Freedom vs. Med EL and 1 vs. 2 implants

[Hondu]

Hello
Have a profound hearing loss and have gone thru phase 1 to determine candidacy for CI. ENT surgeon told me today that I am a great candidate for CI. I was leaning toward toward Med EL because the magnetic piece look like it would not require as much to be taken off of my skull, any future MRI would not require a mini-surgery because it is compatible, and the BTE is slimmer, so I figure that it would be more comfortable than the Freedom and the AB.

So I asked him which he recommends and he pointed out that the Freedom and AB takes a smaller incision, and surgery is only one hour while the Med EL requires a larger incision is 1.5 hours of surgery.

In addition, he says I could have 2 implanted now, or one now and the other 6 months to a year from now. My intention all along was to have only one implant. He said one would be just fine but 2 would be even better, if I want the second one. Anyway, he is submitting for 2 implants to the insurance company and that I will decide later on one vs. two. I am very interested in finding out how much my insurance will cover so that I will know what my out of pocket amount will be.

Appointments have been set for phase 2 which include MRI/Cat Scan, Auditory-Verbal Eval., and Neuro-psychology eval.

What I am looking for in feedback is any pros and cons on Freedom over Med EL?
Also, anyone here who may have two implants that can enlighten me on the advantages/disadvantages of such?

 

[Cloggy]

Hi, welcome to AllDeaf,

I live in Norway, where only Freedom (Cochlear) and MedEl are available for implantation.
Our daughter was 2 when she got CI and we did a lot of research on the two systems.
Things that made us choose Freedom was:
At the time, cochlear just came out with Freedom. (Our daughter is probably the first in the world with Freedom inside and outside) The technology for the electrode was therefore the best.
Freedom provides 22 electrodes, compared to 16 for MedEl.
We liked the Freedom BTE better than the MedEl. And have to say, still do.
Cochlear would provide us the second CI for free. We would have to pay for the operation ourself. (Our luck when Norwegian government had decided to offer ALL children bi-lateral CI)

An advantage of MedEl: They apper to be able to insert the electrode array deeper into the cochlea, stimulating a longer frequecy range.)

MedEl and Cochlear.has excellent information regarding bi-lateral studies. Just to call them and ask.
For us, bi-lateral CI has been bliss. One appearent benefit is that one of the processors failed.. she could still hear.
Another is the obvious directional hearing. She actually knows where sounds come from. For you this might not be a big deal because you allready adapted to "knowing" where to expect sounds from.
And thirdly.. she has NO problems understanding in noisy environment. This was a problem when 1 processor failed, and she was left with 1 ear.

Actually, the main reason for Freedom was the 22 electrodes. If some electrodes had to be turned off, there would still be plenty left. Also, some argue about virtual electrodes.. and my reasoning was that that can be done with all electrode arrays.

Anyway, choosing is not easy. Here on AllDeaf there are many people that use CI and will be able to give you first-hand information.

Good luck.

 

[Hondu]

Cloggy:

Thanks for the reply and the warm welcome.

I was in your country back in 1999 while on a Russia/Scandanavia cruise. Nice place to visit especially in the summer since I don't like cold and snow.

As for the CI, I am 52 and late deafen starting around 26 year of age. I also live in Texas. I bet you've heard of it due to the current occupant in our White House. My hearing has slowly decreased as the years went by so that now hearing aids are pretty much useless.

I'm on the fast track for the CI and want to get first hand info instead of only what is fed to me by the audi and ENT. I noticed my post has about 30 views but only your reply.
About how many hours per day does your daughter wear the processor and how many days does "mini" rechargeable battery last?

 

[Cloggy]

There will be others that will reply. Just be patient..

Lotte wears them all day. From when she (and we) get up - 07:00) to when she goes to bed (19:00). The batteries (smaal ones in the BTE) will last about three days. Sometines shorted when the battery is from a bad batch, sometimes less when there has been a lot of noise.. They probably last longer but we change them anyway after 3 days. There is some info about that here..

It's easy to do some searches here. To get the information you want, you might try to do searches on words like "battery" etc.
I'll try to find some links for you...
......try this one, here, there, and don't forget that.

Be patient.. you'll get some more "hits"....

 

[R2D2]

I noticed my post has about 30 views but only your reply.

This is probably because Med-El has a very small market share compared to other manufacturers - particularly in the US. People aren't that familiar with it. It appears to be bigger in Europe, since it is an Austrian company.

There was a British person on AD talking about choosing between the Freedom and the Med-El a few months ago as well. I don't know which one they went with in the end but was going to have surgery next month. Hopefully he will be along soon and give the reasons for his decision.

In regard to bilateral implantation I would only do it at the same time if you have no or little benefit from hearing aids in the other ear. In a small number of cases CIs don't work out for everyone so it is useful to keep that other ear to begin with for insurance if you are able to use it reasonably well with hearing aids.

 

[greema]

Hondu, you have come to the right place! There are people here who can give you good input. As a matter of fact my deaf grandson just had a CI surgery and is due to be "turned on" very soon. My son chose a Freedom for him and my husband and I will be driving over there for Labor Day weekend and I'm anxious to see how he does.