Lilly2 Posted March 15, 2016 Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hello, I am 50 and very new to all this. I went suddenly and profoundly deaf in my left ear about four months ago and experienced rather dramatic vertigo at the same time, for which I was hospitalized. Happily I am back on two feet and the world is stable again! I am also back doing the job I love and I am grateful to have great support from my audiologist. I feel positive and open to anything that will help and am currently trialing a cross system hearing aid, which has helped, but I work in an environment with a lot of talking and hearing voices against background noise remains a challenge, not insurmountable, but a challenge none the less. My ENT has said that I would be able to have a cochlea implant and I am excited that this is an option. I would therefore like to know more about the procedure, costs and the benefits from people who have experienced this first hand. I understand that I will get between 40 and 50 percent of my hearing back, but I wondered about the quality, efficacy and longevity of a cochlea implant, and if this procedure is worth it. I understand too that everybody's experience is unique, but I would appreciate any positive but realistic sharing of advice and any things that I should look out for. Lilly Devonne0507 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted March 15, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hello Lilly and welcome! I received my first CI one year ago and my second CI 4 months ago. They have changed my life. I can hear on any phone, listen to audiobooks and enjoy music. I hope your hearing journey is as wonderful as mine has been. Welcome. Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Sandy Posted March 15, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hi Lilly and welcome to Hearpeers. I had my implant 2 years ago and it has positively changed my life. I can hear. I can participate in conversations, listen to TV and hear the birds sing, sirens going off and even people who are no longer facing me so I lip read. It's a lot of hard work but well worth the effort. I'm sure a number of people will be giving you their feedback shortly. Ask as many questions as you need. We will all do our best to answer you. Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Ivana Marinac Posted March 15, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Hello Lily, Welcome to the Hearpeers At the present, we do not have any member which has experienced unilateral sudden sensorineural deafness but there were few members who come and go. Last it was Wynden Royalty (maybe I mispelled her name for a letter or two - pardon me, I am rewriting this from my memory). However, there are 2 ways for helping people with your condition: a) a cochlear implant, bone conduction implant. A means that all the game is in rehabilitation of the affected cochlea, B means that all sound are conduct into the second ear. Like you said, it is individual road but I would advise you not to set you preliminary numbers of rehabilitated hearing threshold: if people who have been deaf for a long time can reach up to 100% of their speech recognition score - why wouldn't you? It has been proved that human brain can adapt "artificial" signal as good as natural, so - at the end, much of the final result is up to how much do you invest into practice, patience and perseverance to pursue your rehabilitation which needs time. Unilateral cochlear implantation and music appreciation are, at the moment, hot topics within clinical hearing science. So, ask whatever it crosses your mind - maybe we can help. Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kara of Canada Posted March 15, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 15, 2016 Welcome to Hear peers!! The questions you ask are all good and valid ones. My response would be where do you live? It's a bit different in different countries. With quality I would say you cant go wrong with a Med El implant. I have had mine for 3 1/2 months and it has changed my life!! I am able to talk on the phone again which I haven't done for five years. I am listening to music and hearing sounds I have heard but not in a long time. Or new sounds that I never heard before. I won't lie and say it wasn't hard work to get where I am I did about three hours training everyday for three months. With different kinds of things. I live in Canada so it was covered under our medical system. Only the first implant and processor though. Per side. I have heard different things as to cost. Around $10,000 dollars for just the processor which I have is a sonnet. Approximately $ 35,000 for the surgery. So that area depends where you live and if you have good insurance. Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Ivana Marinac Posted March 16, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 16, 2016 Lily has a unilateral/single sided deafness Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted March 18, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 18, 2016 Welcome to hearpeers Lily!! I used the bcros system for a while before my hearing got even worse. Each persons experience with the surgery, recovery, and rehab is a little different as our brains don't react quite the same way to the new hearing it is experiencing. I can tell you that just about any person you ask who has aa CI will say that they do not regret their decision to get one at all. I can say for me, it was life changing Do you have a date yet to be evaluated for a CI? Adam Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Cara Mia Posted March 19, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 Hello, I would therefore like to know more about the procedure, costs and the benefits from people who have experienced this first hand. I understand that I will get between 40 and 50 percent of my hearing back, but I wondered about the quality, efficacy and longevity of a cochlea implant, and if this procedure is worth it. I understand too that everybody's experience is unique, but I would appreciate any positive but realistic sharing of advice and any things that I should look out for. Lilly Hi Lilly, I am a little bit older than you. I was approved for bilateral implantation but decided to start with my bad ear that didn't work for at least 10 years. It is only six weeks after my surgery and 4 weeks since I was activated. So, my experience is not much compare to other people here. But I didn't regret my decision at all. Despite my implanted ear alone can do not so much yet, but I am much functional now with both ears working together. I have no that tiredness at the end of the day anymore as I had before when I spent a lot of energy deciphering what other people tell me.... I understand that I am at beginning of a long way to reach my goals, but I am glad to have many sounds back, that's cool to hear sounds I have no idea about. There is something new each day. And I believe the rehab process can be not frustrating at all if you organize and customize it according to your personality and needs. The surgery itself was very easy experience for me. When I think about it, seems this has happened no to me. It is hard to tell something about quality, efficacy and longevity of a cochlea implant as I don't use Ci enough time to have my own opinion, but statistics I found convinced me that Med El is the best choice for me. I am not sure about the maximum possible percentage of hearing we can get back with CI (I believe that more that 50% is possible , too for some). Also, it is hard to tell anything about the cost of this procedure because it depends on the insurance you have, and how much your clinic charges for this type of surgery and audi services. I'd discuss all that with you perspective surgeon and insurance company. At the end I want to tell one more time that my life has gotten easier and much promising to me with my CI. I am glad that I did it instead of struggling more and more. Good luck, Lilly, with your decision. Don't forget to visit us and share your news. We will be glad to hear from you. Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Adam Posted March 19, 2016 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted March 19, 2016 Cara is right on point with everything she said. I think the others here will share a similar experience. I went bilateral sequential. This means, I had one CI, waited a little while after activation then had the second. I am not sure why they gave you the number around 45 to 50% hearing that you will get back. Each person is different and progresses at different rates. I went from about 115dB loss across the board to now between 15Db and 30Db. Try not to focus on the numbers. You should try to get the most out of your CI that you can. This also takes time and practice. It is not a sprint, it is a marathon. I think regardless of how much sound you get back, it would still be a big improvement. That changes your quality of life. I would say that we all have good days and not so good days. We have to remember that the CIs are an aid and not a cure. That being said, I would not change a thing. If I had to do it all over again, I would do it in a second. Hope this helps and as Cara stated, please let us know how you are doing. As far as the surgery goes, it is relatively straightforward. It is usually outpatient. If you have the surgery in the morning you should be discharged that afternoon. There is some discomfort but if you take your pain mess you should be ok. Some people get dizzy, some don't. Some report a funny taste in their mouth and some don't. Raining in the ears ( tinnitus) might be an issue most that have it right after surgery says it settles down. If you have your surgery on say a Thursday, you should be feeling much more like yourself by Monday. I just relaxed around the house. This is getting long so I will end it here. Please ask as many questions as you can think of Adam Lilly2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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