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My first WOW moment was minutes after activation. I could hear these little beeps. I asked my audiologist what was beeping. She laughed and pointed to my husband sitting across the room...texting the kids. I could hear his phone beeping when he was dialing! After the surgery, all I wanted was to go to our cottage and see the ocean...my happy and healing place. As my audiologist recommended, I wasn't wearing my hearing aid...relying on the CI only! That was very scary. I was lying on the deck enjoying the sun, almost asleep, when I felt a tickle in my previously deaf left ear...I heard my husband say, "Dar, can you come here a minute?" It had been so long since I heard speech in that ear that I wasn't even sure I had heard it. I went into the house and asked if he'd called to me. I was in tears when I realized that I could hear with my left ear, and that my husband's voice was the first voice I heard. ❤️ Over the next few weeks, I must have driven my family and friends crazy asking, "What's that sound?" It was birdsong, crickets, peepers, the ocean waves, the cat purring, the dryer chime...so many things. With my CI, my life changed so much! Walking in the mall in November I could hear Christmas music. I could hear "Bad Moon Rising" playing on the radio in a restaurant. At a house party we were playing a trivia game, and I answered a question from another room, without even a pause. In the car I could converse with people in the back seat. At work, I could hear my littlest students reading aloud. I could use any phone. I could hear what was being said at the drive through at Tim Horton's. I can hear and understand the Blue Jay's baseball games on TV, while I'm reading a book...no closed captions! I don't have to be looking at people to hear them. This is huge! I'm so much more relaxed in social situations. I can follow multiple conversations, which is important when our big noisy family gets together. Now I am hearing our grandbabies giggle and laugh and make their soft little baby babbles. I am amazed by this technology and so very thankful for the joy it has brought me.

@diana We also live in the country. There are so many wonderful and unique sounds. That reminds me of one WoW moment I almost forgot...honking geese! I nearly jumped out of my skin the first time I heard the geese flying overhead! 🙂

Yes I have used angel sounds as part of my music practise too. I began with the widest intervals (which were hard enough early on!) Then gradually moved to smaller intervals. I still find music the hardest part of rehab and the slowest to notice change but it is still improving 2 years on.

My daughter has SSD and had CI almost a year ago. She was 11 at the time. She had a tough 24 hours, mainly from the discomfort of having the surgical dressing/cup over her ear and surgical site. After that her pain was very manageable with Tylenol. She went from 0 word recognition on her deaf ear to now 85% at our last test in July. She won't admit to me that the CI has made a positive impact for her, but she certainly can identify words and sounds from her processor, which makes me think that she must be able to localize where sound is coming from. From the perspective of safety, I'd like to consider that a win.

Recently I have been asked by several HP members about a GoogleMeet at a different time/day, a GoogleMeet that includes HP members with different brand CIs, a GoogleMeet about a specific topic. So let’s try to add something new to HearPeers. HearPeers Show & Tell one time GoogleMeet Chats If you have an interest in presenting at a HP Show & Tell one time GoogleMeet, post your interest and topic below. I will be glad to host your HP Show & Tell on my GoogleMeet account but you will be presenting the whole time. I will just attend as a participant. Possible ideas….. @Dennisjbr the innovative way you are using AudioLink with a BT adapter @pdk your website @John R your website and the organization you are involved with in Australia Many other HP members may be interested in presenting too. Open to all. Let’s keep helping each other in yet a new way.

I'll try and put something together during the week. It will be a useful exercise for me. Once done I'll send out an invite.

This is an exciting time. I am also SSD and have found great benefit to having a CI. I hear so much more now in stereo!! Also definitely reduced my tinnitus.

@Dianna Rehab tools and awareness is something my wife and I have become so passionate about, its a huge topic and certainly one that validates a dedicated session.

I would attend for sure.

This is wonderful!!!! My favourite of yours is talking to people behind you in the car. That has made my life so much easier too with the kids always chatting away or wanting to sing along.

@Mary Beth Going from the Opus to the Sonnet 2 was a pretty easy transition. I usually don't like change, so at first I missed my Opus, just because that's what I was used to. I still do think the Opus had a better battery life, and was easier with regard to changing batteries. I liked that the Opus rechargeable battery was just basically a rectangular battery that went into a rectangular space. You couldn't do it wrong because the battery would only fit in one way. There were fewer little hooks to break. I know that the Sonnet2 is doing a whole lot more processing, thus uses more battery, so the battery lasts 10 hours instead of 12, which I loved in the Opus. I did have to take my Sonnet 2 back to my clinic to have the case cover replaced, and I was told that others had to do the same thing. But, the main thing for me is that I can hear as well with the Sonnet 2 as I did with the Opus...so I'm a happy camper!

I would like to say I use rechargeable batteries about 95% of the time. A little over 4 1/2 years with constantly rotating 7 batteries and I have had no problems at all except for losing one😀

Thank you so much !I was able to find and purchase all I need for my Opus 2!

I would totally agree, for Music we have to get back to as natural a listening position and delivery system as possible. We can discuss Headphone brands another day 😊

@artkup I’m not sure of the phonak compatibility with the Rondo. give me a few days to investigate.

@HuroniaGirl Wow! We have a lot in common. Before my CI, my right ear was my 'good' ear. I still wear my HA in that ear, mostly for balance. Like you, when I take off my processor, I can't believe how hushed the world is with just my hearing aid! The things I was missing! I am also forever grateful for our healthcare plan and for the wonderful care I received from the entire staff during my surgery. My surgeon is my hero; not only did he do an excellent job with my implant, he actually held my hand until I fell asleep. I'm so happy you had your surgery and are having wonderful wow moments. My wish for you is that every day has a WoW moment! Enjoy the ride, eh! 🍁 😀

@Darlene Mac- it's a total delight to hear of your excellent results from your CI. I am also experiencing nearly identical WOW moments. I wonder now how I actually coped as long as I did. When I take off my processor and rely on my HA in my "good" ear, I can hardly hear speech at all. But I now realize how much else I was missing - and, yes, I'm trying to identify all these forgotten sounds. I feel like my implanted ear is my new Super Power! It astounds me every day!! As a fellow Canadian, I am beyond grateful to not only receive this surgery in a timely manner, in the midst of Covid, but that it was all covered by our universal health care. That's a big WOW! too. Wishing you continued WOW moments!

@LaurenI am bilateral, both sides are EAS. I agree - when the coil is detached the sound is extremely distorted sound and not at all pleasant. It is amplification of my residual hearing which is extremely low frequencies only (certainly not enough to understand speech which is why I needed a CI). To hear the high and medium frequencies I need the CI (coil attached). My audiologist has mapped both of my processors with an additional program which is CI only, no EAS, so that all frequencies are via the implant. If I am at home and want to give my ear(s) a rest from the ear mold I can switch to this program. After some practice I can understand most things with this program, but it does not sound as natural as the EAS programs (though the diff is very subtle, just an enhanced richness I think). I have to be careful as without the earmold they flop around a lot more and fall off easily.

Hi there...i have ci in left ear, need a new ha for right. I stream alot with music, its basically direct to ci. The only time i feel like i have two different sounds is when i am watching/listening to a regular tv using the eas system (sonnet 2) which utilizes the speakers on the sonnet, so its half electronic and half accoustic. Its been 6 weeks since activation and the "double" sound is nearly gone. I probably need to do more speaker listening but i go to a room and stream directly to ci. When i stream directly, i can watch tv and now can hear nearly all voices with no closed captions! My word understanding is now 80 to 90 percent vs 50 percent prior to ci. So i did have residual prior to ci and may have lost some but totally happy that i implanted, and i know that i will continue to improve with practice!!!! My inclination is to implant the right ear since im so happy with the left, but i will do the ha first as i am told it helps more with music. I just returned from a short trip to michigan, eating in crowded restaurants for the first time, and with lots of masks being worn. I could still hear my companions amongst all the many loud sounds around. I was pleased as punch! My audi has not given me asm or controls other than volume i consider it a huge win! Hope you are proceeding with ci, its a life changer!

Very valauable inputs. I read @Beau comments and thought, that is where I am except I'm going to be balancing one CI with one HA and have no clue how I may feel. Then I read @John F comments. I'm one step ahead of you @Beau becasue my implant surgery was last week. So that is behind me. If it helps, the process was simplicity itself and what amazed me was that I had almost no pain of any kind at any time. A mild discomfort behind the ear for the first few days and a total inaiblity to sleep my my right side (preferred) for just over a week. Oh! and some imbalance which is still somewhat with me. I didn't drive for a week but only becasue of the slight worry over the lack of balance. It sounds like your decision is when, not if. Go for it and good luck!

Definitely send me the invite. hopefully it will work out for me to be there.

(Updated on October 16th) This GoogleMeet chat is for Med-El CI users and families, as well as those considering a Med-El CI. Sunday October 24th 9:15 am New York time start time chat opens at 9:00 for socializing Google Meet with free live captioning Looking forward to our GoogleMeet chat. Invites are presently going to; @Mary Beth @Kylie @Joan @Dianna @Shiyi Wang @Lauren @Kirk S. @Stuman51 @Darlene Mac @Kara of Canada @Dave in Pittsburgh @Jared Charney First timers: @Stuman51, @Kara of Canada and @Darlene Mac will be joining us. Newcomers are welcome to join in. Just respond below to this post so you are included in the chat invite. New people are always welcome! @MelanieMetcalfe check HearPeers mail. I need more information before the October meeting.

This is sooo cool!

Thank you so much for your input. This helps a lot with coming to a decision. I had been leaning towards the Sonnet 2 and the disposable batteries.

Hello everyone. I had normal hearing and woke up one morning at 21 years old with single sided deafness and immediate tinnitus in my right ear. I have had no issues with my hearing until that point and specialists at the time said it was probably a virus but they really didn't know. was not a candidate for a hearing aid as words were all muffled. my left ear is normal and I simply carried on with life as best I could. fast forward 29 years later - 4 months ago all of a sudden my tinnitus got much louder in my right ear and I started to get tinnitus in my left (normal ear). got scared and went to see the specialist and was informed that I am a candidate for a CI for my right ear. Will be getting it done in March 2022 at Sunnybrook hospital in Toronto. I believe it will be a Med-El system with rondo 3 hands free. I'm a healthy individual and have no other health problems yet I am very nervous. I am really excited about the possibility of getting hearing back in my right ear and hopefully a reduction in my tinnitus as well. I am trying my best to be as fit as possible (health wise and mentally) for the surgery in a few months. My surgeon said that the rehab should go well as he sees that I will put in the work and that 'I'm a smart guy' (I'm a professor) - not sure how that is going to help me. Any advice would be much appreciated.

Thank-you so much Beth.

At 4 days post activation, I already notice some improved comprehension. Audiologist set 4 programs (Right) and I am instructed to advance to next program every 4 days. I just connected both Sonnet 2 processors to Audio Key2 app. In time, I will try Audio Stream and Audio Link. I am still frightened of the phone (unless captioned) but I hope to be more comfortable using the phone soon. Left Sonnet 2 processor programmed with programs from my Sonnet 1. Bottom line: I'm happy with this decision.

As it turned out, she was much more sensitive and accurate. The doorbell rang yesterday and she alerted and my phone did not The reason was because we were in an upstairs back bedroom far away from the bell, which is downstairs. But it wasn’t too far for my fur baby. I’ve since turned the feature off.

Today's testing had me jumping in progress finally, had me and my audiologist celebrating/WOWing, and smiling for a change. Overall (HA+CI): 70% last time, 83% today! Left: A miserable 6% last time, in the 30%'s today. Interestingly, I had better recognition and was picking up more sounds with the Sonnet 2 EAS than the Rondo 3. I was doing the click test in the booth and my AuD had me switch to the Rondo but after a minute or two asked me to switch back to the Sonnet. Over the past few weeks I've worn the Rondo more with the exception of this week so I wasn't sure. I did admit that, and said I was liking the Rondo 3 because its so simple (I can no longer condense all my stuff into one carrying case, I have to have them split between two carrying cases). Tomorrow is the next MAP appointment and I mentioned what I haven't been liking, asked about ASM 3.0 as an afterthought, and asked if there were any further ideas about the electrode sensitivity/issue I've had. On the latter, there is but there was no time to dive into that and my AuD wants to dedicate enough time tomorrow to go over everything related to that. Overall, it gave me a boost and an even bigger boost to my AuD, if that's even possible. She said that I'm officially better off with the CI+HA than I was with HA+HA. Even broached the subject of looking into a new HA since my current is in the 5-10 years old range.

That is terrific! Thank you Verena. @MED-EL Moderator

@John R or even more than one dedicated HP show and tell

Ty mb, i think so....if i am its because of all the great advice!

Hi huroniagirl, wow you sound like me (sorry for pun) i try to expose my left ci to as much as possible. I sampled everything as soon as i could, stream music that doesnt sound real sweet until maybe the third time loi. But seriously in one month i can hear most of the melodies, some of the instruments, and today noticed i can understand some of the lyrics! And words and voices are getting clearer too. Like i think john said, the music training helps with words also. Keep on keepin on and thanks for posting! ( you too mb)

Hi les, Im a newbie here, activated about one month. I have a sonnet2 EAS and i stream using audio stream and audiolink. I have 50 percent in right ear and will use ha soon. I have trsined using angel sounds and word success. The streaming of music and tv has really improved so much im at 80 percent. It took me a bit to learn rhe various connections, im sure with your knowledge will be able to use all available connections. I love my sonnet.. Good luck with your research, there is tons of information on the net, this group is great! Di

You can also do a phone training program called Telephone with confidence. It’s a program run by Cochlear. You just google it and it will give you lists of words to hear and you can see them are you hear them. I really liked the program.

Thanks Kara for taking the time to reply, I very much appreciate you taking the time. All the very best Les

@HuroniaGirl It is a process. Sounds like you are doing great! Practice the phone with a friend. It will get less intimidating in time.

Lol I have noticed the same thing!!😂😂

Hi, Kara, from Ontario. I am doing great!!! I ended up receiving an AB implant, so I dropped off the radar of HearPeers. I am still in awe at how my hearing has re-established in my implanted ear. I now consider it my "good" ear, and for good reason. Just today as my hubby and I were enjoying the last rays of summer on our cottage deck, I said to him "I hardly ever say pardon to you, anymore, eh?" To which he replied "Pardon?" I thought he was just kidding around, but he wasn't. Since my hearing has improved so much, I am talking more softly, whereas I used to bellow at everyone! Now he's having trouble hearing me, and his hearing is normal 😅

Thanks @Mary Beth ill definitely mention it to her.

That is so exciting! Glad to have you here.

Hello @Mary Beth I hope you are all doing well. Today I went for my 3rd mapping appointment. I asked my audiologist about ASM 3.0 and it turned out that it has been available in Canada with all the Rondo 3 and Sonnet 2. Thank you for sharing the article with us. I've learned so much from it. After some speech assessment, I asked my audiologist to create 3 programs for me and he added a 4th program with louder volume (just in case): 1. Adaptive Intelligence, mild 2. Adaptive Intelligence, strong 3. Omni mode 4. Adaptive Intelligence, mild with louder volume. The reason that I asked for an AI Strong program is due to the nature of my job. I manage a big flagship retail store with lots of noise and people talking in the background. At first my audiologist didn't think that I would benefit from the AI Strong program because it might cut out some spoken words due to its strong noise reduction feature. But he's very curious to see how it would work out for me. I'll let him know on my next appointment in 2 months. So far, my audiologist said I'm doing quite well in the new hearing journey. I can finally hear & partially understand people with masks on (well, not 100%) and not too reliant on my transcriber app. I'm excited to try out the new programs from today. I'll keep you posted. Take care. Charlie

Yes please

nice video John.

Thanks 😁

I would love recommendations for Android too...!

This is the app I have been using. There are many like this if you don't like this one in particular.

From One CI User to Another: My Hearing Loss & CI Journey Mary Beth My hearing story I was born with typical hearing but by age 13 my progressive hearing loss began. I have otosclerosis which is genetic but my version started earlier than normal and progressed faster than normal. My hearing continued to decline. The doctors tried to surgically fix the hearing in my right ear but after 4 surgeries on that ear, I had lost total hearing in that ear. So for the next 24 years I only heard from the hearing aid in my left ear. I needed more and more powerful hearing aids as time went on. Eventually hearing aids just were not enough. My world was shrinking as I needed to rely on speech reading with the left hearing aid to follow conversations. I am a teacher and hearing all day in class was exhausting. I came home tired and frustrated from the challenges of listening every day. So in late 2014 I went for an evaluation to see if a cochlear implant would help. My dead ear was implanted first in February 2015 and turned on (activated) in March. At first it only heard static and beeps but within hours it was starting to hear words. Absolutely amazing! I practiced with listening exercises and apps every day and every day I could hear and understand more and more. Absolutely life changing! I could not wait to get my left ear implanted and hear this good in both ears. My left ear was implanted 8 months after my right. Within months of its activation I was listening with balanced ears for the first time in decades. It is so awesome! I remember very well how frustrated and anxious I felt before getting a cochlear implant. These CIs have been the best decision ever for me. Life changing. Wishing you the very best! My hearing loss and journey to cochlear implants Podcast interview with transcription https://cochlearimplantbasics.com/2021/06/mary-beth-napoli/ First cochlear implant Guest blog https://blog.medel.com/why-a-teacher-of-the-deaf-chose-a-med-el-cochlear-implant/ Second cochlear implant Guest blog https://blog.medel.com/bilateral-cochlear-implants-mary-beths-story/ Cochlear Implants: Selection and Activation YouTube captioned video https://youtu.be/uAG0fCgafqk Cochlear implants and music journey Guest blog https://blog.medel.com/3-steps-to-rediscovering-music-with-a-cochlear-implant/ YouTube captioned video https://youtu.be/1WNwVDH9G2k

Some decent questions: -How many cochlear implant surgeries have you performed using __________ (AB, Cochlear, Med El)? -Do you have a preference between different manufacturers? Why? (they should NOT disclose any bias) -How many revisions have you performed, and were they as successful as the original? -What does a scar typically look like after surgery? -How do you decide on the location of magnet placement under the skin? -Are you able to preserve any natural hearing when you do CI surgery? -What does the timeline on surgery day look like? -How do you know if I am a good candidate for a CI? -Should I implant just one or both ears? Why? -Will having CI surgery affect my tinnitus or balance? -What are good ways for me to learn to hear/rehab after being activated? -Are there any medical procedures I shouldn’t have with a CI? -When can I exercise and lift things again after surgery? -How many times will I see you after the surgery? -How many times will I see the audiologist after activation? -Can you connect me with another patient who has had each brand of implant I am considering? -Are there any vaccines I should get before being implanted? (Meningitis is common vaccine) -Do you close the surgical area with glue, staples, or stitches? Will I need to return to have those removed? -Do you verify internal placement of implant electrodes with an xray prior to closing up when surgery is completed? -Ask for detailed post op instructions: when can you wash hair, care of incision, pain meds, cup removal, Will you see surgeon for post op checkup?

https://blog.medel.com/cochlear-implant-rehab-for-ssd-how-to-improve-your-understanding-of-speech-in-noise/?fbclid=IwAR0aGDlRuCz3jQK_jAxCpIYnW_6sWEyk4RaEwfsKW0tSe7tBZ7C5RussTBk&utm_content=18-03-2021&utm_medium=post&utm_source=facebook