Daniel the Stranger

I can understand what my boss talks over the phone in Spanish... he doesn't know it 😂 I can understand what my wife says to our cat in the lounge next to our bedroom. (Yes, our cat likes to chat) I enjoy music more and more everyday during my daily commute.

I took a week off from both surgeries. It would be fantastic to have the surgery on a Friday so you have 2 days more of recovery. My first one was on Friday but my second one was on Wednesday.

Thanks for your kind words @Mary Featherston, sometimes I wonder why people say I'm boring as we don't do much on weekends lol. I'm usually very tired on weekends, and perhaps this is why maybe I haven't done proper rehab since both CI activation. I'm mentally exhausted not because of the new implants but because I need to make more effort in my day to day job to be able to communicate with my coworkers. I can go to the gym after work but I don't want to do Rehab, go figure! I know at some point I will need to go to the public library and grab some ESL books with multimedia to practice the English language again. Don't get me wrong, I'm still very happy with the way things are going with my CI and in that short period of time my communication has improved a lot. And music has been a blessing, I can tell you that I used to call my dad daily during my driving to work but now I only do it twice a week... I want to listen to music!

Hi @Joseph English is my second language. I was first implanted 8 months ago and second implanted 3 months ago. My understanding of Spanish has improved a lot, I can talk much better on the phone and I have made progress understanding speech in music. I think I still have a long way to go. However with English the story is very different. I'm going to give more time (1 year with both sides) to make sure whether I have to go back to school to practice my listening and speaking skills. The conclusion I''m getting from this experience is that the English language I was taught while using my hearing aids was very different to the one I'm hearing with the implants. So in other words, I think I have to relearn my listening and my speaking as if I was a new English student. I have to say that English sounds much better with the implants. I have felt progress at my workplace but I feel they are still very small steps. Thanks @Mary Featherston for calling, writing these kind of experiences is helpful to give it a thought on what to do to improve our hearing.

I think he is talking about walking-through metal detectors.

On my trip to New Zealand last December, the guy at Melbourne Airport took me to a new machine similar to the metal detector, he told me that was a new machine for people with Heart Pacemakers and Cochlear Implants. There were not interference at all once in that machine.

@Kylie, it is possible that they didn't give you a choice because you are going with Medicare? If so, I'm surprised that they didn't force you to go with Cochlear as it is an Australian company.

@Kylie, let us know how did it go. Good Luck.

Hi @Kylie, I'm not Aussie but I live in Adelaide and I had both surgeries last year using Private Health insurance. Insurers need the item number to make sure the policy you are choosing cover this. There can be a misunderstanding just mentioning "Processor Replacement" or similar words that can come out and you both wouldn't want that. For the item number you need to make an appointment with the doctor who is going to do the surgery. I did this and my insurer assured me I was covered for what I wanted. At the moment I'm in the process of applying to the NDIS (National Disability Insurance), my Audi is helping me out with the paperwork required, I still need to find out what are my benefits under NDIS. My Audi told me it is not means tested.

Are you talking about the signature? I can see them on my Android phone, maybe if you try using google chrome on your iphone? Another thing is that I always set up chrome to show websites as dekstop sites, I don't like mobile site appearances.

Spot on! My second Activation still has some screeching sounds and there are some sounds that are giving me goosebumps. I'm saying this just about 2.5 months after activation. I can talk on the phone but it is far from perfect, sometimes I don't understand what the person at the other side of the phone is saying. In saying that, I can say it is a thousand times better than wearing my old hearing aid.

That was exactly my experience not only with my surgeon but also with my Audiologist. I was happy with that. I also have to say that in some way they steered a little bit towards Cochlear because it is an Australian company. Unfortunately it was the last option on my list.

Hi @Mary Featherston!! that's right, I'm very happy, the only thing you got wrong is that I'm a He, not a She! 😂 Sorry for being away for too long, too many things happened over here, School got rid of one staff member in our office, plus my boss is on paternity leave, so I have been kind of busy these days. Last December I got family visit from Mexico and we travelled a bit around Australia and we went to New Zealand as well for a week. School is going to be very busy at least until mid February, so I hope to participate a some degree until then.

No big deal, I was with my wife and close family, so they know how to talk to me so I can lip read. Besides, it was just for an hour as it was late already.

Well I'm still on holidays ending today. Last night we went to Christchurch downtown and for the first time on the holidays I didn't bring the spares with me. Guess what, both of them ran out just after dinner lol. My batteries after 6 Months last about 12-14 hours. I swap them once a day usually a couple of hours before bed.