Kathryn Posted April 18 Report Share Posted April 18 Hi, I have single sided deafness and got a hearing aid for the bad side 6 years ago. Noticed over the last 6 months that the hearing aid was no longer of much or indeed any benefit. Visit to the audiologist a few days ago confirmed I've now lost hearing in the bad ear to the extent that I am now a candidate for CI here in Germany where I live. Big shock! Although I speak reasonable German my home and much of my work life runs in English ... hence over here in the english part of the forum. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted April 18 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted April 18 Welcome @Kathryn! Wishing you the best on your CI journey. Next up an appt with a CI surgeon? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted April 18 Author Report Share Posted April 18 I have to go back to an HNO (Ear nose throat) Dr. first to get the official referral for the German health insurance ... haven't been back to the last one for 6 yrs because here in DE the audiologist takes over for hearing aids. Toying with the idea of going somewhere else nearer to where I moved to 4 years ago, but maybe having to wait 6+ weeks. I'm on holiday this week so have been reading up on everything! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted April 18 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted April 18 @Kathryn feel free to ask questions. We are a friendly group. I will also give you a link to our May HearPeers GoogleMeet in case you want to join in. It’s a group of Med-El CI users on the forum. A very friendly bunch. follow this link and reply there if you wish to join in Darlene Mac 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Tim Posted April 18 Members Report Share Posted April 18 Hello @Kathryn, I was just in Hanover and Berlin last month visiting my son and may go again at the end of the year. I have SSD too and first had a CI recommended about 7 years ago but because of insurance, only got the surgery in January of this year. There are quite of us new SSD people in HearPeers that are recent implantees. Glad that I had it done. My old 24x7 tinnitus on that side is pretty much gone while wearing my processor. Speech recognition is steadily getting better - I'm sitting here in my office right now streaming podcasts straight to my processor. I can't do some some podcasts if they aren't clear speakers or recordings but others I can accelerate to 120% speed. My wife has noticed that I hardly ever do the SSD "head turn" now. The journey for rehab is a little different from our bimodal friends. It is a little harder to isolate the CI side for focused practice since the good ear wants to do all of the work so it is harder to just practice with people. On the other hand, streaming works well for doing a lot of practice. I try to stream at least a couple of hours a day. Welcome to the group and happy to help! I got so much help from the people (especially @Mary Beth) here and glad to return the favor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted April 19 Author Report Share Posted April 19 Thanks for the welcome Mary Beth and Tim. On Friday last week when I got my bad news I was pretty shocked, tbh I had tried to gloss over the fact that for some months my left ear wasn't bringing anything to the party! Thought the hearing aid just needed adjustment. Having read up alot now I feel more hopeful, in fact I've not had great performance from the ha for a while now and working in a busy school office it has been hard ... I'm so fed up of asking people/students to repeat themselves and feeling anxious about hearing issues. I have a training coming up which will be in a group and in German and I am kind of dreading it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted April 19 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted April 19 @Kathryn We first implanted my long standing totally deaf ear which had not processed any sound at all for 24 years following a surgery for Ménière’s but had heard to varying degrees prior to that. Having a deaf ear made listening so challenging. Always being aware of which side faced people and never knowing the direction of sound was frustrating. These CIs have been life changing. I hope you can get scheduled soon. Here is a link to my story in case you are interested. Kathryn 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kylie Posted April 19 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted April 19 Hi @Kathryn I am also SSD, was implanted 4 years ago and going great now!!! There is definitely hope for improvement with a CI. Mary Beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Saw the ENT yesterday and received my referral to the local CI clinic, emailed it off immediately - hope I get an appointment soon. The ENT ran a quick test and I've uploaded it. Can anyone tell me ... for my right (good) ear, is it looking OK? Stupidly didn't ask at the time. Audiogram 4 May 23.pdf Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted May 5 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted May 5 This link may help you @Kathryn https://medicine.uiowa.edu/iowaprotocols/how-read-audiogram Your right ear shows hearing within the normal range except for the highest two frequencies tested. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted May 5 Author Report Share Posted May 5 Thank you! Mary Beth 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathryn Posted May 26 Author Report Share Posted May 26 So I had a first appointment booked for early June, but decided I didn't want to go to that particular hospital, so rebooked in a smaller place which is also close to my home ... now I have just under 4 weeks until that appointment which feels like eternity! So impatient to get going. I seem to have hearing fatigue right now, by which I mean I am constantly shattered from relying on the one good ear in the school I work at, plus tinnitus is much worse. I really hope I might be lucky enough to see an improvement in the tinnitus eventually after surgery. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted May 26 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted May 26 @Kathryn I hope so too. My tinnitus is not noticeable at all when using my CI. I hope you get the same experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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