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Introducing myself


Toni Anne

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Hello everyone.  My name if Toni, I am in Australia & this is the first ever forum that I have joined.  I came to know about Hearpeers through my research of CI's.  I am soon to be implanted & am facing the overwhelming decision of which one to choose between Cochlear & Med-el.  How I will make the decision is beyond me!!!

Anyway, in having a look at this forum, it has become evident that there is extensive collective wisdom that may be extremely beneficial following the implant & throughout the rehab process.  So I made the decision to join.  

While I am very excited to have this opportunity of hearing, I too am very nervous about the results I will achieve & I look forward to future discussions.

Cheers

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Well best of luck and welcome to Hearpeers! We're glad to have you!! 

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Hi Toni,

i also remember feeling overwhelmed when told I could choose between all three US approved brands.  It was hard to sort through the literature and decide.  Ultimately it was the electrode array options with Med-El that sealed the deal for me.

i now have 2 Med-El CIs and I am so happy with my decision.  Best of luck.

Mary Beth

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I made the decision today.  Although, I keep going through stages of changing my mind!  Choosing between Cochlear & Med-el was no easy task - they both have their pro's & cons, but the Rondo option with Med-el has always been appealing - so Med-el it is.  Today surgery was booked for October 24th for both a right sided CI & bilateral sinus surgery.  I was feeling very apprehensive about the 2 things being done in the one surgery, but as luck would have it, at my appointment today with the ENT, there was another client in the waiting room who had the exact same surgery in December 2015.  He agreed to have a chat to me about it & I have come away very reassured that it will be ok & he has given me an idea of what to expect.  He even showed me his post op photos so now I can forewarn my children about my appearance too.  

I am concerned about the results that I will achieve.  I have been profoundly deaf in my right ear for around 23 years now - the negative, but the positive is that it has had hearing, that I have speech & at the end of the day - I have nothing to lose.  As the ENT said today, if I only get to 60%, it is still more than I have now.  As I have a severe hearing loss in my left ear, which is hearing aided, I am a little concerned how I will cope with the acoustic hearing in the left ear & the mechanical hearing in the right.  The hearing in my left ear after being stable from when I first started wearing the hearing aid some 29 years ago, has started to decline.  My journey started off with a bonebridge implant in my left ear as my plan only to be presented with the possibility of sound in my right ear.

I am so scared, but I am also very excited.  

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Toni,

 

My right ear had not processed any sound for 24 years when it was implanted last year.  I did a lot of aural rehab and it has done beautifully.  I can hear on any phone, listen to audiobooks, podcasts, music, people speaking etc all with that CI alone and no visual cues.  It started off hearing only static and beeps but that changed quickly.

you can find my story on the Med-El website under guest articles.  The first part of two tells the story of that ear.

wishing you the best

Mary Beth

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Welcome from the other side of the world. Feel free to ask as many questions as you would like. It can be a very overwhelming decision to make. I have bilateral CIs and have the sonnet processors. I upgraded from the opus 2 which were my original processors. I have had CIs for a little over 5 years now. I started to lose my hearing in my mid 20's. I'm 48 now. Each person progresses at different speeds and in different areas. You just need to be patient and do your homework. Just remember the 3 P's, PATIENCE, PRACTICE and PERSEVERENCE. My outlook was that if the CI would help with lip reading to where I wasnt so exhausted at the end of the day, it would be a total win. Anything above that was gravy. They have far exceeded my expectations. I believe you will be pleasantly surprised. 

 

Adam

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Hello Toni,

When you stop your fear, a light will shine your darkness - although this is little bit enthusiastic, try to think what's the best way to find your way out of it: step by step or - thinking what can happen?

Like Adam already written, practice -patience - persevere... Results can not miss you...

From what I have read in your lines, you are thinking about "mechanical voice" in one of your ears... This is not how it sounds like - your brain will easily sort it in the matter that this will sound as natural as it can be, but - how much you will understand, depends of yourS rehabilitative results...

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Ivana is correct. Again each person is a little different but I hear what people should sound like. Not robotic or electronic. I met my wife back when I had "normal" hearing in high school. I didn't start losing my hearing until my early 20's. She and my family sound exactly now as they did with typical hearing. 

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Adam and Ivana are correct.  Everyone, even people who are new to me, sound normal.  No robotic sound.  I can pick up accents and when people are playing with their voice , etc.. It just takes time.  Our brains are amazing.

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On September 16, 2016 at 4:55 AM, Toni Anne said:

I made the decision today.  Although, I keep going through stages of changing my mind!  Choosing between Cochlear & Med-el was no easy task - they both have their pro's & cons, but the Rondo option with Med-el has always been appealing - so Med-el it is.  Today surgery was booked for October 24th for both a right sided CI & bilateral sinus surgery.  I was feeling very apprehensive about the 2 things being done in the one surgery, but as luck would have it, at my appointment today with the ENT, there was another client in the waiting room who had the exact same surgery in December 2015.  He agreed to have a chat to me about it & I have come away very reassured that it will be ok & he has given me an idea of what to expect.  He even showed me his post op photos so now I can forewarn my children about my appearance too.  

I am concerned about the results that I will achieve.  I have been profoundly deaf in my right ear for around 23 years now - the negative, but the positive is that it has had hearing, that I have speech & at the end of the day - I have nothing to lose.  As the ENT said today, if I only get to 60%, it is still more than I have now.  As I have a severe hearing loss in my left ear, which is hearing aided, I am a little concerned how I will cope with the acoustic hearing in the left ear & the mechanical hearing in the right.  The hearing in my left ear after being stable from when I first started wearing the hearing aid some 29 years ago, has started to decline.  My journey started off with a bonebridge implant in my left ear as my plan only to be presented with the possibility of sound in my right ear.

I am so scared, but I am also very excited.  

I too am trying to make the decision on which CI to choose.  I also like the Rondo as an option.  Did you also consider the Kanso by Cochlear?  If so, what made you choose Rondo.  I am struggling with the same decision, your thinking would be very helpful to me.

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James,

I hope you don't mind if I also jump in and comment.  One thing to also consider is the fact that Med-El makes its new processors backward compatible.  Over time this becomes very important because our internal component is with us for a long, long time.  With Med-El when new processors are introduced, they work with previous generations of internal components.  This is not true of all CI brands so check into it a bit.  It's a tough decision but remember that the internal part is most important.  The external processors change rather quickly.  I have used the Opus2, Rondo and Sonnet already.

 

best of luck in your decision making process.  I wish you much success.

Mary Beth

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Mary Beth,

Thanks for your feed back.  I am just starting out on the path.  My take away so far is Med-El has the best implant technology.  The others compensate with more (not necessarily better) electronics and features.  My surgeon told me AB is just about to announce a new implant probe.  I am waiting to find out if it leapfrogs over Med-El.  Your point about backward compatibility is very important and I will keep that in my consideration.

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16 hours ago, James said:

Mary Beth,

Thanks for your feed back.  I am just starting out on the path.  My take away so far is Med-El has the best implant technology.  The others compensate with more (not necessarily better) electronics and features.  My surgeon told me AB is just about to announce a new implant probe.  I am waiting to find out if it leapfrogs over Med-El.  Your point about backward compatibility is very important and I will keep that in my consideration.

Just to add an info, Kanso just arrived on the market - Rondo appeared as the first non-BTE model on the market almost 3,5 years before... 

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On 9/18/2016 at 8:27 AM, James said:

I too am trying to make the decision on which CI to choose.  I also like the Rondo as an option.  Did you also consider the Kanso by Cochlear?  If so, what made you choose Rondo.  I am struggling with the same decision, your thinking would be very helpful to me.

 

On 9/18/2016 at 8:27 AM, James said:

I too am trying to make the decision on which CI to choose.  I also like the Rondo as an option.  Did you also consider the Kanso by Cochlear?  If so, what made you choose Rondo.  I am struggling with the same decision, your thinking would be very helpful to me.

I guess I always had in my head that I would most likely choose the Med-el because of the Rondo.  In one of my discussions with CI recipients, one said about how the normal processor would easily fall off & I know that there are ways around that, but I didn't want to be put the situation of wearing a mould in my ear as I have to with my hearing aided left ear.  My left external ear canal is suffering miserably now owing to the irritation from constantly wearing a mould so that was one of the major reasons.  I found out last week that Cochlear are releasing a second processor option, however, it was unclear when that would be available in Australia & whether I would be able to claim in on my health fund. As it is the newer model, it outsmarts the Rondo, however, I am sure Med-el will come up with something comparable in the future to remain competitive.  Another thing to consider is Cochlear has the ability to make adjusments on the processor, whereas, Med-el only by remote - which will be a problem for me as I am always losing glasses, sunglasses, keys etc haha.  The trade off is the Cochlear processor is slightly larger than the Med-el.  All sorts of differences that I only picked up through discussion & not the literature.My surgeon was a bigger fan of the Med-el - especially if there is hearing to be preserved which in my case there isn't & Med-el now has rechargable battery option.  It was a difficult decision.  Good luck.

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It is a very personal decision that you have to make for yourself, and there is no wrong decision. Period. You have to decide what is important to you in the implant and processor. You have to be 100% confident in the choice you made or you could struggle. To me, future software upgrades might be the most important. To somebody else, they might care how it looks wearing the processor as it gives hearing and self confidence. I will be the first in line to shake your hand and congratulate you on your new hearing journey. There is no wrong answer. The bottom line is that we are able to hear. Make a top 10 list of what is important to you to make your decision. If you choose a company other than Medel, so what! You are hearing and that is the goal. I proudly wave the Medel flag to all that I talk to but stress, hearing is most important. If I pressure somebody to go with Medel and they after the fact wish they went with a different brand, there are no "winners".

not sure where that came from. It is something I am quite passionate about and one of the reasons I love hearpeers and Medel so much. We welcome everyone. We do promote the amazing aspects that Medel offers, but do it in a way as to not bash or speak against other brands. Proud to be affiliated (recipient only) with such an organization.

adam

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Hi James welcome to Hearpeers!  I wear a Sonnet in one ear and a HA in the other. I was worried about this issue with wearing a mold too. As I have small ears and ear canals. But the sonnet for me sits ok on the ear without a mold. Just a thought. 

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I am so happy to be rid of earmolds!  The Sonnets stay put just fine for me.  They have never fallen off.

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I never had an issue with the skeleton ear molds. Would I take them back? Ahhh no. As you Mary Beth, I never had an issue with opus 2 or Sonnets

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12 hours ago, Adam said:

It is a very personal decision that you have to make for yourself, and there is no wrong decision. Period. You have to decide what is important to you in the implant and processor. You have to be 100% confident in the choice you made or you could struggle. To me, future software upgrades might be the most important. To somebody else, they might care how it looks wearing the processor as it gives hearing and self confidence. I will be the first in line to shake your hand and congratulate you on your new hearing journey. There is no wrong answer. The bottom line is that we are able to hear. Make a top 10 list of what is important to you to make your decision. If you choose a company other than Medel, so what! You are hearing and that is the goal. I proudly wave the Medel flag to all that I talk to but stress, hearing is most important. If I pressure somebody to go with Medel and they after the fact wish they went with a different brand, there are no "winners".

not sure where that came from. It is something I am quite passionate about and one of the reasons I love hearpeers and Medel so much. We welcome everyone. We do promote the amazing aspects that Medel offers, but do it in a way as to not bash or speak against other brands. Proud to be affiliated (recipient only) with such an organization.

adam

Appreciating the feedback from everyone.  I am sure James is too.  Quite frankly, there is really no wrong decision, it really is what is going to work best for you at this point in time.  As for results, legally I have been counselled for worst case scenarios which invariably has left me to err on the side of caution. However,  I am feeling very optimistic based on  the comments I have read from you all.  That is a blessing for which I say thank you.  I will keep the 3 p's in my mind from here on in :)  

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That is awesome to hear. Yep the doctors have to advise of any possibility. Keep us posted

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Reading this thread and news about discontinue processor in other brand, I'm confused.

Can you migrate from one brand processor to other mantaining original CI? I don't know if I explain right?

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If your internal CI component is Med-El, you must use Med-El processors.  You can change to new processors from Med-El as they become available.  

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Valentin 

you do have the capability to upgrade to a new processor. As Marybeth said, you cannot use a processor from say cochlear on a MEDEL implant. Kind of like when you are bilateral and you put your left processor on your right ear. It won't work because each implant and processor are paired together. 

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