Aren't we wasting time with HAs...

[Cheri]

They do tell you to keep your expectations and hopes low but your motivation and determination high.

However, I am in disagreement with what you just said, because there are times I've read that they tell their patients that "It could work for you" giving them high expectations that it could work when they're not determined if it could work or could not work 100 hundred percent.

 

[Kaitin]

Thanks - you are very close to what I am trying to say. I went even further than that, and am asking why even WAIT so long -or wait at all- why start with HAs ever instead of going to the source - a CI- right away...?

And no of course I am not being argumentative- I just find it as very interesting topic..

Fuzzy

When is "right away"? After failing newborn screen? After hearing loss is "severe" but before any HAs? Before knowing about the auditory nerve? Before explaining complications? Before education about CI and process? Before knowing risks of surgery? Before insurance?

I read the first post because I thought the title was about "Why are we wasting our time" with arguements about CIs. I thought "Yes. We should stop arguing or doubting others choices. Support only". :roll:

GarnetTigerMom said "I hope no one gonna judge me on that for getting CI". No. You decide for you - why judge?

 

[shel90]

When is "right away"? After failing newborn screen? After hearing loss is "severe" but before any HAs? Before knowing about the auditory nerve? Before explaining complications? Before education about CI and process? Before knowing risks of surgery? Before insurance?

I read the first post because I thought the title was about "Why are we wasting our time" with arguements about CIs. I thought "Yes. We should stop arguing or doubting others choices. Support only". :roll:

GarnetTigerMom said "I hope no one gonna judge me on that for getting CI". No. You decide for you - why judge?

To me, this thread feels like a judgement of those who dont opt for CIs. Maybe I am making an assumption but that is the feeling I got.

 

[contradica]

Ok then tell me how come some experienced nothing or not getting as much out of their cochlear implant--can you please explain if you know?

It must be very, very rare for someone not to hear something at activation if they have a working auditory nerve and a working implant. I haven't heard of one case upon activation they did not hear something because the implant failed or the auditory nerve is dead. Something being any kind of sound. Not to say that has not happened. That is why those tests are done, as a preventative measure to make sure the implant works at the time of activation and the auditory nerve is receptive to the electrical pulse from the implant. It sounds awful at first, but it takes time to maximize the benefit of the implant. Then again the prospective benefits gained are based on the individual and their history.

 

[Kaitin]

To me, this thread feels like a judgement of those who dont opt for CIs. Maybe I am making an assumption but that is the feeling I got.

Me too, Shel. I think "settle for HAs" is negative and judgement of those who don't want CIs. Maybe this wasn't the meaning and was not written clearly in first post.

 

[vallee]

However, I am in disagreement with what you just said, because there are times I've read that they tell their patients that "It could work for you" giving them high expectations that it could work when they're not determined if it could work or could not work 100 hundred percent.

My doctor told me the same thing about expectations and determination. I don't believe my doctor or audie told me that "It could work for you." They were very truthful and everything was based on research. My doctor e-mailed me more times they I can count on the countless questions I had, during the year of insurance denials. He answered everything. Not once did he say this was a miracle or cure. He always said my expectations have to be realistic.

 

[deafdyke]

That's easy Audiofuzzy. Everyone with hearing loss is very different. There are actually people with severe and profound losses who hear too well with HAs ( ie they are functionally hoh) to even qualify for CI.
And I mean there's always the old saw that two people with the same audiogram won't respond the same to amplification.
Also, the etoilgies and the histories behind those who are ambigious canidates are just so varied.
Even with the "OMG I love it!" crew, there's still a lot of people who haven't even gotten implanted.
It could be the "OMG this is so much better then what I was experiancing" effect........lots of implantees have progressive losses, etc.
Saying that the CI is "always" better then HAs, for ambigi cases is like saying that digital HAs are always better then analogs.

 

[shel90]

Me too, Shel. I think "settle for HAs" is negative and judgement of those who don't want CIs. Maybe this wasn't the meaning and was not written clearly in first post.

Yea and I agree and the term "wasting our time" is negative too. Just because the poster feels she is wasting her time doesnt mean I feel that I am wasting my time. Too much negative wording which gave me that feeling.

 

[vallee]

To me, this thread feels like a judgement of those who dont opt for CIs. Maybe I am making an assumption but that is the feeling I got.

I hope not. I hope it is an open discussion on the benefits of ha and ci. With all the positive comments from several people with CI, I can see how a person could think this. Hey let me get a CI and forgot this ha.

All of us make different choices, we chose different path, we want different outcomes. The one things that ties us together is either a hearing loss or a family member with a hearing loss. We support, debate, and bond as a community over our hearing.

 

[jillio]

I understand what you are saying Cheri but I am discussing why stick to old technology when the new, better one is available?

Fuzzy

Because not everyone is focused on hearing only. Because not everyone qualifies. Because doctors have to stick to certain criteria in deciding candicacy. Why don't you have a CI?

 

[jillio]

Yea and I agree and the term "wasting our time" is negative too. Just because the poster feels she is wasting her time doesnt mean I feel that I am wasting my time. Too much negative wording which gave me that feeling.

One is only wasting one's time when one sits back and waits for a miracle to come along and fix one. While waiting for that miracle, live the life you have, achieve the optimal levels, and you might just find that you don't need the miracle at all. You are fine just as you are.

 

[shel90]

I hope not. I hope it is an open discussion on the benefits of ha and ci. With all the positive comments from several people with CI, I can see how a person could think this. Hey let me get a CI and forgot this ha.

All of us make different choices, we chose different path, we want different outcomes. The one things that ties us together is either a hearing loss or a family member with a hearing loss. We support, debate, and bond as a community over our hearing.

I think I am just remembering the other arguments in the other threads and letting them cloud my judgement when I read the first post of this thread. I dont know...

 

[shel90]

One is only wasting one's time when one sits back and waits for a miracle to come along and fix one. While waiting for that miracle, live the life you have, achieve the optimal levels, and you might just find that you don't need the miracle at all. You are fine just as you are.

It took me a long and hard road to accept my deafness. If I lose my hearing completely and dont benefit from HAs at all, maybe I would consider getting a CI but for now, my HAs work well for me.

 

[contradica]

However, I am in disagreement with what you just said, because there are times I've read that they tell their patients that "It could work for you" giving them high expectations that it could work when they're not determined if it could work or could not work 100 hundred percent.

That is okay. I am just going by what other people have said going through CI evaluations and my own personal experience. It was drilled in my head actually. (no pun intended) However, I should point out that the key word is "could." Just like a pace maker for a patient that has a irregular heart beat, they will say this could normalize the heart beat but the probability is there that it could not. There is nothing written in stone. I was told it could work and could not and they have no way of knowing 100%. In retrospect, no one ever said that about hearing aids, here you go this is going to work 100%. It just comes with the territory, we are never going to be 100% hearing regardless.

We are getting a little off topic, and to reiterate my take on this topic, I am both CI and HA user currently I will stand by my opinion that all other options should be exhausted before a CI is considered.

 

[Deafilmedia]

no way we are wasting time on hearing aid.

I love my hearing aid, I must hear. I love to watch movies with sound.
I want to hear music too.

I want to listen to people talking and everything.

 

[deafskeptic]

I'd say the reason is CI's won't work for everybody. It's not a "one-size-fits-all" scenario.

Nods. Even if others qualify for implants they may not want them and we have to respect that. Still others have losses that are better treated with different metholds.

 

[vallee]

I did lose all my hearing in my right ear. I walked around with a hearing aid on for around 7 years without hearing in that ear. I would have worn ha if they worked, but I did not get any benefit from it at all.

I agree with Jillio - you can't sit back and wait for a miracle. You have to live your life and break the doors down. Of course make your own miracle - one you are comfortable with.

Back to the topic -

 

[jillio]

It took me a long and hard road to accept my deafness. If I lose my hearing completely and dont benefit from HAs at all, maybe I would consider getting a CI but for now, my HAs work well for me.

Right. HAs don't stop you from achieving everything you set out to achieve.

 

[Bear]

I am an AB Bionics Hi Res 90K Auria user. And even though I love my CI, there was a time when hearing aids did work for me.

When I had my hearing aids, I was asked by my audiologist if I ever considered the CI? I said no, I havent, because I heard they destroy residual hearing and may not even work. I told her why I would I take the chance with the hearing I do have with my hearing aids for something that may or may not work for me.

She said I just wondered because you would be a perfect candidate. I told her no thanks.

Some of us are happy with the benifits we get from our hearing aids. Even if that benefit isnt what you would consider to be a benefit. Not everyone wants to lose that residual hearing.

Although CI technology now is working to preserve that residual hearing, which is one reason why I chose AB, is that they have the soft tip technology now.

The only reason why I chose a CI was because my hearing progressed to such a loss that hearing aids no longer worked for me. It took me 9 months to even decide to start asking question of those CI users I trusted *ty for that GTM and Auntie for answering all those countless of questions of mine*.

I agree with other posters, a CI should be a last resort choice, not a first choice.

 

[ismi]

I don't know that it's so clear that CIs are better than hearing aids.

Obviously, I haven't fully adjusted, but the sound quality through my hearing aids when I was a kid was far superior to the quality through my CI now - and even if the experience ends up being the same or equivalent once I'm done rewiring, hearing aids took a *lot* less time to get used to. That right there is a big plus. At this point, the CI is better for me because hearing aids don't function nearly as well as I'd like in the range that my hearing loss is; but that doesn't mean that CIs don't function better for other kinds of losses. Nor does it mean that the cons associated with a CI are outweighed by the benefits of a CI for everyone who might have a 'better' auditory experience with a CI.