April 2018 surgeries and activations

[Jewel]

@Jdashiell

Hey Joe, I hope your activation went well. Please keep us posted.

 

[Mary Featherston]

Joe and @Dave, who had activation yesterday.  Hope all's well with both of you!

[Jdashiell]

Activation went very well - all twelve electrodes in place in cochlea where they are supposed to be! Nerve is working excellent. Textbook case!

sounds were pinball like at first but I am able to understand speech which is amazing day 1. 

Although volume is low now, I have 4 programs to advance to this week. I see AuD again in 2 weeks. 

Very happy to hear bilaterally again ???

implant on right is Flex 28

implant on left this time is medium - not flex series. I’ll ask Dr why next appointment with him. 

Still very happy ? 

[Mary Featherston]

@Jdashiell - wow, Joe, great news!  Very happy for you.

[Mary Beth]

@Jdashiell, I am doing a happy dance for you!  YAY!

 

We are mirror images.....I have the medium on my right and flex 28 on my left.  Both work great.  Very balanced.  We needed the stiffer medium electrode array due to the condition of my cochlea on that side.

[Jewel]

@Jdashiell

That is absolutely awesome Joe! I am happy for you. A great way to start your journey and a great start to your weekend! 

[Jdashiell]

@Dorothy Tomorrow is your big day. 1st CI surgery.

Wishing you all the best for a well done procedure and a rapid recovery.

Joe

[Mary Beth]

Good luck @Dorothy!

[Mary Featherston]

Best of luck, @Dorothy!

[Jdashiell]

On 4/26/2018 at 2:23 PM, Jdashiell said:

@Dorothy Tomorrow is your big day. 1st CI surgery.

Wishing you all the best for a well done procedure and a rapid recovery.

Joe

Keep us up to date with your progress

[Mary Beth]

This week on HPs...,,,.smile

@Dorothy I hope you are recovering well from your first CI surgery on April 27th!  Rest easy.

@Jackie Erickson Wishing you the best on activation of your second CI on May 2nd!

@Kara of Canada Wishing you the best on activation of your second CI on May 3rd!

@stranger  Wishing you the best on your first CI surgery on May 4th!

 

[Jewel]

Wow this week will be a busy one for you guys! Hope all goes well @Kara of Canada, @Jackie Ericksonand @stranger.

@Dorothyplease let us know how you're doing. Hope you're recuperating well. 

[Kara of Canada]

8 hours ago, Mary Beth said:

This week on HPs...,,,.smile

@Dorothy I hope you are recovering well from your first CI surgery on April 27th!  Rest easy.

@Jackie Erickson Wishing you the best on activation of your second CI on May 2nd!

@Kara of Canada Wishing you the best on activation of your second CI on May 3rd!

@stranger  Wishing you the best on your first CI surgery on May 4th!

 

 

 

6 hours ago, Jewel said:

Wow this week will be a busy one for you guys! Hope all goes well @Kara of Canada, @Jackie Ericksonand @stranger.

@Dorothyplease let us know how you're doing. Hope you're recuperating well. 

 Thanks guys! I’m so excited to hear bilaterally!! 

[Mary Beth]

@Jackie Erickson  Sure hope everything went well at your activation today.

[Jackie Erickson]

Activation went very well today. I went with a Sonnett instead of a Rondo this time. I’m really liking the Sonnett. It’s nice to hear bilaterally again. Glad I had it done.

[Mary Beth]

That’s wonderful @Jackie Erickson !  Enjoy your bilateral journey.

[Mary Beth]

@Jackie Erickson

Will you have one of your new Sonnets programmed for your first side and one of your original Rondos programmed for your second side?

[MED-EL Moderator]

On 19.4.2018 at 3:06 AM, Mary Beth said:

@MED-EL Moderator

Any word on whether we can have a community calendar so members can opt to share surgery and activation dates?

I think we have liked having a list to know when to cheer people on, but I can not keep revising this list endlessly.  A community calendar sure would be helpful.

Hi @Mary Beth,

thank you very much for your input. A community calendar is a nice idea. There are new GDP Regulations in the EU for companies coming up and we have to review and check if we are legally allowed to implement such a functionality.  

Kind regards,
Barbara 

[Mary Beth]

@MED-EL Moderator

Thank you Barbara!

 

[Mary Beth]

@Kara of Canada

Wishing you the best at your activation today!  Fun times!  Your bilateral journey begins.

[Kara of Canada]

Thanks @Mary Beth and everyone I will let you know how it goes and what’s in the “special” package! 

[Hila]

@Kara of Canada how's your first morning as activated bilateral CI user??  I'm excited for you  please tag me when you post about your activation!  Have a great day and lovely weekend.  Best of luck with the hearing ??

[Kara of Canada]

9 hours ago, Nikki said:

@Kara of Canada how's your first morning as activated bilateral CI user??  I'm excited for you  please tag me when you post about your activation!  Have a great day and lovely weekend.  Best of luck with the hearing ??

Well my dear friends it is amazing! Of course it’s like a new implant it needs speech recognition first and for most so that’s where I’m starting. Background sounds sound normal but speech is garbled and “Donald Duck” sounding. F and E’s are tough. So I’m working on them. As for activation it went well! I cried a bit of course! To hear in two ears! I got the Rogers pen in my kit. But I’m not happy it will be about $700 to get another boot for my other ear. So that’s out of the question. I’ll stick with my neck loop. 

Lots of sounds to get used to. Many are quite loud but I have seen an improvement there already in one day. It’s all about relentless forward motion. Good luck @Jackie Erickson and @Mary Featherston keep up the hard work!! 

[Mary Beth]

Sounds terrific @Kara of Canada.  You know the drill.  Enjoy all your new WOW moments.  When your two sides become balanced, a whole new dimension opens up.  It is fabulous.

 

Yes, the price of Roger equipment is a deterrent for many, many people.  Keeping in mind that the Roger 21 Sonnet receiver is unable to provide 100/0 mixing, (Med-El does not allow our audiologists to set mixing ratios so it is fixed at 50/50.) it may not be the most ideal assistive device for many people.  It works great in schools when we want a 50/50 mix.  Phonak says not to use it on planes, so it is not helpful for travel.

 

Now that you are bilateral CI, you may want to test out BOSE QC35 BT headphones after your new side stabilizes.  Excellent sound quality.  Terrific when traveling.  Music is amazing.  Many people like it for phone use but I think you mentioned just holding  your phone over your Sonnet mics like me so that may not be important to you.

 

BT neckloops provide 100/0 mix when we want to block out environmental noise and just listen to music, podcasts, audiobooks, etc. and also 50/50 mix when we want to use them for the phone.  (T or MT via the Fine Tuner)

 

In my opinion, the only reason I would recommend a Roger Pen to an adult, over other Roger transmitters or other assistive tech options, is if they need to use the BT phone feature and don’t want to use a BT neckloop which also has a BT phone feature.  Adults struggling to hear friends/family in noisy situations may be interested in the new Roger Select transmitter instead.  It has very advanced mics.  Much better than the Roger Pen.  But again, Roger equipment is expensive and that turns many people away.  Especially people who need to purchase 2 receivers and 1 transmitter.  ($2500 is a lot of money).  Alternatives exist and are much cheaper.  However it is hard to beat Roger for speech in noise or over distance when you want a 50/50 mix and that is why it is used prevalently in our schools with deaf and hard-of-hearing students.

 

I am keeping an eye on a new tech coming out from Speak See.

 

The new Artone Mic plus BT neckloop offers a much cheaper option for people wanting a remote mic in noise or over distance.

 

If you decide you do want to use the Roger System bilaterally, you have the option of using a FM battery cover with a Roger X (02) receiver on your other Sonnet.  Make sure you get type 02 and make sure your audiologist can set it to the Sonnet CI setting via a Roger Inspiro or Roger Touchscreen Mic.  Some people have purchased a Roger X (02) receiver AND a Roger Inspiro on eBay at great prices and followed the online guides to set the Roger X (02) to the CI setting for Sonnets.  (Look under our Phonak topic for links if interested.)

 

I am holding out for Med-El’s 2.4 Sonnet connectivity device called AudioLink.

[Jdashiell]

1 hour ago, Kara of Canada said:

Well my dear friends it is amazing! Of course it’s like a new implant it needs speech recognition first and for most so that’s where I’m starting. Background sounds sound normal but speech is garbled and “Donald Duck” sounding. F and E’s are tough. So I’m working on them. As for activation it went well! I cried a bit of course! To hear in two ears! I got the Rogers pen in my kit. But I’m not happy it will be about $700 to get another boot for my other ear. So that’s out of the question. I’ll stick with my neck loop. 

Lots of sounds to get used to. Many are quite loud but I have seen an improvement there already in one day. It’s all about relentless forward motion. Good luck @Jackie Erickson and @Mary Featherston keep up the hard work!! 

@Kara of Canada , I am happy to hear of your *success*!

I received a Roger Pen in my first of 3 activation left ear kits last year and used it in my right ear only and found it very helpful. I can use it  restaurants, or meetings and am able to communicate well.  The Quattro I used prior to CIs has been very helpful to hear but I am without microphones so there is a tradeoff. Life remains a challenge.

As for my bilateral hearing, now that I am 2 weeks post activation and have had two adjustments to date I am relearning to hear again on the left. It is still a challenge but improving slowly day by day. I try to wear the left processor alone as much as possible. 

Joe