What do you guys mean by “normal”

[Nick1996]

So I have some questions about cochlear implants.

1. What are the chances that the implant doesn’t work?

2. What do you guys mean by “normal” when I have heard that these things sound robotic or like Alvin and the Chipmunks?

3. How do you guys watch tv or movies when music plays?

4. What do you guys enjoy doing? Can you understand conversation and do your jobs well?

5. How long does it take to rehabilitate?

6. Do you guys have a good quality of life now and if you have Tinnitus has it subsided? 

[Mary Beth]

1.  What are the chances that the implant doesn’t work?

The best information about whether a cochlear implant will work for you is your CI team.  Everyone’s anatomy and hearing history is unique.  We implanted a long standing deaf ear- my right ear which had not processed any sound at all for 24 years following a surgery to treat Ménière’s disease and that ear started understanding speech hours after activation.  Here is a link to my captioned story in case you are interested.

 

 

2. What do you guys mean by “normal” when I have heard that these things sound robotic or like Alvin and the Chipmunks?

At first everything and everyone sound very odd but as our brains get used to the CI input things start sounding natural again.  Aural rehab (check out our REHAB topic) can help speed up this process.  Now everyone has their own natural voices and music sounds amazing.

 

3. How do you guys watch tv or movies when music plays?

I watch TV and movies like my family members- just by listening to them.  They sound great.  There are various assistive tech options to stream the audio to the CI processors if we wish.

 

4. What do you guys enjoy doing? Can you understand conversation and do your jobs well?

I love being with family and friends and playing board/card games in groups.  I hear very well in those settings.  
 

5. How long does it take to rehabilitate?

This varies for each person and each ear.  Aural rehab helped me a lot.

 

6. Do you guys have a good quality of life now and if you have Tinnitus has it subsided? 
 

This tech has been life changing.  When I have the processors on, I do not notice my tinnitus.  When I remove them at night, tinnitus returns but is quieter than before.  This varies for each person.

[Kylie]

These are great questions @Nick1996. I have also answered them below. They are not very different to @Mary Beth!

1. What are the chances that the implant doesn’t work?

That is hard to say, not knowing any statistics, but considering that most implants seem to broadly 'work', with only rare exceptions, it is probably more like - what will success be like for you? How realistic are your expectations? Have you asked your audiologist and surgeon all the questions you have, so you feel well informed? Have you talked with others about their experiences (like on this forum!)? What are the main areas of your life where you want to see improvement, that you will notice? Are you prepared to do the rehab work to get the best possible outcome, and wear your processor all the time, even when it's difficult? And if problems DO arise, are you going to raise them with your audiologist and/or on this forum, so you can get help to overcome them?  

2. What do you guys mean by “normal” when I have heard that these things sound robotic or like Alvin and the Chipmunks?

They do indeed sound silly at first, those robotic and chipmunk descriptions are pretty common, and I would say mine started exactly like that. But it doesn't stay like that!  Your brain just needs time and practice to adjust to the new input and sort it out better to what it should sound like. Then over time gradually it does become more 'normal' which I would define as like natural hearing (which I have had, so I do have a direct comparison).  For me, as single sided deaf and 3.5 years post-activation, I would say that my CI ear is not exactly the same as my natural hearing ear, and it probably never will be, however it is amazingly good and I would do it again in a heartbeat.  It is not at all robotic anymore and now sounds like a slightly inferior version of my natural hearing, with similar tones and inflections represented. 

3. How do you guys watch tv or movies when music plays?

As single sided deaf, I just watch like before. When I was doing daily rehab I was connecting to my phone to watch a movie or music, to isolate the sound for practice. But for pleasure, just the usual way.

4. What do you guys enjoy doing? Can you understand conversation and do your jobs well?

I can understand conversation just as good as before I became deaf, I do not notice the difference. I have not had to change my hobbies or work plans at all (post activation), even when in a noisy environment.  After becoming deaf and before activation, I did have many problems and avoided crowds, restaurants, etc as it was too hard to hear with any clarity and was overwhelming. And at work I had to sit in small meeting rooms, have people sit on my 'good' side etc. But those days are over with my CI! 

5. How long does it take to rehabilitate?

I'm not sure it's ever really 'finished'? But I finished the intensive part of rehab (aiming for daily targeted practise) within about 12-18 months, by then I was dropping back to not doing special rehab exercises but just trying to use the CI side where convenient that I could use it in isolation e.g. audiobooks connected my CI instead of other side. I no longer do that as often, just sometimes when I feel like it. But I have now started some new music practise exercises with Meludia, as I still want to improve my music perception if I can (as a musician).   But initially I found that within 6 months with regular practise and wearing the processor all day, the sound went from silly robots to natural-ish and could complete very difficult listening exercises without problem. That early time was the biggest gain and so required the most work.  

6. Do you guys have a good quality of life now and if you have Tinnitus has it subsided? 

My QOL is excellent, to the point where I completely forget I have a CI at all. A number of times recently I have nearly worn it into the shower or to bed!!  Similar to Mary Beth, my tinnitus is nonexistent while wearing my processor, and mildly present, when I notice it at all, when I remove it.

[Jimit]

Hi @Nick1996 I guess you definitely got your answers from last two comments but I just want to share my own experience.

1. What are the chances that the implant doesn’t work?

From what I know it's less than 1% cases reported so far where there was a complication. I would say if you go for a experienced surgon and team the chances of success are almost 100% now a days.

2. What do you guys mean by “normal” when I have heard that these things sound robotic or like Alvin and the Chipmunks?

It is different from person to person, I have started with the robotic sound on my activation but within only few days it start sounding like human to me and within a couple of month or so it feels like a natural to me. I have had my natural hearing for 23 years and almost good hearing using HA for next 10 years. So I can easliy compare the sounds I already heard with what I am hearing now. And they are not at all robotic.

3. How do you guys watch tv or movies when music plays?

I am using Audio Link to watch TV with external sound off that way I can only hear the sound coming from the TV only (same for music). I have around 15 love birds at my home and it's impossible to hear TV/music with them all talking in background.  But audio link just shut them down and I can enjoy the TV/music like I am sitting in movie theatre. 

4. What do you guys enjoy doing? Can you understand conversation and do your jobs well?

I would say the life is back to normal for me. I am enjoying and understanding almost all conversations with limited people (3-4). Beyond 3-4 people it's hard to get every wold that is spoken. But I still manage to understand the topic where the conversation going. And I think that is more than enough for me.

5. How long does it take to rehabilitate?

If you have lost your hearing recently, it is likely that you don't need to go through rehab at all. Few self rehab session at home will do. For me I have plenty of talking folks around me whole day so I didn't need to take any other rehab sessions.  For kids born deaf, I think 6 months of rehab training is recommended. For adult no more than 2 months I guess, but I would say once your mind started hearing from CI, it's a life time process to fine tune it.

6. Do you guys have a good quality of life now and if you have Tinnitus has it subsided? 

No doubt about the quality of life, it's surely improved to the level where I feels content. My tinnitus definitely reduced after implant. But it's still there. The intensity of it varies time to time but yeah definitely better than pre impant days. I found with impant turned on, the tinnitus sound drastically getting reduced but it comes back over night some times and stays for few hours after I switch my implant on.