Adults who have (or had) a CI

[Endy]

You're welcome !! Check with your insurance company.

Okay, when I go to insurance company, before I talk to them, what do you call the plan that they'd know what I am talking about? I speak of words, what you guys call it with the name. What kind of the insurance plan under the insurance company would cover the entire cost of the procedure? I believe that there is specified name for the plan that covers the CI procedure.

Such as Auto, House, Boat, Health, Life, etc. What do you guys call the plan to cover CI procedure?

 

[Hear Again]

Endy,

I could be wrong, but if I'm not mistaken, it doesn't have a specific name. Insurance payments are based on certain diagnostic codes for sensorineural hearing loss, cochlear implant surgery, cochlear implant programming, etc.

 

[Liebling:-)))]

I voted Other because I don´t have CI.

It would be different story if I am teenager at 80s time but I think it´s too old for me to have CI. It mean that I have to visit therapy to train to hear the sound... Where´s my time?

No, I rather to spend my time with my family and life over go to therapy to train to hear the sound.

I´m happy what I am...

 

[LadySekhmet]

I see... Sounds like I may not be a candidate. I was a perfect baby with hearing, until 14 months old... I lost both to spinal meningitis. My cilia hair is wiped out. However, my past audiologists were eager developing on my hearing ability with hearing aids. Most of the times I wore HA in my mainstreaming programs in elementary and middle schools. I had been in my speech therapy whole time in my young years meanwhile I heavily use ASL. I became more active and I rarely use HA in my high school because of daily uses of interpreters. Last two years, I was transferred to Deaf school.

I can lipread a little bit, thanks to my jobs, I picked up on my pace to understand people through reading lips. What about my right ear - 95dB and left 110dB (both no aids). My willigness to work hard in order to understand and aim to get great benefits.

However my parents did their homeworks, the ENT doctor recommended my parents the ideas of CI when I was 11 years old.

Would I fall in the category to be a potential candidate?

The amount of hearing loss you have is profound enough for a CI, but it also depends on healthy cochlea. Missing hair cells is mostly the majority reason why people are deaf. Another way to tell is your sentence discrimination scores. (basically repeating words or sentences WITHOUT lipreading). If it's poor, then there may be a chance. Not only that, the MRI needs to be good and overall health.

I got my CI solely because music sounded horrible and found that my hearing loss got worse...Right ear was 88db loss, then it was 96db loss at the time of candidacy process. Left was 94db, then dropped to 105db. My scores was 6% in my left, 22% in my right. Now with the CI, it's over 50%. Big difference.

Like I said in my previous posts, if you are seriously considering it, I suggest you to wear your hearing aids again to simulate your nerves..kind of waking them up a little bit. It may sound too soft, or not loud enough...it doesn't matter, it is at least simulating your nerves in preparation for CI activation.

 

[AlleyCat]

Okay, when I go to insurance company, before I talk to them, what do you call the plan that they'd know what I am talking about? I speak of words, what you guys call it with the name. What kind of the insurance plan under the insurance company would cover the entire cost of the procedure? I believe that there is specified name for the plan that covers the CI procedure.

Such as Auto, House, Boat, Health, Life, etc. What do you guys call the plan to cover CI procedure?

Contact your medical insurance. If you don't have medical insurance, can you get medicare or any other form of health insurance?

(the "Auto, House, Boat, Health, Life, etc." that you quoted falls under personal/homeowners insurance and CIs do not fall under those categories at all.)

And if you do have medical insurance, all you need to ask about is whether CIs are covered, simple as that. If you need extra help let me know.

 

[overthepond]

Hey Endy,

I have similar hearing loss as you have but was born profound deaf so my hearing had been pretty much same for 30 years until I was implanted. Man, gotta tell you it's alot better than HA's with time and patience.

Wearing CI is love and hate relationship, there is some days (especially at the start) the sounds are high pitched then it granually softens up and becomes clearer, As i was born deaf i never heard the highs so they started me off with highs. As i kept my expectations low I kept wearing it even it sounded horrible, I just bear with it. That patience paid off with new sounds coming in my ear. There were tears and grumpiness at first. Now as 2 month post activation I love it!

Hearagain,lady and others had given you good advices.

Wearing hearing aid again is a good idea, just to wake your brain up a bit! LOL, also it would tell the CI centre how you fare with them.
Do you have good spoken language/ or is speaking okay but is willing to keep speaking aswell as with ASL? Spoken language is another thing that CI centres looks in good candaicy (this applies in UK, i don't know about US).

Good luck with your journey, do let us know how you got on, remember to Keep the expecations low

Charlotte

PS, I have lost few friends to CI, and i think they are not worth the friendship if they don't accept me for who i am. I haven't changed one bit, the only change is that my ear had improved thats all!

 

[Almyra]

HI Endy. Yes, ask your health insurance company if they cover cochlear implants. Mine said yes but only if I meet the medical criteria. I thought I was a shoo-in at 90 & 105 decibels hearing loss but they look at other scores also. I did so well lip-reading and talking with the audiologist during the evaluation that insurance denied my eligibility for the 90 decibels ear. I was shocked. I thought just being beyond 70 decibels was enough. So take care during the listening & lip-reading tests and only give responses when you actually know the words you are hearing. Do not make guesses.

I am hoping that during the appeal for my second implant, they will allow me to re-test. The first ENT doctor says I have 11% speech discrimination. The second ENT doctor scored me at 60%. This is a huge discrepancy!

I have been deaf since 2, and I have made a 180 degrees turnaround on this CI issue in just a few months. Amazing how a little education can open my mind. My surgery is scheduled for Dec 4, and I am looking forward to it.

- Almyra

 

[Pinky]

No, because they are for CI users. Since they know what a CI feels like which you and me don't.

If you have friends with CI then you can use the other poll I created. If not I suggest you better find some real life friends with CI. They can help you through the experience. They will also know better if you are suitable. It's easy to give advice on line but sometimes the advice really needs to depend on the person you are speaking to.

In my personal experience not everyone IS a viable canditdate for a CI.

I am sorry. I wish I have an implant now. LoL I did make a post comment on your other thread.

 

[HorseRace]

CI is not for me anyway.. i am proud to be deaf smile i am so glad

 

[dreama]

I'm going to reserect this thread too. 18 CI users took part in poll. Most of whom were implanted as adults.

Four CI users answered my questions and say they are happy with their CI's.

 

[Hear Again]

CI is not for me anyway.. i am proud to be deaf smile i am so glad

I'm curious about something. Why do people think that just because someone chooses a CI for themselves or their child that they (or their child) aren't proud of being deaf? I don't understand. Could someone explain this to me please because a CI does not make one "hearing" and when the CI is removed, a person or child is still deaf.

 

[Buffalo]

I'm curious about something. Why do people think that just because someone chooses a CI for themselves or their child that they (or their child) aren't proud of being deaf? I don't understand. Could someone explain this to me please because a CI does not make one "hearing" and when the CI is removed, a person or child is still deaf.

I read somewhere on AD sometimes ago that a poster had said that he/she knew someone who quitted the Deaf community after getting CI. Could that be the reason? A change in the attitude of the CIer caused others to see that the CIer is not proud of being Deaf anymore?

 

[Hear Again]

I read somewhere on AD sometimes ago that a poster had said that he/she knew someone who quitted the Deaf community after getting CI. Could that be the reason? A change in the attitude of the CIer caused others to see that the CIer is not proud of being Deaf anymore?

It very well could be.

Even though I have CIs, I still participate in my local Deaf and Deafblind communities. My CIs aren't going to change that nor will they in the future.

 

[overthepond]

I am CI User and since i was implanted I have been in deaf commuities more than i ever had when i was just HA user, which i was pushed out because i was too oral!!!! and strange thing the attidude had changed because i have CI. I made new friends, they are Deaf. At end of the day we all have same thing in common WE ARE STILL DEAF!!!!.

 

[Hear Again]

At end of the day we all have same thing in common WE ARE STILL DEAF!!!!.

 

[dreama]

I am CI User and since i was implanted I have been in deaf commuities more than i ever had when i was just HA user.

This is good to know.

 

[~*Kaelei*~]

I'm interested in the personal experiences of those with a CI and what affects they have on your chosen lifestyle. Please take part in Poll and also answer in more detail if you feel up to it.

What is the best thing about wearing a CI? The best thing about wearing a CI is being able to hear sounds.
What is the worst thing about wearing a CI? The worst thing about wearing a CI is that your ear can be a bit sore on top of your ear after wearing CI for so long... there has been times that my ear feels sore, like a bit raw. But it doesn't happen often.
Is there anything that you think people should know about CI before they decide to get one for themselves or their children? CI isn't for everyone. I have known people that CI didn't work for them, but there are CIs that does work for other people like me. I never regret it that my parents had made the decision of getting CI for me when I was only four. Only get CI because you want it, because you want to have a better opportunity in your life, not because everyone has it, not because people are pressuring you into getting it otherwise you wouldn't be happy with it.

I hope this answers your questions Dreama

 

[Grummer]

I am CI User and since i was implanted I have been in deaf commuities more than i ever had when i was just HA user, which i was pushed out because i was too oral!!!! and strange thing the attidude had changed because i have CI. I made new friends, they are Deaf. At end of the day we all have same thing in common WE ARE STILL DEAF!!!!.

how come? i mean how come this attitude towards you changed?
Like with you having CI's and hearing more and speaking and understanding ghe hearing world more? i just find this mesmerising that they welcome you more! ? with the HA you had before you had a choice to take it off, (same thing with CI, but the implant itsefl remains). its just weird.
Could you say, recount an experience or two, give examples?
I find this intriguing

 

[Hear Again]

Is there a link to the websites showing who would be a candidate?

You can find websites that list CI candidacy criteria by doing a Google search for "CI candidacy + criteria" or "CI candidate + criteria."

 

[dreama]

I hope this answers your questions Dreama

Thanks for answering my questions Kaelei. How much can you hear with it? Do you need to lipread? Can you hear anything without lipreading?