JimmyB Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 Hello Everyone, I've just joined this forum and very happy there is this resource. I had sudden deafness in my right ear in late 2018. I went through the typical protocols trying to get any of my hearing back. I tried hearing aids, which would just transfer the sound from my right ear to the left. The hearing is too far gone. I'm considering a CI in my right ear so I'm going for a consult with my my ENT doctor. His name is Doctor Justin Golub at Columbia University in Manhattan. My question is.. Are there any particular questions I should be asking? Also, can anyone comment about what the rehab will be like since it's only on one side. Since I have most of my hearing still in tact on my left side, will it be easier for my brain to process and/or make it easier for my right ear to make the new sounds I receive more normal? My apologies if I'm not asking the question properly, but any insight into this would be great. Thank you so much and happy new year. Jared Charney and Mary Beth 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 1, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 @JimmyB Welcome to HearPeers. I am going to tag two HP members who are also single sided deaf with CI. @Kylie and @Jared Charney We have a rehab topic and that will give you a lot of guidance on training your brain after activation. I will tag you in a post with links to various parts of my CI journey in case you are interested. Jared Charney 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Mary Beth Posted January 1, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 @JimmyB here is a link Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Charney Posted January 1, 2022 Report Share Posted January 1, 2022 Hi @JimmyBI also had sudden hearing loss and tried the Phonak CROS-B which was costly and did close to nothing. I have 24/7 tinnitus on top of my hearing loss and it's kind of difficult for me to articulate sometimes but my CI is by far the best thing that has happened in my life during the past year (actually just over one year since activation). Rehabbing is up and down process for me personally as sometimes I get so busy it's harder for me to dedicate my time but I def. have less difficulty hearing in situations / environments with background noise and I also have much easier time with sound localization. So, my hearing in my CI while far from being perfect is a bit of a. minor miracle to me. Honestly any sound/voices I hear in my deaf ear is always a source of pride/positivity. Music has come slower than I like but again so grateful for anything I hear. I'm not sure if I'm answering your questions well as I'm bit of a tangent person but overall a year plus after my surgery I can safely say that my hearing loss/tinnitus is no longer controlling my life Mary Beth and JimmyB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HearPeers Heroes Kylie Posted January 2, 2022 HearPeers Heroes Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 The rehab is similar in ways such as the need to do it regularly and wear the CI all the time to promote your brain adjusting. But then different in that you must isolate the CI side, you can't just do the exercises for example where another person reads items aloud. Because your hearing ear will cheat 😉. You will need to plug in that CI ear via cable or Bluetooth to a device such as phone or tablet and use exercises online or apps (or watch videos, listen to audiobooks and podcasts etc). So it's totally doable in this way. Apart from dedicated rehab time, in the normal environment of noise and conversation you just go about your day and over time this will also teach your ear to process the sounds. At first the two ears together will sound separate and strange, like electronic layers, but over time this settles into one coherent sound. The brain somehow sorts it out to produce one lovely normal-ish sound! Now that I'm 2 years in, the world sounds so normal that I completely forget I'm wearing a CI for hours at a time. It's really that good for me. It is still inferior by itself when isolated for rehab but not too bad. I can listen to podcasts very well. But this is really just to keep boosting my ear to get any further gains, in real life the two ears do everything together and it's amazing. And as @Jared Charney described, positively life changing. JimmyB, Mary Beth and Jared Charney 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Charney Posted January 2, 2022 Report Share Posted January 2, 2022 @KylieThis is so well articulated ! Kylie 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jared Charney Posted January 7, 2022 Report Share Posted January 7, 2022 @Kylieand @JimmyBother examples of why I love my CI: when I watch a show or listen to music w/my Bose Headphones it truly sounds like stereo hearing again and like Kylie said and I didn't truly realize but the combination of the good ear working w/the CI you kind of forget that one ear is deaf. Also, I opted for rechargeable batteries as it fit perfectly into my lifestyle and every once in a while I'll be out either working or before the Omicron variant maybe at a rest. with my wife and my battery will die and I forgot to bring an extra one and I actually like it (not really) bec. it 100 percent reminds me just how well the CI is working. Kylie and JimmyB 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.