I want to get a CI for my right side but...?

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HerNameWasHanna

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Okay, so I want to get a Cochlear Implant for my right ear since I already have one on my left but the surgery and getting a processor is already so expensive - my mom can't afford it.

When I was seven months, I was diagnosed with meningitis and lost all my hearing by the time I was two. My hearing aids weren't helping so we got rid of those and tried to teach me sign language but being the stubborn little girl I was, it was unsuccessful so eventually I got surgery and got a cochlear implant by the time I was three. I'm fifteen now so I've been hearing (with multiple processors) for about twelve years.

The reason why I want to get a Cochlear Implant is because I feel that if I had two, then I would be able to hear better as I already have trouble communicating with even my family members who are not deaf. Being deaf isn't genetic for us, either. Well, my aunt is deaf too but her's isn't as bad even though she has finally gotten around to wearing hearing aids again.

I've always wanted two processors ever since I found out that you could when one of my deaf friends had two (I went to a deaf school with her as a very young child). I've told my mom multiple times but we always moved on when we stated that it was too much or something. Is there a way to get another processor? What do you think I should do?
 
If you want to go bilateral, contact a CI Center and take it from there. If you have insurance coverage they can possibly help with paying for a 2nd CI. You would need to go through surgery again to get the implant in the other ear, and get both CIs working together.
 
Have you contacted your ENT doctor about your belief of the "potential improvement" in having a second Cochlear implant? Perhaps there was some explanation why it wasn't done back 12 years ago?

I am well aware of the total cost of Cochlear Implants- $55,000.00 CDN 4 1/2 years ago when I was Implanted with only one.

Hopefully you can get answers to your current questions.
 
Go for it if you can.

From my experience, having an implant on my right all my life, and getting the left a few years, its (still is) very hard for me to use it.
 
drphil said:
Have you contacted your ENT doctor about your belief of the "potential improvement" in having a second Cochlear implant? Perhaps there was some explanation why it wasn't done back 12 years ago?

I am well aware of the total cost of Cochlear Implants- $55,000.00 CDN 4 1/2 years ago when I was Implanted with only one.

Hopefully you can get answers to your current questions.
Click to expand...

Bilateral implants is more of a recent thing. They most certainly weren't doing bilateral implants 12 years ago.
 
I understand bilateral Implants was/is much more "common" with children born deaf. Seems in some to assist in their "speaking".

From my very direct experience-I asked re 2 Implants for me-advised a second one would not be of much benefit to ME. Does one's age have some consideration?
I also understand very few ADULTS at Sunnybrook/Toronto have been "approved" for a second implants since 1984.Info from recent patients meeting.( Children are processed at Sick Kids/Toronto)

A final consideration for Hanna has your Mapping been updated because of your current concerns?
 
HerNameWasHanna said:
The reason why I want to get a Cochlear Implant is because I feel that if I had two, then I would be able to hear better as I already have trouble communicating with even my family members who are not deaf. Being deaf isn't genetic for us, either. Well, my aunt is deaf too but her's isn't as bad even though she has finally gotten around to wearing hearing aids again.

I've always wanted two processors ever since I found out that you could when one of my deaf friends had two (I went to a deaf school with her as a very young child). I've told my mom multiple times but we always moved on when we stated that it was too much or something. Is there a way to get another processor? What do you think I should do?
Click to expand...

Talking with a few audiologists, surgeons, and recipients, a second CI does help most hear more, but not that much more. It works for me, and it does make a difference in what I hear, but it is not like you will have equal hearing on both sides. It is like having surround sound instead of two speakers.

Here in the US, just a handful of insurance companies are now covering bilateral implants. Like the others said, your mother will have to contact the insurance companies to find out.
 
drphil said:
I understand bilateral Implants was/is much more "common" with children born deaf. Seems in some to assist in their "speaking".
............
Click to expand...
It assist in their speaking because off the noise-reduction that happens when the brain hears with two ears.. And with less noise, hearing becomes easier, and therefore learning to speak becomes easier..
Children/infants that start hearing with bilateral CI will have that ability from the start. Learning it at a later stage is difficult, and frustrating for the children.
Lotte was the second child in Norway to get bilateral CI in 1 operation (a 1½ year old boy had the operation just before her) and knows nothing else. Children before Lotte were offered a second CI. When they got it, they needed to train the new side a lot, by using that side only during the day...

Learning to hear (again) with CI requires a lot of work. So does learning to hear with two ears... And outcomes differ from person to person.

Someone said: 1 ear + 1 ear = 3 ears... and in a way I have experienced that when I had an ear infection and could not hear with one ear. Hearing in noisy environment suddenly becomes very difficult...

(More info here, on Lotte's blog regarding Bi-lateral CI. First post is an article explaining how it works...)
 
Wise observations from Cloggy an actual parent with their daughter outfitted Cochlear Implant over extended time frame.
 
Very interesting info from Cloggy. In a way, it makes sense. Thanks for sharing.
 
green427 said:
Talking with a few audiologists, surgeons, and recipients, a second CI does help most hear more, but not that much more. It works for me, and it does make a difference in what I hear, but it is not like you will have equal hearing on both sides. It is like having surround sound instead of two speakers.

Here in the US, just a handful of insurance companies are now covering bilateral implants. Like the others said, your mother will have to contact the insurance companies to find out.
Click to expand...

GOOD post! Bilaterals are good if you've maxed out on HA, but they're not a GIANT difference. I do think that bilateral implants are never going to be common, simply b/c they are SO expensive. I remember when they were first pushing bilateral implants, and the benifits were sound localization and another benifit, that was really mild.
 
deafdyke said:
GOOD post! Bilaterals are good if you've maxed out on HA, but they're not a GIANT difference. I do think that bilateral implants are never going to be common, simply b/c they are SO expensive. I remember when they were first pushing bilateral implants, and the benifits were sound localization and another benifit, that was really mild.
Click to expand...

Thanks....just trying to be realistic here. It is amazing how many people have very high expectations of CI's.
 
green427 said:
Thanks....just trying to be realistic here. It is amazing how many people have very high expectations of CI's.
Click to expand...

Glad someone who has bilaterals agrees! :cool2: Like I'm ALL for bilaterals if the kid or person has total and complete unaidable loss, or even low speech comprehension with the first CI. But if a person has really high speech comprehension,(with the first one) and still has some residual hearing with a hearing aid, they shouldn't qualify for a CI. I strongly believe that the implantation criteria for a second CI needs to be a lot stricter, then for the first one.
 
It is for adults here in Ontario re second Implant. I understand from Sunnybrook/Toronto only in very special circumstances can adults have a second implant.
No knowledge re second Implants for children which is handled by Sick Kids/Toronto.
 
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