need help deciding

A

amanda

New Member
Joined
Aug 26, 2006
Messages
9
Reaction score
0
Hi I"m thinking of CIbut don't really have enough info other then how activation goes and the surgery How long does it take for activation and can they do one ear ata time I currently wear digital HA but they don't help much the person I live with is getting frustrated with repeating herself all the time and she thinks this is a good idea for me I can;t hear on the phone that well and rely on lip reading most of the time
I had menagisit at 1 month and a really bad ear infection 2 years ago which destroyed my hearing I'm completly deaf in my leaf ear and 90% in my right I have the highest powered HA on the market and they don't help much I understand speech and talk ok but I wasn't always this HOH My aduiologist says I'm agood canidante because of that reason but i'm scared can something go wrong during surgery oleaving me in a totally quiet world What is it like caring for the CI for the rest of your life I fyou take of the reciever can you hear anything I need all the pros and cons to make this decision so please give them to me
 
Amanda,

I'm glad to see you asking some good questions about CIs. :)

To answer your first question, typically one ear is implanted at a time. In fact, this is the preference of most surgeons -- although there are cases when both ears are implanted at the same time (simutaneous CI) such as when a person has otoschlerosis.

This varies from CI center to center, but the period of time between surgery and activation can be anywhere from a few days to 3-6 weeks. After my first CI, I was activated 3 weeks following surgery. Activation for my second CI took place 4 weeks following surgery.

Taking care of my CI processors (BTEs) is very similar to taking care of BTE HAs. I put both processors in a Dry and Store unit every night (or when coming in from wet or humid conditions).

Following CI surgery, some people retain some degree of residual hearing while others do not. I know one CI user who can hear the dial tone of her amplified phone when she removes her processor. Others (like myself) do not hear anything when the processor(s) is/are removed.

I hope this information has been helpful! :) If you have any further questions, feel free to send me a PM anytime.
 
My advice is to do your research. There is plenty of material on the web. To answer the questions, activation is generally between three weeks and a month after the surgery. The actual surgery is pretty safe. There are risks of course, but no more than any other surgery. In fact, some get the surgery on an outpatient basis.
 
Hi Amanda and welcome.

Yes the normal practice is just to do one ear at a time and it seems very common for them to use the ear with the biggest hearing loss.

It took me 3 weeks after surgery to be activated but this will vary by clinic. We've had on this board a range between a few days after surgery through to 6 weeks.

The CI surgery has similar risks as other minor procedures particularly with infection and lasts for 2 hours. You should be educated on those risks but it is rare for anything to go seriously wrong. If you've had problems with surgeries before e.g. anaesthetic then the surgeon will take that into account.

Taking care of my CI is easy although I tend to be much more careful with it - for example putting it into the dry and store machine every night when I never did with hearing aids! You will need to take the external processor off for showers, swimming etc as you would with hearing aids. You don't need to worry about molds though as a CI doesn't use one.

The best thing to do is to go through the testing stage to see if you are an appropriate candidate. The surgeon will outline all the risks of surgery to you since it's his/her professional obligation to do so.

Good luck. It sounds like you are under a lot of strain currently and I really hope that a solution can be reached for you, whatever it is.
 
Hi Amanda,

Welcome aboard.

Everybody has said good things so far.

In terms of surgeries, they have come a long way with them for CIs. They are quite safe and rarely things go wrong. It is no different than many other non major surgeries.

They are very similar to HAs in the care department. You probably want to use a "Dry & Store" most every day.

Make sure you are educated in all the ins and outs with them before making a decision. There are quite a few threads in this forum you can check out to give you a better feel about it.
 
welcome to AD! good luck with your decision to possibly get CI. I hope it goes well.
 
Back
Top