Evaluation Day is here... YAY!

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Johnjoe1011

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Ok my day have finally arrived. Today in the afternoon I will be going to the doctor at the University of Miami for hearing test and cochlear implant evaluation.

Wish me luck. I am praying for this.

JohnJoe
 
Feedback after evaluation

Ok. Went to see Dr. Balkany at the University of Miami Ear Institute yesterday. First appointment was an audiogram. That is the most frustrating test I have ever taken. Obviously I "fail" the test. My right side is gone as y'll know and my left side is 80%. After the audio, I saw the doctor. Was told that initially "Yes" i qualify for the implant.

So now, step 2 is MRI of the head. Yikes, "I Hope they find a brain!", LOL. What the doctor told me with the MRI is that he want to see the size of the cochlea on the right side. Since this side is been dead for so long probably the size of the cochlea is too small. But he is sure the size cochlea on the left side is good enough. Because with the hearing aid i can hear.

Then after the MRI will be the cochlear evaluation. Where basically they will ask me to repeat words me using the hearing aid. I know i am going to fail because i rely on lip reading.

Step 3 will be get insurance approval and then the surgery. Since my resident is not in Miami is in Atlanta he told me that once the surgery is done i need to stay in one place for 1 week. That means i can't fly back home :-(.

So i am nervous but excited at the same time.

Regards - JohnJoe
 
Interesting.

It never occurred to me that my right ear might be too dead for an implant since I haven't worn a HA over it for years and that my cochlea might be too small for an operation.

I do try to stick my HA in it for a minute or so from time to time. The idea is to keep the 8th nerve on the right side alive. Sound is very distorted but otherwise I can hear almost as much as I can with left ear.


Anyway I wish you luck with the implant but boy the things you have to do to get one!
 
LOL deafskeptic! When I received my first CI, I had to wait 6 months between the time of my evaluation and surgery. This was due to cancelled appointments and testing equipment that had not been returned from repair. Without a doubt, I can say the wait was definitely worth it! :)

I know people who haven't heard out of their implanted ear (aided) for 20 or 30 years yet they still do quite well with a CI. That being said, I have no idea how a smaller cochlea would affect CI performance.
 
deafskeptic said:
Interesting.

It never occurred to me that my right ear might be too dead for an implant since I haven't worn a HA over it for years and that my cochlea might be too small for an operation.
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I know it's easy to worry when others discover issues but I would wait until Monday to have your evaluation and then you'll have the facts about your own particular case to hand. It's not long now!

I do try to stick my HA in it for a minute or so from time to time. The idea is to keep the 8th nerve on the right side alive. Sound is very distorted but otherwise I can hear almost as much as I can with left ear.
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That's what I used to do when I was waiting for my CI. I'd stick it in and read with a quiet voice from a book. I didn't do it for too long though as sounds were too painful and loud to me through the hearing aid due to recruitment.
 
Johnjoe,

Congratulations!

You, cleared the first hurdle!

Er...*Scratching my head* Ummm, I'm not sure what they do when they can't find your brain... Sorry, I just couldn't resist... :D
 
Johnjoe,

Congratulations on your candidacy! Good luck with the remainder of your evaluation! :)
 
Since this side is been dead for so long probably the size of the cochlea is too small.
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Oh do you mean ossfication? Like the coachla got ossified and there's no room for the electrodes?
 
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