Any one who used to be able to hear have a CI

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madkitten

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I was wondering how you cope???
 
Not sure what you are getting at. Are you referring to somebody who did at one time hear normally and then lose their hearing to the point they decided to get a CI? Or, are you referring to anybody who heard before (aided or not) and just "coping" with hearing with a CI?

There is an important distinction to be made either way. If the person had normal hearing before and now they are using a CI, they have adjustment issues (assuming they have a good sound memory) that things aren't like they were before. On the other hand, those who never had normal hearing (HOH types) that now have a CI have different issues. Some of these issues are hearing new sounds, learning to listen and understand speech (if they didn't before), the "loudness" of sounds (the world is a noisy place).

I'm from the HOH perspective to a CI and I had just one main issue. The world is a noisy place and it can be loud. At this point, I have adjusted to it pretty well. The other stuff such as hearing new sounds wasn't too bad as there really only a few sounds that I didn't really hear before. Understanding speech was never a problem either for me. That was the easiest part of the whole thing.

Bottomline...I'm coping just fine hearing all the noises in the world. :)
 
I'm not sure what you mean by "cope" either. I was hearing until I was 9 years old (lost my hearing after a bout of meningitis) and recieved my CI in 2005 at the age of 33. Its the best thing that has ever happened to me. If you would like to read more about my experience you can check out my CI Blog at Confessions of a Cochlear Implantee
 
Thanks:ty: I was referring to somebody who did at one time hear normally and then lose their hearing to the point they decided to get a CI? .
I get really worried about it .
 
madkitten,


yes there are several of us that were previously able to hear and lost our hearing to the point where we needed a CI, if we wished to continue being able to hear something.

i was born hearing and was hearing tll i was 14.
 
The adjustment to losing hearing is always shocking. For me it was instant, because I woke up from a coma, with my hearing gone. I never had an adjustment period. Although I managed to "fit in" with the deaf community to a point, I always felt like I was a fence straddler, especially because, more than anything, I wanted to HEAR AGAIN!

I had follow-ups with my audie every few years to find out if CI technology had advanced enough to benefit me, with the dream of one day being able to get one. That dream came true :)
 
Hey everyone,

this is my very first post here!

I am a post-lingual CI wearer. I had meningitis which knocked out the hearing in my left ear at age 1. My right ear slowly deteriorated until at 39 I decided to get the implant. (Three years ago, now)

It is definitely weird for me. I feel like I'm in a grey world. I can follow conversations with about 40-60% comprehension. I can hear things really well, I just don't always understand them. Then my battery dies and I'm deaf again. It's like I'm not really deaf but I'm not really a hearing person either. Just trying to find where I can fit it, you know?
 
I'm joining Lillys dad in welcoming TAO !

You've come to the right place!
 
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tao-man said:
Hey everyone,

this is my very first post here!

I am a post-lingual CI wearer. I had meningitis which knocked out the hearing in my left ear at age 1. My right ear slowly deteriorated until at 39 I decided to get the implant. (Three years ago, now)

It is definitely weird for me. I feel like I'm in a grey world. I can follow conversations with about 40-60% comprehension. I can hear things really well, I just don't always understand them. Then my battery dies and I'm deaf again. It's like I'm not really deaf but I'm not really a hearing person either. Just trying to find where I can fit it, you know?
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Welcome to AD!

I hope it all settles for you over time. It can be confusing to say the least. For me, it was a huge step up from a HA and therefore was a very easy transition. I guess I'm very fortunate in that respect. I have to admit though that with my HA off, I was never totally "deaf" and could hear some things. Now with my CI off, I'm definitely totally deaf! That took a little getting used to but now I never think about it anymore. I still think of myself as a HOH type given all the years that I wore a HA (some 44 years). That may be where you can "hang" your hat on and adjust that way.
 
Thanks for the welcoming words everyone. :)

Yeah, it can be a little confusing. I wake up before my wife and little boy, so I don't usually put my processor on until I'm about to head out the door for work. I guess I just like the quiet time.

One of the adjustment issues (to get back to the original thread) is all of the things you can hear now that didn't really impact you before getting a CI - refridgerator motors cycling on and off, computer fans, the sound of myself chewing. That last one makes me really self-conscious sometimes.

My own voice still sounds a little off to me even after three years. I remember when they first activated the CI people's voices sounded as if they were aliens made out of glass. That's the best way I can describe it. There is a musical instrument similar to a harpsichord called a harmonium or something like that. Instead of using strings, it has glasses inside of it. Voices had that same kind of tremulous quality to them. It was definitely odd at the time. My brain has long since adjusted to the new input so that voices aren't that weird anymore but there are still occassional oddities.
 
tao-man said:
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Yeah, it can be a little confusing. I wake up before my wife and little boy, so I don't usually put my processor on until I'm about to head out the door for work. I guess I just like the quiet time.
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Don't feel bad. Like you I get up early and off to work early. I don't put my CI on until I get to work. Who needs the road noise 6:30 in the morning?

tao-man said:
One of the adjustment issues (to get back to the original thread) is all of the things you can hear now that didn't really impact you before getting a CI - refridgerator motors cycling on and off, computer fans, the sound of myself chewing. That last one makes me really self-conscious sometimes.
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I actually like "hearing" all these odd sounds. I remember the first odd noise I heard in the house after the hookup was the refrigerator. I was coming down the stairs to get breakfast and I couldn't figure out what that noise was. It kept getting louder as I approached the kitchen. I finally had to move around the room to "locate" it. I never knew it could be so loud. Now, I usually forget it is even there...amazing how the brain filters sound.

tao-man said:
My own voice still sounds a little off to me even after three years. I remember when they first activated the CI people's voices sounded as if they were aliens made out of glass. That's the best way I can describe it. There is a musical instrument similar to a harpsichord called a harmonium or something like that. Instead of using strings, it has glasses inside of it. Voices had that same kind of tremulous quality to them. It was definitely odd at the time. My brain has long since adjusted to the new input so that voices aren't that weird anymore but there are still occassional oddities.
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Yea, I remember the first week saying "who voice is this?" referring to my voice. :laugh2: Funny, only my voice was really different while the others were more or less how I heard them with my HA.
 
neecy said:
The adjustment to losing hearing is always shocking. For me it was instant, because I woke up from a coma, with my hearing gone. I never had an adjustment period. Although I managed to "fit in" with the deaf community to a point, I always felt like I was a fence straddler, especially because, more than anything, I wanted to HEAR AGAIN!

I had follow-ups with my audie every few years to find out if CI technology had advanced enough to benefit me, with the dream of one day being able to get one. That dream came true :)
Click to expand...

Oh, sounds so much like me! I know what you mean by fence straddler...
 
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