Cochlear Implant Explantation

Mary Gorton

Mary Gorton

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Does anyone have any experience with CI explantation?
 
a few were around here...i've met a few also in my day..
but i havtn seen them around here for a while.
 
Which brand CI do you have? Maybe go to their support/community website and ask there (if you haven't already).
 
LoveBlue said:
Which brand CI do you have? Maybe go to their support/community website and ask there (if you haven't already).
Click to expand...

I have a Med El. I spoke with an audiologist from Med El yesterday, and she would think it should come out for a couple reasons. I will share them with my surgeon tomorrow. I'm also worried that an explantation surgery wouldn't be covered by insurance.
 
Mary Gorton said:
I have a Med El. I spoke with an audiologist from Med El yesterday, and she would think it should come out for a couple reasons. I will share them with my surgeon tomorrow. I'm also worried that an explantation surgery wouldn't be covered by insurance.
Click to expand...

I would think that the key to the insurance coverage would not be that it is explantation surgery but why it is being done.
 
Exactly. The Med El rep said that there are 7 Tesla MRIs being done in Europe. My CI is compatible with 3 Tesla. Given I have NF2, and will need scans at the least once a year for the rest of my life, and the rapid growth of medical technology, it might be a good idea to get it out now where there's little scar tissue, than wait til I NEED it out when it will be embedded in scar tissue.
 
If you don't mind to tell, why do you want to excise your CI?

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
Ok thx :)
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I want it removed because it doesn't work. Well, I think IT works, but my auditory nerve doesn't. Anyways, I met with my surgeon yesterday at Mayo, and I am having it removed this Wed. He's taking the whole thing out, including the electrodes. A reason he agreed was the nature of NF2 and that I'll be needing MRIs at least once a year. The Med El CI is compatible with 3 tesla, so it's safe without removing the magnet, but it can also cast shadows, sacrificing some image qualities of my tumors. I'm glad it's getting out. One day shy of a month in my head:)
 
Mary Gorton said:
I want it removed because it doesn't work. Well, I think IT works, but my auditory nerve doesn't. Anyways, I met with my surgeon yesterday at Mayo, and I am having it removed this Wed. He's taking the whole thing out, including the electrodes. A reason he agreed was the nature of NF2 and that I'll be needing MRIs at least once a year. The Med El CI is compatible with 3 tesla, so it's safe without removing the magnet, but it can also cast shadows, sacrificing some image qualities of my tumors. I'm glad it's getting out. One day shy of a month in my head:)
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That makes sense, and thanks for an explanation.
Good luck with the surgery and all! wishing you speedy and painless recovery!

Fuzzy
 
Audiofuzzy said:
That makes sense, and thanks for an explanation.
Good luck with the surgery and all! wishing you speedy and painless recovery!

Fuzzy
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Thank you. I don't think it will be painless.... I'm already cringing at the fact that he's going to make the same incision as less than a month ago. It's still sore and I still wear some gauze on my glasses. But that's what pain meds are for;)
 
LOL that's right :)
Don't be squirmy or shy, demand good and the best stuff only! and enough of it!

Fuzzy
 
Mary Gorton said:
I want it removed because it doesn't work. Well, I think IT works, but my auditory nerve doesn't. Anyways, I met with my surgeon yesterday at Mayo, and I am having it removed this Wed. He's taking the whole thing out, including the electrodes. A reason he agreed was the nature of NF2 and that I'll be needing MRIs at least once a year. The Med El CI is compatible with 3 tesla, so it's safe without removing the magnet, but it can also cast shadows, sacrificing some image qualities of my tumors. I'm glad it's getting out. One day shy of a month in my head:)
Click to expand...

Keep in mind that ANY metal will cast shadows on CT AND MRI. Your fillings in your teeth (if you have any could cause static (ESP on CT).

You CAN get another brand without the magnet and use a headband for when you want to hear but not be at risk during an MRI.

IF you get bilateral acoustic neuromas that aren't resectible you qualify for an auditory brain stem implant. At that point your 8cranial nerve will have been resected so cochlear implants won't do a damn thing but ABIs are getting better.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It is hard enough to loose your hearing but it must be very hard to vice up the thing that let your hear. (If my implant had to be removed I'd be in a puddle of tears on the floor. It has opened up so much to me (but I still sign))
 
ecp said:
Keep in mind that ANY metal will cast shadows on CT AND MRI. Your fillings in your teeth (if you have any could cause static (ESP on CT).

You CAN get another brand without the magnet and use a headband for when you want to hear but not be at risk during an MRI.

IF you get bilateral acoustic neuromas that aren't resectible you qualify for an auditory brain stem implant. At that point your 8cranial nerve will have been resected so cochlear implants won't do a damn thing but ABIs are getting better.

I'm sorry you're dealing with this. It is hard enough to loose your hearing but it must be very hard to vice up the thing that let your hear. (If my implant had to be removed I'd be in a puddle of tears on the floor. It has opened up so much to me (but I still sign))
Click to expand...



I DO have bilateral acoustic neuromas. That's how I got diagnosed with NF2. That ear is toast to any CIs, because my auditory nerve is dead.
 
you surgery removal then nerval 1% damage nerve remove implant then you will surgery implant eligable.. you cahoice. interesting new nerve is 1 % percent your nerve is cause after damage will soon coming pretty pull implant (metal and coil then 2 hours surgery)
 
Mary Gorton said:
I want it removed because it doesn't work. Well, I think IT works, but my auditory nerve doesn't. Anyways, I met with my surgeon yesterday at Mayo, and I am having it removed this Wed. He's taking the whole thing out, including the electrodes. A reason he agreed was the nature of NF2 and that I'll be needing MRIs at least once a year. The Med El CI is compatible with 3 tesla, so it's safe without removing the magnet, but it can also cast shadows, sacrificing some image qualities of my tumors. I'm glad it's getting out. One day shy of a month in my head:)
Click to expand...

Why were you given a cochlear implant if you had NF2? Did you have a another condition causing sensorineural hearing loss before being diagnosed?
 
ecp said:
IF you get bilateral acoustic neuromas that aren't resectible you qualify for an auditory brain stem implant. At that point your 8cranial nerve will have been resected so cochlear implants won't do a damn thing but ABIs are getting better.
Click to expand...

That's good to know.

I recently read that long time users of ABIs do better with speech recognition than was previously thought.
 
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