New & Looking for Answers

[BarbWV]

Hi everyone-

 

A little background on my situation is that I grew up with a hearling loss diagnosed around the age of 6. I have worn Bilateral Hearing Aids my entire life. About 6 months ago I woke up and my hearing aid in my right ear was not functioning properly. I assumed- ear infection, wax build-up etc. I am from a small town and unfortunantly my Doctors had never discussed the posibility with me that I would one day lose my ability to hear. Long story short I believe I am hovering around 6 or 7% in my right ear & am no longer able to use a hearing aid. I am hoping to be approved for a CI on October 4th, which my ENT feels will happen. (I think we are creating a papertrail for insurance purposes). Within the last 6 months I began going to specialist who informed me that I do have a degenerative loss and I will need a CI in my left ear as well in the next couple of years. I have an "imersion" appointment also on Oct. 4th which to my understanding is when I will learn about the different CI types and equiptment needed etc.

 

I guess my question is how do I prepare for this- What is it like post surgery, recovery-time, pain, adjusting to one HA ear and one CI ear, etc. I have tried researching via internet, which I found not helpful with horror stories of implant failure & implants being rejected. I also could you some guidance on how to approach my workplace on the situation. They are aware of my hearing loss and impending CI implant but is there anything else I could tell them so the "understand." I currently do not have any friends/family who have gone through what I am so I appreciate any help or information. I could also use some guidance from family members esp. spouses- My husband and I have been married about a year and he is so lost on how to help or what to expect.

 

Thanks everyone!

[Adam]

Barbara,

Welcome to hearpeers!. You have come to the right place as there are many hear at various stages in their hearing journey. My name is Adam and I am bilaterally implanted so I have 2 implants. I got mine bilateral sequentially which means I got one, had it activated then got the other and 4 weeks later had that one activated. I have spent some time hearing with one and obviously now with 2. Big difference.

 

I grew up hearing normally until my mid twenties  (I'm 45 now)  when it started to go in my left ear due to a perilymph fistula. After 5 surgeries in that ear, the hearing fell to profound. a few years later the hearing in my other ear started to go but leveled off at borderline severe. I used Bi-cros aids for a few years before the cros aid stopped working. A surgery a few years ago left my left bad ear with zero residual hearing. 2.5 years ago I started having trouble with my "good" ear so thinking I needed new hearing aid, I went down to my hospital to get a quick test and order a new aid. The hearing had dropped to profound. This was in November. I was put on high dose prednisone, went back a week later and it got much worse. At this point no hearing aids would help so the CI evaluation was scheduled for January. I qualified pretty easily so the first surgery was set for April. It was at the evaluation that I got the chance to see my options for a CI

You are correct, there are a lot of horror stories out there and you really have to do your homework. Every persons reason for picking the one they pick is a little different. Dont let anybody tell you who or what company you should go with. Pretty much everybody here, myself included went with medel and are very happy with our choices.

As far as work goes. You will need to educate both your co workers as well as your family. My co workers thought that I would have the surgery on Thursday and show up to work on Monday hearing perfectly. Yeah, not so much. Each audi is different so they will make you wait anywhere from 2 to 6 weeks befroe they activate the cI. It really depends on the audiologist.

When first activated, things are going to sound pretty funny. anything from beeps to robotic sounds to cartoon scharacters. This does not last though. The first sounds you lose are the high frequencies. Those are the first sounds to come back when your CI is activated. Your brain is trying to figure out these sounds it hasnt heard in a really long time. Since you are relearning how to hear, it will take the 3 p's. PRACTICE, PATIENCE and PERSISTENCE. Your family and co workers need to realize this. Ok I have already written a book so feel free to ask as many questions as you can. The folks here are awesome and have a lot of smarts. ) looking forward to getting to know you.

 

Adam

[Adam]

Sorry forgot about the surgery

It is usually outpatient but your doctor will decide that. I stayed overnight for both of mine.  I think everybody would agree that after a few days you will have your feet back under you. Each person reacts a little different to the surgery so you will probbably hear a couple different scenarios. some get a funny taste on their tongue for a day or so, some get a little dizzy and some like me mainly had the expected discomfort from the incision.

 

Ask away

 

adam