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How long after activation will I be able to hear?


JohnL

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I know, I know, everyone is different 😀

But I’m curious to get some input - and here is why. I am scheduled to pick my manufacturer early February, get surgery late March with activation mid to late April. But I am scheduled for a long awaited European vacation starting in mid May and I want to be able to hear conversations during the vacation and don’t know if 3 or 4 weeks after activation is enough time.  So I have to decide whether or not to put off surgery until I come home and other’s experiences will be helpful. Thanks. 

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The thing is, @JohnL - everyone's experiences are different.  Some people hear quite well within four weeks.  @Jewel wasn't that true for you?

I could hear after four weeks but it didn't sound great.  On the other hand, I wasn't uncomfortable using the CI either, so maybe you'd be OK.

We may pass you in the sky, we are flying home from Paris on May 15.

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@JohnL

If I followed you correctly, you are asking how well you will hear with your CI 2-4 weeks after activation?

I wish there was a magic ball that could tell you that.

I went on vacation a month after activation.

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34 minutes ago, Mary Beth said:

@JohnL

If I followed you correctly, you are asking how well you will hear with your CI 2-4 weeks after activation?

I wish there was a magic ball that could tell you that.

I went on vacation a month after activation.

Seems to me that the question isn't whether you hear perfectly with your CI when you go, but whether it's equal to or better than what you have without it.  I'd bet most of us would say that was true.

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37 minutes ago, Mary Featherston said:

Seems to me that the question isn't whether you hear perfectly with your CI when you go, but whether it's equal to or better than what you have without it.  I'd bet most of us would say that was true.

Spot on!

My second Activation still has some screeching sounds and there are some sounds that are giving me goosebumps. I'm saying this just about 2.5 months after activation. I can talk on the phone but it is far from perfect, sometimes I don't understand what the person at the other side of the phone is saying. In saying that, I can say it is a thousand times better than wearing my old hearing aid.

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Mary, you phrased the question better than  I did. I think that is the better way to look at it - I.e. will 2-4 weeks after activation be better than what I’ve got now?

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36 minutes ago, Daniel the Stranger said:

Spot on!

My second Activation still has some screeching sounds and there are some sounds that are giving me goosebumps. I'm saying this just about 2.5 months after activation. I can talk on the phone but it is far from perfect, sometimes I don't understand what the person at the other side of the phone is saying. In saying that, I can say it is a thousand times better than wearing my old hearing aid.

Same here, brother.  Exactly so.

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I got turned on in January two years ago and went on a Caribbean vacation 5 weeks later. The birds drove me absolutely nuts. They were like ice picks to the brain. And I was so happy they did cause I hadn’t  heard birds since I was a kid! 

So no, I couldn’t hear anywhere close to perfect, still can’t, but I could and can hear light years better than before!

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@Hicksy you reminded me that I had a similar experience.  I was activated in May and four or five weeks later we spent a week at my brother's cabin in the woods.  Birds and the wind in the trees and the crackle of the campfire.  I had my audiobooks and my Kindle and it was a great vacation.  And I heard much better than before.

@JohnL there's no way to know for sure, you know?  Just make a decision and live with it, you'll have a great vacation either way.  I'd get the surgery, but that's me, and I'm looking at it in retrospect.  You have to be comfortable with this.

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  • 2 months later...
  • 1 month later...

I could hear immediately,although for the first,hour or so,voices sounded like " Donald Duck"! LOL After that they gradually became more normal. 

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If you have had hearing aids that ability to communicate face to face, you have a good chance to hear at activation. 

 

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  • 2 weeks later...

I had surgery on April 26, 2019 and activation was June 3.  My ear is still tender from the surgery.  I have an annoying buzz or hum that only stops if I pull my hair away from

the processor.  As of now I can only hear sounds, no voices.  I can only let it on for 2 - 3 hours because of tender ear and that buzz.  Wondering if anyone else has/had the buzz

and if you did, when will it go away?!?  Thank you.

 

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Welcome @carmella416@hotmail.com and congratulations!

Which processor are you using?  

Tender ear with a processor can be solved for many by using a headband and attaching the processor to the headband instead of the ear or putting moleskin between the processor and your ear.

Buzzing caused by hair near the processor.....hmmmm....is this a Sonnet or Sonnet EAS with earmold?

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Hi @carmella416@hotmail.com - I didn't have a buzz, but yes, the Sonnet sits right on the incision and it's tender for a while.  What I did (not at work, but at home) was take a bandanna and fold it so it's a triangle and then fold it in half a couple more times lengthwise.  That leaves you with a piece of fabric that's about an inch and a half wide, and because you folded it you have an opening along one long edge.

Tie the bandanna on your head and then position the magnet over your implant - and then instead of hanging the processor off your ear, tuck it into the folded opening.  It will stay there and your ear won't hurt.

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  • 3 weeks later...

Just back from another audiologist appointment. Three months since activation and word recognition at only 40%. Not a happy day. 

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@JohnL

I am sorry you are discouraged.  It’s not an easy journey at times for all of us.

Refresh my memory....your surgeon took an X-ray after/during your surgery correct?  Have you asked your surgeon to show you the X-ray and discuss if all electrodes are in good positions?

You mentioned working with CLIX and iAngel Sounds.  How is that going for you now?

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I have not asked the surgeon about position and don’t see him again until October. The audi says they are all working. 

I am working with angel sounds and able. I took your advice and went back to level one on able and kept my eyes closed I was able to do very well up through about level six and then it’s got more difficult. Angel Don is a little more difficult but specially at minimal contrast but I can usually score 60 to 70% on most word lists. Which is part of the reason today was so disappointing. 

And when I mentioned to the audiologist that music sounded absolutely horrible He didn’t offer much encouragement for Improvement. 

We are testing  EAS because I’m on the borderline for using that and shewants to see if it’s any better. She said word recognition probably wouldn’t improve but the sound quality might. 

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@JohnL

Hang in there and keep practicing with CLIX, iAngelSounds and all of the other great ideas in our REHAB topic.  Also try to practice with a family member or friend.  That way the sound comes through the processor mics and it sounds different than when we connect to iPads etc.  It is more similar to the test booth since that uses our processor mics.  

Another thing to play with is the volume level we use with the apps.  Our CI audiologists test us in the booth at a set volume level.  This dB level varies from one CI audiologist/center to another.  My center tests at 50 dB.  Other reports have listed 55 dB or 60 dB.  I even saw one report that tested at 65 dB.  These volume differences have quite an impact on our scores.  Obviously, a bit louder (but not too loud) is easier for us.  This is one reason it is difficult to compare our scores on the same recorded test.  CI audiologists do not use the same presentation level (dB).  I would think that would be much more standardized than it is at the moment, even in the same country.

How have you been hearing in your real life?

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I had normal hearing until about 10 years ago (I’m 69) when I started to notice I was losing hearing. 

I use an iPad for the aural rehab but don’t connect directly, I just use the iPad speaker so the sound does go thru the mic. 

This test and all my previous ones were done at 65db (Mass Eye and Ear). Today she said they were switching over and using “softer” sounds - it was 48 dB. My score with 48 dB and just the CI was 28%. When I did it with my hearing aid in other ear it rose to 40% - same as 65 dB with just CI. 

I wish people would respond “40% at 3 months, that’s great, I was only at 30%” or “ I didn’t hit 40% for 6 months.” 

I guess I just have to keep focusing on making this work - because what choice do I have!! Thanks for your help. 

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@JohnL

Your comment made me smile.  You do realize there are people who did not understand any speech at all with their CIs for longer than 4 months right?

Everyone’s journeys are so unique.

Presentation at 48 dB is new to me.  I have always seen it in multiples of 5.

I am not a fan of comparing scores with others.  I prefer to compare my scores to my own previous scores.  As long as I was moving forward, things were working.  If I wasn’t moving forward, we needed to figure out a change (MAP change, aural rehab training change, etc).

How do you feel you are hearing in your real life?

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Unfortunately all I remember in this forum and others are the comments that CI recipients say it has changed their life because now they understand conversations almost immediately. I remember Monte saying a week or so after activation he was singing “ American Pie” while driving!!  

Given that I was at 4% a week after activation, 20% at a month and now 40%, it’s getting better - just not fast enough for this impatient patient. 

I’m terms of “real life” - I can hear most sounds - can’t always distinguish exactly what it is but that’s getting better e.g. birds chirping and the microwave beeping sound the same. Conversations go okay in small groups or when I’m looking at someone. But large groups are difficult and if I’m not at least close to someone it’s more difficult. I also can hear familiar voices better - so I know when my wife is telling me to take out the trash :)  

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