Implants: Bad thing?

Last appointment with hearing centre they told me it is highly recommend for me to get those implants. They said its cochlear. Nothing else. My both ears are profound deaf.

I go do sports a lot, go to gym, do tough muddle, fitness classes, running, being in water a lot, doing sustainability activities, travelling and that. I'm very very certain wearing cochlear implant will stop most of the stuff in above list.

To my perspective about those implants, its really high maintenance to me because it more of a package (not intentionally) that you see as a 'biological life box' or whatever you call that. It really push me off the cliff.
 
MattyinAus said:
Last appointment with hearing centre they told me it is highly recommend for me to get those implants. They said its cochlear. Nothing else. My both ears are profound deaf.

I go do sports a lot, go to gym, do tough muddle, fitness classes, running, being in water a lot, doing sustainability activities, travelling and that. I'm very very certain wearing cochlear implant will stop most of the stuff in above list.

To my perspective about those implants, its really high maintenance to me because it more of a package (not intentionally) that you see as a 'biological life box' or whatever you call that. It really push me off the cliff.
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Hmmm.. a cochlear implant will not stop you from doing any of those activities. So you can put that thought out. As you've been told... it is the same as a hearing aid as far as how you manage it. You would simply remove the processor for the same activities you would remove your hearing aid for. Not sure why you would think traveling would be limited. I just went all over Europe last year.

However, yes, an implant will require you put effort into learning how to hear to maximize the capability. If you are not prepared to do that, then perhaps it is not for you. It really depends on how valuable hearing is for you.

If you don't know any implantees, perhaps you can ask to be put in touch with those who are local. It may help you make a clearer decision.

Good luck!
 
oh no, looking at your list of activities, I don't see why the CI would prevent you from that. And you can take the CI off when you go swimming (unless you get Advanced Bionic's Neptune, then you can swim/get wet with it on). I have no idea what tough muddle is but... wearing a CI shouldn't stop you from doing most of (if not all) of those activities. But yes, CIs can be high maintenance... have to be able to clean/dry them and make sure they're working properly, go back to the audie every so often for MAPping appointments, relearning all the sounds again, etc. But it is totally up to you if you want to get the implants or not.
 
MattyinAus said:
Last appointment with hearing centre they told me it is highly recommend for me to get those implants. They said its cochlear. Nothing else. My both ears are profound deaf.

I go do sports a lot, go to gym, do tough muddle, fitness classes, running, being in water a lot, doing sustainability activities, travelling and that. I'm very very certain wearing cochlear implant will stop most of the stuff in above list.

To my perspective about those implants, its really high maintenance to me because it more of a package (not intentionally) that you see as a 'biological life box' or whatever you call that. It really push me off the cliff.
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Basically, you could do everything you do now.
As for maintenance.. Apart from charging batteries each evening, or changing batteries every 2-3 day, there's no maintenance. In fact, without the ear olds and tubes that need to be clean, there's probably less maintenance, but someone who went froM HA to CI will be able to tell you more..

With my daughter, we have no maintenance at all. Lotte has them on the whole day, off when she goes to bed. Charge batteries during the night. CI on in the morning for the rest of the day...

Have you been able to contact people with CI in Townsville.. Did you find Lissy from Mount Isa?
 
Charging batteries every night, imagine I'm a trip and or out camping? There would be no power outlet.......Don't let me to go shopping around the world to find an awesome solar or winder recharger.....

I never met any one here in Townsville who have CI. I only met few of them have HA just like me.
 
MattyinAus said:
Charging batteries every night, imagine I'm a trip and or out camping? There would be no power outlet.......Don't let me to go shopping around the world to find an awesome solar or winder recharger.....

I never met any one here in Townsville who have CI. I only met few of them have HA just like me.
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You missed the part "or changing batteries every 2-3 days .."
So.. Camping is back on.. :cool2:

you want to meet Lissy... Upcoming gymnastic champion..?
 
MattyinAus said:
Charging batteries every night, imagine I'm a trip and or out camping? There would be no power outlet.......Don't let me to go shopping around the world to find an awesome solar or winder recharger.....

I never met any one here in Townsville who have CI. I only met few of them have HA just like me.
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Both Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Ltd have processors that use both rechargeables and disposables, whatever your need or mood is for the day. I'm assuming you would get the N5 processor due to being in Australia. That really isn't an area you would have to be concerned about. You would just have to make sure you bring enough batteries.

There are usually networks to put you in touch with Cochlear Implant users. Whatever manufacturer (or your implant center) you are going with can help put you in touch with people who are similar to you that can talk with you. I've done this for newbies and I know it made a world of difference for them after meeting me as far as being sure about the direction they were going in.

Like cdmeggers said, it's all up to you. It is absolutely an adventure in hearing because it opens up a new world of sound.. sounds you didn't know were there. I just passed my 6 year mark and everyday is still an adventure. If you feel you will be fine without hearing, that's fine too, of course.
 
You think it is appropriate for me to meet Lissy the upcoming gymnastics champion of Australia? I would not mind meeting someone new, in case of HOH, CI or being deaf etc.

I agreed with your intentions BleedingPurist. Not sure if I able to make a decision because I find having HA is pretty suitable for my environment. However, just one question. Why CI is handy? Even the audiologist asked me to wear one? Does it help to change the preference of someone's speech ?
 
MattyinAus said:
Charging batteries every night, imagine I'm a trip and or out camping? There would be no power outlet.......Don't let me to go shopping around the world to find an awesome solar or winder recharger.....

I never met any one here in Townsville who have CI. I only met few of them have HA just like me.
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If you were born deaf, CI probably won't be worth it, but everyone is different. If you are late deafned, it's probably more a yes-choice.

But hard to say, since you lost hearing at 18 months(in another post)? If you have lost more gradually after that, you will maybe feel CI is an improvement over HA. Haven't the doctor commented this? They appears more like salesmen for CI if it's a go for CI no matter what according to them.

You also say you are into really demanding sports, and that's perhaps not the best combination with CI, though I don't know people who have CI AND are involved lots of this kind of sports. Think it's a good idea to ask other people, like "Lissy". I know few who had to or wanted to quit. I do much extreme sports and it's no point relying on HA or CI for me in those environments, in addition to the risk of severe hits at my head. It's worth to notice that I was born deaf, and have no interest in sound, so I'm maybe a bit biased here, too. Every surgery in my body puts partipication in sports at risk, because of complications that can arise.

Good luck with your choice!
 
MattyinAus said:
You think it is appropriate for me to meet Lissy the upcoming gymnastics champion of Australia? I would not mind meeting someone new, in case of HOH, CI or being deaf etc.

I agreed with your intentions BleedingPurist. Not sure if I able to make a decision because I find having HA is pretty suitable for my environment. However, just one question. Why CI is handy? Even the audiologist asked me to wear one? Does it help to change the preference of someone's speech ?
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A CI will bypass the damaged hair cells, those you can't remember having and those you more recently are aware of losing. So how "handy" a CI is really depends on the individual.

Your audiologist is directly addressing your hearing in telling you that you are actually getting relative minimal benefit from a hearing aid. If you want to improve your hearing at this stage, a CI is your only option.

If you are comfortable with how you hear with your hearing aid, that is something to consider just as much. I am not sure what you mean by "change the preference of someone's speech." Can you elaborate, please? A CI will definitely change how you hear speech, but there isn't a guarantee that you'll have speech discrimination. It may make you more aware of your own speech. I think the most reasonable goal for anyone who uses a combination of speech reading with a hearing aid is that speech reading will probably be a little easier due to the additional auditory cues available to you.

So how important is hearing to you? If you aren't feeling any impact on your quality of life due to worsening hearing, then perhaps a CI isn't for you. You may be fine with what you do get from your hearing aid. In that case, I wouldn't let anyone talk you into it. If you think you might be interested in improving your hearing, get all the facts and definitely meet CI users similar to you. That will help you be clear which way to go for you.
 
Like everyone tell you sounds right to me. My hub had a surgery. you know how surgery take care of a healing CI for about 4 to 6 weeks to rest. For my hub who was taking more cautious approach in recovering from CI for more than 6 weeks. So, he started working with heavy lifts or carry heavy loads. I think it is pretty much same for any other surgeries that takes a heal to recover for 4 to 6 weeks or longer than 6 weeks. It is wise for suggesting you to ask your doctor about lifting the heavy loads that you to find out how long should you wait when you get a CI.Good Luck.
 
MattyinAus said:
You think it is appropriate for me to meet Lissy the upcoming gymnastics champion of Australia? I would not mind meeting someone new, in case of HOH, CI or being deaf etc.

I agreed with your intentions BleedingPurist. Not sure if I able to make a decision because I find having HA is pretty suitable for my environment. However, just one question. Why CI is handy? Even the audiologist asked me to wear one? Does it help to change the preference of someone's speech ?
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Lissy is 10 years old with her mother watching over her like a hawk.... LOL.. But it would be good to see how much gymnastics can be done with CI on your head...
"handy" sounds as if you can just get one... If HAs work for oyu there's no reason to get CI...
 
10 year old as becoming a champion?

Well it seems I am going to stick it to HA. I am not bothered about that thing covering your ear. I'm quite used to it. I had it since I was 3 years old.
 
I think I'm going to be looking at getting a CI in a few years, just need to get some insurance first ;) I have profound loss in my right ear and profound to no response in my left ear. I'm actually in the middle of getting new hearing aids, but I'm not holding out too much hope that my hearing loss has stopped, in fact I'm pretty afraid I'm going to go completely deaf. So while hearing aids are still helpful to me now, I know eventually they won't. So a CI it will be.

BUT I have a question for you folks that have implants that at some point could hear. I have otosclerosis and could hear fine into my 20's and have worn I aids since then, so sound is not unfamiliar to me. I have been told that a CI is a different way of hearing, and that you have to relearn how to hear sounds. I find that very confusing, what in the world does that mean?? :eek3: Does sound sound different even than with HAs? Am I not going to be able to realize the sound I'm hearing is rain....or change bumping together? This is all sounds so bizarre.....
 
Ambrosia, when you first have the implant turned on a few weeks after surgery, everything will sound different and new. It works differently from a hearing aid, the CI doesn't amplify sounds, just picks up the sounds around you and sending them to the internal implant, which is then sent to your cochlea/hearing nerve. You just would have to keep wearing the implant, and listening to the world around you and letting your brain figure out everything and make the connection. But since you grew up hearing until you lost your hearing, you'd more than likely would start making sense of sounds pretty quick I would think.

My left ear is my dead ear, and I had that implanted. The sounds with the CI in the left ear does not even compare to the sounds with the hearing aid in the right, 2 completely different sound inputs. But when the brain makes sense of the sounds with the CI, things will start sounding more normal over time. My CI's only been turned on for 2.5 months, and I'm still slowly making sense of what I'm hearing. I can hear different things, but it takes me a while to figure out exactly what it is I'm hearing. Right now everything still sounds electronic, but I can figure out what this and that sound is, and make sense of speech if I can lipread the person.

Matty, it's cool if you want to stick with HA's. They're your ears and it's your life. Do what makes you happy. :)
 
Hello Ambrosia,

Actually, with your hearing history.. assuming your cochlea is intact and you are a candidate, you will likely know and recognize rain for being rain when you hear it. I started losing my hearing at 7 years old and wore hearing aids until 33 years old. On the day of activation everything had a tinny quality, but it was sound. I heard a crow caw that day and knew what it was by hearing it. My family's voices were their own.

It always varies between individuals, but eventually it generally will begin to sound natural like you remember it. The fact you've kept your hearing alive with hearing aids along with being post-lingual will give you an edge.
 
Life with my CI is the same as with a hearing aid in regards to swimming, bathing, etc. The biggest change is in what I hear now. So....no, it does not stop me from doing anything as that I used to do before being installed. It has, however, opened my world back up to doing more out in the world.
 
This is a post script....if you are going to go ahead with being implanted, do it right. Please get the best device out there.
 
mskaty said:
Life with my CI is the same as with a hearing aid in regards to swimming, bathing, etc. The biggest change is in what I hear now. So....no, it does not stop me from doing anything as that I used to do before being installed. It has, however, opened my world back up to doing more out in the world.
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Opened your world back up?

So are you a late deafened person?
 
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