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Implant surgery looming


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HI.

I am new to this site; from the Boston are.  I am having the implant done at Mass Eye and Ear on April 12.  I would appreciate some feedback from people as to how long of recuperation I can really anticipate and also any recommendations to make my recovery easier.  I am (soon to be) a 62 year old woman.  I have progressive neurosensio loss that was diagnosed when I was 22.  I wear hearing aids now and where I can hear some sound, it sounds like noise.

I have to have an MRI annually and was told MedEl was the only implant that is MRI friendly.  My friend who works at the ASD in Hartford also said where MedEl has a smaller user community it is high qualit.

I would like to know if there are any support groups with meetings that I can attend.

Thank you all and have a good evening.

 

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  • HearPeers Heroes

Hello and welcome!  Wishing you the best.  You can reach out to Med-El and ask for your COM,Consumer Outreach Manager's name and contact info.  I believe it is Gina Greco.  The Med-El COMs are regional and set up meet and greets, workshops, etc in each region.  There is a Hands On Hearing workshop in NYC on April 1st.  Www.handsonhearing.com

I also had a progressive hearing loss.  Mine started at age 13.  I was implanted at age 51.  These CIs are amazing!

Everyone's recovery is different and each surgeon has her/his own list of post surgery rules.

I had easy recoveries from both CI surgeries 8 months apart and was back at work after one week.  Compared to previous ear surgeries, this was a piece of cake.  Smile.

 

Feel free to ask as many questions as you want.  I know I had a lot of questions when I started this journey.

Hello Jean, I had my MedEl implant done in February of 2016 @ the age of 63 and my recovery had no problems at all. In fact I only took 2 pain pills the first week and nothing after than. I am in Michigan so can't help you with live support groups but your surgeon and audiologist should be able to direct you. Good Luck and have patience once you are activate 30 day's latter.

Pat Tichenor 

  • HearPeers Heroes

Welcome to hearpeers!  As MaryBeth mentioned, I would contact your area customer support to get you in touch with others. 

My recovery was not to bad. I had surgery on Thursday and by Tuesday or Wednesday the next week, I had my feet back under me so to speak. 

The synchrony implant magnet allows you to have an MRI up to 3.0 Tesla without having to remove it. As far as I know right now, MaryBeth or Hadron correct me if I'm wrong, I believe  synchrony is the only implant out of the 3 companies that the magnet does not have to be removed to have an MRI. 

Looking forward to getting to know you 

  • HearPeers Heroes

As well as the Sonata. That is the implant I have currently. Luckily my neurosurgeon has seen enough of the inside of my brain to where a CT scan usually suffice. ?

Thank you all for the information.  I have to monitor a cyst annually so I need the MRI.  Doctor said I may not be able to have the CI on my left side because of the cyst.  I am hoping though that I will be able to if I get the hearing back in my right ear.   I just had my pre-op visit and surgery is a go in 3 weeks. 

 

  • HearPeers Heroes

Jeanbeans,

i can relate to the concern as that was something I had to consider as well before getting my CI. I have had 39 surgeries over my lifetime and 19 have been brain surgeries usually requiring MRI before the surgery. Needless to say, this weighed heavily on my mind in making my decision  which brand to go with.  The design of the synchrony implant is genius. I believe you have to wrap your head with something like an ace bandadge before the MRI but that's it. 

Adam,

 

Synchrony has been successfully tested at 7.0 Tesla in Europe and, from an an engineering standpoint, it should be able to withstand even greater magnetic field strengths

Mary Beth and Adam,

Sorry, but I have no further information. I learned about the 7.0T field tests from Med-El, but do not even know in which nations they were conducted. I also asked if they were planning to test Synchrony with a 9.0T MRI system, like the one being evaluated at Vanderbilt University, but did not receive a response.

MRI's were on the absolute top of my list because every few years, I am compelled to have four long duration MRI's over a one year period. Despite not being able to hear properly since 1968, I would never agree to having the implant magnet removed for each test.

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  • HearPeers Heroes

WOW! 9 Tesla is pretty strong. I bet the images are amazing. 

Luckily for me, my neurosurgeon just calls for CT scans now. Heck, I usually ask if I can see the scan after they are done. I have seen so many now, I can tell what is "normal" for me and what "I'm gonna need surgery" looks like. The tech usually lets me look because they think I have no clue what I'm looking at. They make sure to tell me that they can't answer any questions. I tell them they won't need to. 

You should see their faces when I tell them that the image I am looking at has to many artifacts from the CI, can they go a few slices lower so I can see the ventricles clearer. ?

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