CI and mental psyche.

Dark-Half

Dark-Half

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I was wondering what exactly happens after the surgery to the mental make up of ones brain when they first hear after not being able to for so many *insert time frame here* among other things. I didn't exactly find what I was looking for in the searches so if a topic has been discussed on this forgive me for making another one :(

I, myself lost my hearing when I was 6 from meningitis being misdiagnosis and treated far too late. A 5-6 day coma was the end result, woke up with hearing loss (completely). I've been hearing-impaired for at least 17 years now going on 18. It's never bothered me and I've accepted it, until now lately I'm starting to wonder if my fears regarding the cochlear implant are justified and that I'm truely at peace and content with my situation.
 
:welcome: Welcome aboard!

I'll just let the experts answer your questions -- I don't have a CI myself but my grandson got implanted at the end of July '06 and got turned on just before Labor Day weekend and is doing great (he's 5 years old).
 
I don't know much about the topic as it relates to CIs, but this kind of rewiring is called neuroplasticity, or neural plasticity. The same process happens in a lot of cases of brain injury - the brain rewires itself to compensate for the fact that it no longer has access to the area in question.

So in your case, for example, when you no longer got input from your aural nerves, your brain probably rewired itself to take advantage of the area normally used for sound, and used it for something else (this doesn't necessarily make it more efficient at other tasks, unfortunately). If you got a CI, your brain would then have to rewire itself again to use that area (or another, perhaps? I'd be interested to know.) for sound. It's quicker and easier when you're young; children's brains are far more plastic than adults'. That's why they learn things - languages, for example- so easily. But even though it won't be as quick now, and perhaps never as complete or effective, it's still possible.
 
I suppose my reason for avoiding a CI for so long is the disapointment. Getting someone's hopes up then finding out it wasn't what you were hoping and is just weird combinations of noises can really... well screw with you and push you over the edge as per mental break down...

Although I'm starting to think my original assumptions regarding a CI were a little far fetched because it seems exactly what hope it gives. The ability to hear as a 'normal person' can ( don't get me wrong, as people we are normal as they get just we lack the system to hear which is exactly what i'm refering to by normal. Someone who has complete function of all 5 senses. ). It's scary not knowing what to expect and I'm not the type to be used to placing faith in things like this because in the past it has let me down. By nature the we learn to avoid or handle things differently that has caused us pain or are unpleasant. For an instance, jumping off the top of monkey bars as a kid and hitting your knees hard, the second time around you'll probably be less likely to jump off so soon or try to edge off easier, even jump a different way. I'm no expert, but I'd like to assume that it is correct by logic in my eyes.

Anyhows, cheers! Glad I found this forum (Wasn't hard to find.. just had to actually have the guts to go looking and face reality.). It's making me think about giving it a second chance as seeing that people who have gotten one are quite happy with theirs.

Edit: Thanks Greema.
 
Dark-Half said:
I suppose my reason for avoiding a CI for so long is the disapointment.
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Totally understandable. I suggest that you try to keep you expectations low, and also, ask your CI specialist (when you see one) what you should expect. They will probably give you very low expectations to start with. My doc did - he said I should only expect enviromental noises only (due to my history of hearing loss).
 
I lost my hearing exactly the same way you did, when I was 9 years old. I understand what you mean about expectations because I faced that same conundrum myself when I was implanted last year. Fortunately I came to the realization that it was better to go into it with an open mind and NO expectations. I was getting almost no benefit from my hearing aids, and even a marginal improvement over that would be a difference. Looking back on it, it was the best decision I ever made. I LOVE my Cochlear Freedom!
 
Im not sure if you did post this, however if you did pls excuse my total lack of reading your post lol.

Have you had hearing aids? If you have been completely unable to hear since the time you lost your hearing, then it is possible that your *brain* may be completely unable to cope with the world of sound. And as an end result you may find yourself hating to hear.

My suggestion to you would be if you do not currently have hearing aids, to try them first before thinking about a CI. Some of them may totally disagree with me on this.

When I went into surgery for the CI, I was too afraid to let myself hope that it would work for me. You can read my story at my thread. In the end I did end up hearing some things, but it is too early for me to tell if I will end up hearing as well as some seem to. And I want you to be aware that you will never have normal hearing. A CI is not a cure for deafness and will not make you hear as a normal person would.

I cant guarantee that you would be able to hear as well as I seem to be doing even. Some of us do better than others. And if you did get one, you would need to be prepared to work hard at gaining as much sound as you can. Its not as simple as being implanted and bam you can hear! It's nothing like that. Very few are lucky enough to have it like that. I was lucky enough to have developed speech during my hearing years, so therefore I do not need speech therapy. If you havent developed your speech yet, you also may need to go through therapy.

Those are my suggestions for you. If you do have a hearing aid, then next thing to do is to see if you even qualify for implants.

Hope this helps
 
Hm, yeah I did read your thread. I'll give ya some insight on my story. When I woke up out of my coma, the first thing I remember is seeing my mother and I became confused because I seen her mouth moving but no words came out. Nothing. So drama ensues I can't remember if I fainted or the nurse sedated me because I was throwing a fit. It kinda messed with my mind on a large scale.

For awhile I somehow didn't reconize people after that, mild case of animesia (probably cause I couldn't cope with it or make sense of it so this probably was my way to make sense of it... somehow) and assigned them names from cartoons I've watched and just simply made up names. I went through rehab which was extremely blurry, to walk again and all that (I walk perfectly fine and have better balance than most people.) So, I go to public school and yes I did wear hearing aids for at least 6 or so years and it didn't really help. Put me in a soundproof room with muffs on my ears and fed me various noises on a weekly/monthly basis to see if I had any hearing left. Nothing really worked. I did have a speech therapist though and to this day I speak perfectly fine and about 99% of the people I meet can understand me perfectly.

From the stories I read I kinda came to the conclusion that it's a tedious process that requires alot of patience and isn't some instiant cure. Though, I'm hoping I'll be able to hear music again.

Let's put it this way. I "hear" with my body. Vibrations and such, so when i turn music up loud or anything i can make out different tones of course, but no words. I'm assuming it might be a little like this with a CI. It's funny cause I usually can pick up sounds on hard hospitil floors when nobody else can. Sometimes it makes me wonder if it's true that the loss of one sense makes your other senses more sharper to compensate.
 
Dark-Half, on the other hand, it's good to have that kind of attitude towards CI. One huge advantage over prelingally deaf folks, is that you still have a lot of sound memory. Your brain knows how to process sound like a hearing person. But on the other hand.....it is really realistic to be worried about how it will sound with a CI. CI sounds aren't exactly the same as what hearing people hear. There's even some research going on about making CIs that sound more nautral.
 
deafdyke said:
There's even some research going on about making CIs that sound more nautral.
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If you mean the sound of peoples voices sounding natural, to me they sound just as natural as they did when I used HA's. They brain does accomodate and adjust. Sure the first day or two for me they sounded funny but after hearing speech for a few days it all went back to sounding the same as it did with HA's. Now music seems to be more of a challenge. But even that gradually improves when listening to the same singer or songs over and over.
 
deafdyke said:
... But on the other hand.....it is really realistic to be worried about how it will sound with a CI. CI sounds aren't exactly the same as what hearing people hear. There's even some research going on about making CIs that sound more nautral.
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It is not as different or so obvious as many make it out to be. Sure, it is most noticable at first especially for those with good sound memory. After a while, it really starts to sound pretty much the same. There are subtle differences if one is paying attention but overall it is no big deal.
 
Dark-half, the decision to get a CI is basically all yours. You're the one that has to ask yourself if you really want to give hearing a try. Since you heard at one time you may be a good canidate. Then again that may not mean a thing.

If you are really interested your best bet is to begin the process of testing at a CI center and talk to experienced audis and drs who have seen both the successes and those who havn't been so successful. The biggest thing is you have to decide if 'you' want to hear even if only enviromental sounds, if so do you want to go through with surgery to achieve some level of hearing.

And you know you don't have to make a decision the first time you get evaluated. If after testing and talking to people in a CI center you still aren't sure if you want to proceed by all means put it on the back burner, the option will always remain I would think.

Good Luck.
 
Dark Half I would have to agree with jag's post. Since it appears you were previously hearing, you sound like you may be a good candidate.

The main question I asked myself is how bad do I wanna hear again? For me the answer was bad enough to try this last ditch effort. And yes there were two things I wanted to hear the most. My family's and friend's voices again and music. I dont care so much about phone use or enviromental sounds. If I get all that it is just a bonus. IF I don't I aint missing much. But to hear a voice or my beloved music again is something I am working so hard to achieve.

It is really up to you. There are pros and cons to this surgery and the implant afterwards. Another good question to ask yourself is am I prepared for what may come? Meaning are you prepared to accept a failure?

Now before everyone jumps on me here. I am just saying when I was deciding for my CI, I did ask myself am I prepared to accept it if I am one of those failures? Granted the failure rate is small but still there.

But, in closing, I do wanna wish you the best in your very personal decision on getting a CI or not.
 
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