M Dodge Posted June 27, 2022 Report Share Posted June 27, 2022 I'm a newbie to this forum. A little bit about me. In 2019, I woke up one day and had no hearing in my left ear. My hearing had vanished overnight, it was gone in my left ear. It was by far the most traumatic event in my life, ever. In June of 2020, I received my MED-EL CI and started to hear for the first time. Now, two years later I feel normal. In my opinion, the folks at MED-EL are the best in the business. They know how to help people! I also started using this free computer program called Angel Sound, it's designed for children with CIs. I use it to work on vowels and consonants, it helps me. Jared Charney, Darlene Mac, Megan L. and 2 others 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kylie Posted June 28, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted June 28, 2022 Hi @M Dodge! I had a similar experience. 4 years ago at the age of 37 I woke up on a Sunday with an inner ear infection, including a completely deaf ear. It was expected to resolve with the infection but it did not. I agree that it is a shocking and traumatizing experience! Many tears were shed. I have now had my CI for 3 years and it is so amazing. I feel like I have my whole life back as there is nothing I can't do again. However I'm still learning new things and find a lot of helpful hints on this forum. Nice to have you here too and I hope you have a similar experience. Jared Charney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Dodge Posted June 28, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 28, 2022 I also experienced problems with my balance. The CI doctor recommended I walk more. I did start walking more, but it was a while before I could ride a bicycle. Since then, my balance has gotten better. Jared Charney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Charney Posted June 29, 2022 Report Share Posted June 29, 2022 Hello @M DodgeI too had a similar story: about 6 years ago after a trip abroad w/my family I woke up to an awful bout of vertigo. My wife rushed me to the hospital and after I was treated for the vertigo I complained that I had no hearing but no one treated me for sudden hearing loss and were confident I just needed to concentrate on regaining my balance. By the time I visited a specialist it was far too late to try steroids and I spent a lot of time living in anger and frustration with the medical teams around me. I also had to try my best to live w/some pretty awful 24/7 tinnitus. 3 plus years later I got my CI and I truly couldn't be happier. It took a while but I've also regained complete balance. Good luck w/your rehabbing! BTW I like to use WordSuccess for practice Mary Beth and Kylie 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Dodge Posted June 30, 2022 Author Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 My first year with a CI was not so great. I got my CI right at the beginning of the pandemic and things really got out of control. The doctor who did all the testing and had helped me get the insurance approval and activated my CI for the first time, retired at the end of the month after activation. For the next year I experienced a number of problems with my mapping and testing because that core knowledge was gone. Everyone at the clinic was new and the new people were working alternating weeks, so I rarely seen the same person. When I told the new person that set my mapping, I was having a hard time hearing the higher frequencies, she dismissed me. She told me "Your mapping is just fine, and I will not make any changes". When we left that day, I was livid and told my wife, I don't want to come back here. For the next few months, I thought about my options. I never stopped wearing my CI because I could hear better than being deaf in that ear. Well change was in the future! I was grocery shopping, looking at heads of lettuce. Out of the blue, a guy stops and asks me about my CI. I told him about being frustrated and angry about my progress. How the young lady dismissed me. Long story short, this guy gave me the contact information to Arizona Hearing and Balance Center. My appointment was amazing. The audiologist performed a whole series of tests. We start going over the results in her office and she says, why are your two highest frequencies turned off! I shook my head and said, no idea. Can you turn them on, I really want to start hearing? She did a complete adjust of my mapping. WOW. At my next appointment, I was told she took a job with MED-EL. But she had left copious notes, so my new audiologist hit the ground running. That was a year ago and things have only gotten better. Recently, I completed some testing. With my CI and HA together, I'm at 96% at threshold. I hear pretty damn well! Dianna, Mary Beth, Darlene Mac and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted June 30, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted June 30, 2022 @M Dodge I am sorry your first year was full of challenges. So happy you found a great CI audiologist to get things sorted out and that she left copious notes to help your new CI audiologist. If you are interested in joining in our next monthly GoogleMeet with automatic captioning, just follow this link by pressing on the arrow and reply there. @Bill C usually joins in from Arizona. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Dodge Posted July 1, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 1, 2022 Thank you, Mary Beth for your kind words. Dianna and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dianna Posted July 4, 2022 Report Share Posted July 4, 2022 Welcome m dodge! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Dodge Posted July 5, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 5, 2022 Happy 4th of July everyone! Mary Beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted July 7, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 @M Dodge @Bill C which CI center do you go to in Arizona? Who is your CI audiologist? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bill C Posted July 7, 2022 Report Share Posted July 7, 2022 My CI center is Center for Neurosciences on River Rd. Audiologist is Mary Rose Goldstein. Mary Beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
M Dodge Posted July 9, 2022 Author Report Share Posted July 9, 2022 My CI center is the Arizona Hearing & Balance Center on Dobson Rd in Chandler, AZ. My Audiologist is Bailey Hubbard. Mary Beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darlene Mac Posted July 10, 2022 Report Share Posted July 10, 2022 Welcome M Dodge! That was quite the year you had. I'm so glad you stuck with the CI and eventually found your way to an audiologist who listened to you! It makes all the difference. As a hearing impaired person, I find that it's very important to be my own advocate, and I'm fortunate to have a great team of audiologists. I'm so happy that you are having such success with your CI! 🙂 Mary Beth and M Dodge 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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