on the the Smartsound CI? If anyone has these can you weigh in thanks.
 
Hi Tami Sam,

Beam-Adro-Whisper-Autosensitivity are all different programs that you can have on the same Freedom processor. Basically, we have 4 program slots P1, P2, P3, P4 where customized maps can be loaded depending on what you prefer.

Beam = for listening to someone in a noisy environment e.g if you are at a cafe and want to talk to the person you are with. I never really took to that one but some people really like it.

Adro = for listening in normal environments. I use this one most of the time.

Whisper = Can't remember what that's for! Listening in quiet environments? I did try it but found it inconsequential.

Autosensitivity = I use this second most often. It is designed to cut out continuous sounds in the environment e.g. when you are travelling in a car it will compress the sound of the car but allow you to hear voices. I really love this program. I also use it in noisy situations generally.

Then you also have telecoil functions for use with the phone etc that you can either mix or have by itself with each program. Telecoil mix allows you to hear your own voice and to speak with another person there with you. Telecoil by itself cuts out all sounds except for the sound you are getting through the phone or microphone. I prefer telecoil by itself.
 
R2D2 said:
...
Adro = for listening in normal environments. I use this one most of the time.
Click to expand...

ADRO is probably the most used program for most people. Love that ADRO and I use it 99% of the time.

R2D2 said:
Whisper = Can't remember what that's for! Listening in quiet environments? I did try it but found it inconsequential.
Click to expand...

Whisper amplifies the soft sounds. Useful for meetings or large gatherings with a speaker. You can hear voices better that are further away. It is my second most used program (the 1% or so) :D

I also have the no-name (squelch) and autosensitivity as well but I rarely use them.
 
sr171soars said:
Whisper amplifies the soft sounds. Useful for meetings or large gatherings with a speaker. You can hear voices better that are further away. It is my second most used program (the 1% or so) :D
Click to expand...

Maybe I should give that another go. I listen to speakers in a church setting.
 
TAMI,

Another factor to think about is how the processor feels on your ear. I had my appointment to talk about the different devices and I found I liked the way the freedom felt on my ear. That was the final piece of information that I needed to go with the Freedom. I think I am going to get the freedom in pink.
 
set2 said:
TAMI,

Another factor to think about is how the processor feels on your ear. I had my appointment to talk about the different devices and I found I liked the way the freedom felt on my ear. That was the final piece of information that I needed to go with the Freedom. I think I am going to get the freedom in pink.
Click to expand...

Good colour choice! :thumb:
 
well I thank you all for the wealth of information. I like the look of the harmony very thin and love the color caps but after reading both sites I'm really liking what I read about the Nucleus Freedom Smartsound. I think it gives you choices for many different situations. I long to be able to talk to someone where there is background noise. Right now I have to mute TV or if outside bring someone into my car-IT SUCKS! I got a call from my CI Dr. he got a look at my previous hearing test over the last year and said "wow your wifes hearing is really bad she lost alot of hearing since the last time I saw her"-1986. He immediately patched my husband through (I cant hear on phone) to the CI team downstairs and I'm off to my first appointment on May 31st! Yeah! they said be prepared to be here 3 hours. Yikes dont like the sound of that. Does anyone remember how many visits they had during evalution? MRI's done Ive got to do a cat scan I know,how much vestibular testing I dont know. Ive got a ton of vestibular tests done from that but they are from 2000 so they probably want fresh ones? Do they do the caloric or water in the ear test?-I HATE that one!!!!They are sending me a pkg.so hopefully that will give me more info.so hard when you have to rely on someone else to make phone calls.
 
Good luck with your first appointment! That's not long away. I have my surgeon's appointment on the day after you.

When I had my vestibular test it was the water in the ear one - sorry! I hope it's different for you. I don't think I will have to repeat the MRI or Cat scan ones again as they usually do the whole lot at once to prevent the need for repetition. I think the surgeon will do a test on my hearing nerve, that I really hate. He sticks a probe in my ear and transmits sound to see if it's working okay. But I don't think everyone has this test though.
 
Thanks for the good wish's R2D2.yuck the water test i hate that!!!!! You are going through all testing to go bi-lat arent you? i thought when you had a CI you couldnt have any mri's? The lady that did mine said well I wont being seeing you ever again(fine by me haha) How come you hate the probe? does it make you feel sick? I saw something on bi-lats Ill try to attach site although Im sure you've probably seen it.http://www.cochlearamericas.com/PDFs/APReport.pdf
 
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