So I'm making the decision...

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Phi4Sius

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I'm going to get a Cochlear Implant.

I'm not getting any real auditory signals from the hearing aid I'm trying in my left ear. They're all tactile responses and the environmental sounds I am getting are all tactile which doesn't help. I wanted it to work - and I guess I just really wanted it to work but it really wasn't working. At the very least, this experience has helped me solidify my decision by trying one of the most powerful HAs available for my loss.

I have an appointment with the audiologist with my insurance company on 06/15 to verify my hearing loss and hopefully move forward with the process of determining my CI candidacy.
 
Phi4Sius said:
I'm going to get a Cochlear Implant.

I'm not getting any real auditory signals from the hearing aid I'm trying in my left ear. They're all tactile responses and the environmental sounds I am getting are all tactile which doesn't help. I wanted it to work - and I guess I just really wanted it to work but it really wasn't working. At the very least, this experience has helped me solidify my decision by trying one of the most powerful HAs available for my loss.

I have an appointment with the audiologist with my insurance company on 06/15 to verify my hearing loss and hopefully move forward with the process of determining my CI candidacy.
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Good luck Phi. Let us know how your evaluation goes. :)
 
deafdude1 - Yup. Had the wax taken out because I was getting no responses rather than just a tactile response. Once that happened I started getting tactile responses again. The beeping was being picked up by my right ear. I just hadn't noticed it or realized it until I put two and two together.

But yeah, you're pretty much dead on with that question. My left ear is basically one big dead zone.

Hear Again- Yeah. I'll certainly be keeping everyone updated on the process. :)
 
Good luck and I hope your CI candidacy and evaluation goes well and that it works out for you in the end. :)
 
My left ear is basically one big dead zone
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Correct me if I'm wrong, but you do have usable hearing in your right ear right?
Good luck...I do wish you the best of luck. It may be very hard to get implanted in that ear, unless you have really good insurance. However, keep pushing for it. Your ear is basicly DEAD. There's basicly no other options available, right? Tell your audi to really emphasize that in their appeal to the insurance company.
 
Phi4Sius said:
I'm going to get a Cochlear Implant.

I'm not getting any real auditory signals from the hearing aid I'm trying in my left ear. They're all tactile responses and the environmental sounds I am getting are all tactile which doesn't help. I wanted it to work - and I guess I just really wanted it to work but it really wasn't working. At the very least, this experience has helped me solidify my decision by trying one of the most powerful HAs available for my loss.

I have an appointment with the audiologist with my insurance company on 06/15 to verify my hearing loss and hopefully move forward with the process of determining my CI candidacy.
Click to expand...

Phi,

Please do not think I'm judging you, but how is your hearing aid working for your right ear?

If I remember correctly, you encountered a few problems with your hearing aid.

Were you able to resolve them? (If you already posted a thread about this, I apologize.)

Once again, I am not judging you either way and wish you all the best with your CI journey. :)
 
He understands 100% speech in the right ear with an analog HA with a moderate 50db HL. This is why im gonna wait the 10 years for stem cells to improve my own hearing to 50db. I also will be able to hear some sounds unaided. If it takes more than 10 years, fine. I don't have a dead ear that would be nearly risk free. Phi4Sius does have a dead ear so he knows there's no risk of losing residual hearing when there's no residual hearing to begin with. Im afraid that losing my own residual hearing will make it much harder for stem cells to work properly. I am still young so there's no real hurry, ill have several decades to enjoy much improved hearing with tomorrow's technology.
 
deafdude1 said:
He understands 100% speech in the right ear with an analog HA with a moderate 50db HL.
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If this is true, then Phi may have difficulty qualifying for a CI.

That being said, it doesn't hurt to be evaluated since the CI team is the one who will make the final determination.
 
Actually, I'm told by my regular audie about people with less of a hearing loss than mine actually getting CIs.

So, I'm thinking (and hoping) that requirements have relaxed a little on that front as of late.

BTW, my last audiogram as of Feb. of this year showed a speech recognition score of only 85% with my aided hearing in my right ear.
 
Phi4Sius said:
BTW, my last audiogram as of Feb. of this year showed a speech recognition score of only 85% with my aided hearing in my right ear.
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85% speech discrimination is actually very, very good.

If you can hear 85% of speech aided with your right ear, I don't think you'll qualify for a CI since the criteria is 60% or less aided with the better ear and 40% or less aided with the poorer ear.
 
Phi4Sius said:
Actually, I'm told by my regular audie about people with less of a hearing loss than mine actually getting CIs.
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Keep in mind that they may have very poor speech discrimination.

Just because someone has moderately-severe or severe hearing loss does not automatically mean they can understand speech well.

Furthermore, there are some people with profound hearing loss who understand speech better than those with moderate loss.

Degree of hearing loss does not dictate how well or poorly someone understands speech. It's the clarity of what they hear that determines this.
 
Congratulations. Getting a CI was life changing for me. There are some things to remember (Practice, Patience, and more Practice.... communicate with your audiologist helps too!)
 
Hear Again- Is that qualification criteria for the CI audies/insurance companies in general or for actually being able to receive a cochlear implant from the CI companies themselves?

Even after researching Cochlear Implants for months now, I'm still quite unclear regarding what qualification criteria are used by the insurance companies and CI companies to determine whether someone would benefit from a cochlear implant or not. From what I understand, insurance companies in general have FAR stricter requirements for Cochlear Implantation than anybody else that can provide them to the general population w/severe hearing loss, without extremely high costs involved.
 
Phi4Sius said:
Even after researching Cochlear Implants for months now, I'm still quite unclear regarding what qualification criteria are used by the insurance companies and CI companies to determine whether someone would benefit from a cochlear implant or not. From what I understand, insurance companies in general have FAR stricter requirements for Cochlear Implantation than anybody else that can provide them to the general population w/severe hearing loss, without extremely high costs involved.
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This is true and is why CI audis and surgeons write detailed information about a person's hearing loss, level of functioning, ability to understand speech and any progressive nature of a condition/disease/illness that may make a person's loss progressive or cause sudden deafness.
 
I'm fairly certain my audiologist wouldn't have gotten so excited about cochlear implants for me unless they would help me a great deal and that I would at least pass qualification for them.

But still, we'll see what happens. :D :cool2:
 
Phi4Sius said:
I'm fairly certain my audiologist wouldn't have gotten so excited about cochlear implants for me unless they would help me a great deal and that I would at least pass qualification for them.

But still, we'll see what happens. :D :cool2:
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Good luck.
 
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