Bilateral Implants

darkangel8603 said:
I emailed my audi, she said...

With respect to bilaterals, right now they are being done in children and primary through research. We have such a long waiting list for the adults that we simply cannot justify giving a patient two devices when so many people are waiting for one.

so... i guess that means no.
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Ah, oh well. They do have a good point, though.
Maybe in the future it will be more available.
 
I'm also a bilateral implantee. I received my first CI in 2004 and my second in 2006. Prior to receiving my second CI, I used a HA in my nonimplanted ear. It worked extremely well in the beginning, but as time went on (6 months post activation), I noticed a significant decrease in my ability to hear with the HA. Before deciding to go bilateral my HA audi made every possible change to my HA -- all to no avail. I tried using a digital and analog HA, but neither brought the volume or clarity that my CI did. It wasn't until my CI surgeon recommended a second CI (9 month post op) that I finally made up my mind that this was the decision I wanted to make. Like previous posters, I've noticed a significant improvement in my ability to understand speech overall, hear in noise and localize sound (imperative for me being totally blind). With both CIs, I've also noticed that speech and music have a more natural sound quality. Long story short, I couldn't be happier with the choice I've made and if I had to do it all over again, I would in a heartbeat! My only regret is not having done it sooner.

Edit: I must have been writing this at the same time you sent a post regarding your audi's e-mail response. Too bad. (I mean that sincerely.) Perhaps you could come to the U.S. to have a second CI?
 
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Oceanbreeze, and Cloggy please don't jump down my throat. Yes, bilateral CI can be really good. I'm NOT anti-bilateral CI. However, if you ask ANY reputable audi, they will say that EVERYONE responds differently to various and sundry hearing technology. People might respond JUST AS WELL to bimodal (CI and HA combo) as they would with bilateral CI. Not everyone with a profound loss, has a flat "deep" profound loss.
And yes, I don't have a CI............BUT, I also know that audilogy fitting can be very hit or miss. It's worth it to experiment.
 
deafdyke said:
Oceanbreeze, and Cloggy please don't jump down my throat. Yes, bilateral CI can be really good. I'm NOT anti-bilateral CI. However, if you ask ANY reputable audi, they will say that EVERYONE responds differently to various and sundry hearing technology. People might respond JUST AS WELL to bimodal (CI and HA combo) as they would with bilateral CI. Not everyone with a profound loss, has a flat "deep" profound loss.
And yes, I don't have a CI............BUT, I also know that audilogy fitting can be very hit or miss. It's worth it to experiment.
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And, any bilateral CI user will contradict the audi. Most audi's are hearing and not CI users, so they don't know what the CI users know.
 
deafdyke said:
Wait, a sec darkangel.......aren't you in Canada? It might be VERY difficult to get a second CI then. The dual CI thing seems to be mostly in the US....and even public insurance doesn't cover dual CIs.
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darkangel, I'm also from Canada - what province are you in? If you are in B.C., who is your audi? I'm 19 and I just got implanted (first time) a few days ago (Monday). Before then they pressed on the idea of bilateral implants a few times while I had never even thought of/mentioned it. They said that, depending on the person's hearing loss/history, they do often urge people to get bilateral CI's and that I was one of those people.
 
Oceanbreeze said:
And, any bilateral CI user will contradict the audi. Most audi's are hearing and not CI users, so they don't know what the CI users know.
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Well, you both have valid and true points.
Imagine me, trying to be a mediator... haha. :)
 
Hear Again: I doubt I would be able to go to the state to get one, I cannot afford to buy one myself, or get health insurance.

kimpossible i am from Ontario. although the place i got my first was in London Ont, there are also 2 other hospital who does it, but i don't know if its all the same for ontario or just that hospital.
 
Oceanbreeze, I guess the matter won't be settled until someone does a survey of the CI populution. It's really hard to tell thou, since it's pretty much a fact that two people with the same audiogram can respond very differently to different hearing technologies.
kim, could it be that they only have bilateral CI for specific popultions?
darkangel.......quick question. Are you working with an audi who has extensive experiance with the pediatric dhh popultion? And it does kinda suck that you couldn't get a second CI easily, but at least you're getting a ton of benifit from your first one!
 
deafdyke said:
Oceanbreeze, I guess the matter won't be settled until someone does a survey of the CI populution. It's really hard to tell thou, since it's pretty much a fact that two people with the same audiogram can respond very differently to different hearing technologies.
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Well, alot of people I've read here, and other places, say it makes a sizable difference. I think that speaks for itself.
 
Well, I *know* there's been a lot of POSITIVE talks about bilaterals. All the people that I'm familiar with on this forum that has bilateral loves it.

What I want to know is if anyone had any NEGATIVE experiences with being bilateral. I do know one lady that was, but it's mainly because the first implant was kind of messed up/something's up with the electrode array...and she's working on getting that fixed. She does love her second CI though.

If there's NO negative experiences, it kind of proves that bilateral gives a lot more benefit than just having one. The issue is that the current population that has one CI, more often they're happy and satisfied with just one, and wouldn't consider of getting another.

I have 8 friends who have CI. I'm the only one that have bilateral. Few of them have reasons why they won't go through second surgery.
 
The only negative I can think of is that both CIs work together and the sound quality if so different with only one.
 
vallee said:
The only negative I can think of is that both CIs work together and the sound quality if so different with only one.
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vallee- Would you expand on this please, I do not understand how this is a negative? Thankcue. (maybe I just need more coffee :))
 
vallee said:
The only negative I can think of is that both CIs work together and the sound quality if so different with only one.
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Sorry if I misunderstand, but this sounds like "When you are used to 2 CI's, losing one really sucks, because the quality goes down".
But that's the same with 1 CI... losing that 1 and hearing nothing probably sucks as well...

Anyway... failed to see the negative view in your post.. which is actually quite positive....
 
loml said:
vallee- Would you expand on this please, I do not understand how this is a negative? Thankcue. (maybe I just need more coffee :))
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I *think* what she means is that because you have two, they both have different sound quailty, and you kind of have to work with the two.

Vallee - correct me if I'm wrong..I have NO idea what it's like...yet!
 
LadySekhmet said:
Well, I *know* there's been a lot of POSITIVE talks about bilaterals. All the people that I'm familiar with on this forum that has bilateral loves it.

What I want to know is if anyone had any NEGATIVE experiences with being bilateral. I do know one lady that was, but it's mainly because the first implant was kind of messed up/something's up with the electrode array...and she's working on getting that fixed. She does love her second CI though.

If there's NO negative experiences, it kind of proves that bilateral gives a lot more benefit than just having one. The issue is that the current population that has one CI, more often they're happy and satisfied with just one, and wouldn't consider of getting another.

I have 8 friends who have CI. I'm the only one that have bilateral. Few of them have reasons why they won't go through second surgery.
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You're right.. there should be some negative experiences, but from what I hear the negative experiences generally have to do with cost. Because, if it is not covered by insurance, it is very expensive. Also, more equipment, battery-cost and other issues (cost of any possible failure) I'm sure.

Check with your friends.. Why don't they consider another CI? Perhaps cost, but perhaps the step from deafness to hearing sounds is so huge, that imagining another step upwards is too big to conceive.. And when one does not have bi-lateral experiences around you, how should you know the additional benefit.
Looking forward to hear how they think..
 
deafdyke said:
Oceanbreeze, I guess the matter won't be settled until someone does a survey of the CI populution. It's really hard to tell thou, since it's pretty much a fact that two people with the same audiogram can respond very differently to different hearing technologies.
kim, could it be that they only have bilateral CI for specific popultions?
darkangel.......quick question. Are you working with an audi who has extensive experiance with the pediatric dhh popultion? And it does kinda suck that you couldn't get a second CI easily, but at least you're getting a ton of benifit from your first one!
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humm I'm not too sure about that, but i would think she does, she works with both children and adults.
 
Darkangel, is there any way that you could see an audi who is affliated with a School for the Deaf? You know......someone who is very very familair with the pediatric dhh population, and might know of tips and tricks and things that a general audi wouldn't. You know......even if a traditional HA doesn't and hasn't really given you a lot of benifit, you might want to see if the more nontraditional "HAs" might help you a bit. By nontraditional, I mean things like the ImpAct aid and maybe even a tactile aid.
 
Cloggy said:
Check with your friends.. Why don't they consider another CI? Perhaps cost, but perhaps the step from deafness to hearing sounds is so huge, that imagining another step upwards is too big to conceive.. And when one does not have bi-lateral experiences around you, how should you know the additional benefit.
Looking forward to hear how they think..
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Two of them feel that one is enough. One refused to "get her head cracked open", and blames on the fact that she's on immune-suppressant drugs hindering her (which is kind of a valid reason but still the first comment?), One doesn't really use her CI that much anyways...she just wanted a taste of having a CI. I haven't really talked to the others, so I can't tell you why they won't consider it. I'm the only one out of all of them (not to be an egoist), that is more excited about CI and learning the history of CI, learning other people's experiences, and have my own blog about CI journey. The others feel "it's just another device". Make sense?
 
deafdyke said:
Darkangel, is there any way that you could see an audi who is affliated with a School for the Deaf? You know......someone who is very very familair with the pediatric dhh population, and might know of tips and tricks and things that a general audi wouldn't. You know......even if a traditional HA doesn't and hasn't really given you a lot of benifit, you might want to see if the more nontraditional "HAs" might help you a bit. By nontraditional, I mean things like the ImpAct aid and maybe even a tactile aid.
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I don't think so, isn't pediatric for children? I am not in school anymore so i doubt an audi from school for the deaf would be able to do anything, not only that there is a real shortage of audi at deaf schools in ontario. in fact i havent even seen one audi at school when i was there for hte last 10 yrs
 
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