Cochlear Implant Patients.

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Deaffy said:
Zebadee,

I completely understand how upsetting and life changing it is to one day be able to hear and get on with your everyday life like you always have and then the very next day it all be gone and you are lost in translation. I was angry for a long time trying to cope and learn who I am as a deaf person. But as all the poster's here have said before you really do need to understand that the CI is a powerful tool it has the ability to give back alot of what you had once lost, but the tool does not do all that work alone. Your brain is what gives you the ability to distinguish the electrical impulse's on your auditory nerve and decodes them as sound. If your brain cant adapt to that then you will have a slow rehabilitation process. I hope you are able to achieve this. But not everyone is able to understand speech on day one. I am on of the few lucky ones to be able to progress with the CI at a rather fast pace. I personally know it can be done. But its not very common to happen. My audi told me that where I am hearing with only a few months worth of rehab sometimes takes other users years to achieve. It's touch and go man the dr's have an idea of what you possibly can achieve but they will never tell you .. " YOU will be able to understand speech and music.. You very well may never be able to. That's teh real reality of this. I am not being negative towards what you are wanting to achieve. After my activation I could hear rather well on day one but even still there was alot I couldnt hear. There was a life support chopper over head as we were driving back home I could not hear that at all. Now 4 months later I am hearing very well. IT takes practice and patience. I sure do wish you the very best in your journy. As far as seeking professional mental health help. It cant do you any wrong. Might help you in terms of comming to terms that you are becomming a Deaffy. I know that I wish I would have gone this route when I first lost all my hearing. I alienated those around me I also felt like I was living on a deserted island for many years. You need to be able to accept that there are going to be many many challenges ahead in your life with your auditory situation regardless wether you have a implant or not.. There has been times where I have gone out with my implant and be at a gathering only to realize I didnt bring extra battery's and I hear that fateful ( beep beep beep) welp guess I got 5 more minutes of hearing left for the evening. That in and of itself can be a very depressing situation. Just thought id toss my .02 out there.
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Well said.
 
Deaffy said:
Zebadee,

I completely understand how upsetting and life changing it is to one day be able to hear and get on with your everyday life like you always have and then the very next day it all be gone and you are lost in translation. I was angry for a long time trying to cope and learn who I am as a deaf person. But as all the poster's here have said before you really do need to understand that the CI is a powerful tool it has the ability to give back alot of what you had once lost, but the tool does not do all that work alone. Your brain is what gives you the ability to distinguish the electrical impulse's on your auditory nerve and decodes them as sound. If your brain cant adapt to that then you will have a slow rehabilitation process. I hope you are able to achieve this. But not everyone is able to understand speech on day one. I am on of the few lucky ones to be able to progress with the CI at a rather fast pace. I personally know it can be done. But its not very common to happen. My audi told me that where I am hearing with only a few months worth of rehab sometimes takes other users years to achieve. It's touch and go man the dr's have an idea of what you possibly can achieve but they will never tell you .. " YOU will be able to understand speech and music.. You very well may never be able to. That's teh real reality of this. I am not being negative towards what you are wanting to achieve. After my activation I could hear rather well on day one but even still there was alot I couldnt hear. There was a life support chopper over head as we were driving back home I could not hear that at all. Now 4 months later I am hearing very well. IT takes practice and patience. I sure do wish you the very best in your journy. As far as seeking professional mental health help. It cant do you any wrong. Might help you in terms of comming to terms that you are becomming a Deaffy. I know that I wish I would have gone this route when I first lost all my hearing. I alienated those around me I also felt like I was living on a deserted island for many years. You need to be able to accept that there are going to be many many challenges ahead in your life with your auditory situation regardless wether you have a implant or not.. There has been times where I have gone out with my implant and be at a gathering only to realize I didnt bring extra battery's and I hear that fateful ( beep beep beep) welp guess I got 5 more minutes of hearing left for the evening. That in and of itself can be a very depressing situation. Just thought id toss my .02 out there.
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Deaffy, that's a really good advice if he will listen to you.
 
HHIssues said:
zebadee,

Yes, you do what you want. And if you really don't think you need to see a therapist, then by all means don't. I didn't see one prior to my implantation either.

If you sensed that some of the others are trying to "pigeonhole" you into having certain thoughts and feelings then you're probably right! ;-)

And you may want to also look for people that'll "build you up" and not "try to hold you back or hold you down". They are out there, you'll find them!

Just focus on your goals and go for it! And best of luck with your surgery!
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Don't bring your own pessimistic attitude in here when all we've done is try to be realistic and explain to this guy some resources (like the shaking alarm clock, strobe lights), what he *can* potentially expect from CI activation (written from those who went through it themselves) and you've done nothing but tell him we've "pigeonholed" him, and "held him back". The poor guy is 18 years young, he's inexperienced with real life just yet so I can understand the immature and unrealistic attitude he's brought here. Only time will tell how things turn out. I certainly hope for the best for him.
 
i just dont want to be here in 1 month hearing how much it sucks and he couldnt do his job.
 
AlleyCat said:
Don't bring your own pessimistic attitude in here when all we've done is try to be realistic and explain to this guy some resources (like the shaking alarm clock, strobe lights), what he *can* potentially expect from CI activation (written from those who went through it themselves) and you've done nothing but tell him we've "pigeonholed" him, and "held him back". The poor guy is 18 years young, he's inexperienced with real life just yet so I can understand the immature and unrealistic attitude he's brought here. Only time will tell how things turn out. I certainly hope for the best for him.
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Yes!! And given the frustration he is already feeling, he certainly does not need it compounded by someone supporting those unrealistic expectations. That will do him no good at all. And may be just the straw to break the camel's back and send him to a break down.
 
posts from hell said:
i just dont want to be here in 1 month hearing how much it sucks and he couldnt do his job.
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Maybe by then he will be ready to get some therapy for his issues and start to move forward. I guess my hope springs eternal.:giggle:
 
I don't consider zebadee as a immature child with unrealistic view's. I see him as a young man trying to cope with a very hard situation. He has seen and read alot of of hype on the implants probably due to reading forums or where ever online, and he is trying his best to be optimistic that his chance with the CI will help further his career. Let's face it. 18 years hearing and only 2-3 months "deaf" is alot to deal with. I really do hope he gets the information he needs before he does take this leap of faith and then be disappointed. I personally think he could do very well with his implant due to having 18 yrs of hearing unaided. The time frame which he is wanting it all to happen is what is a concern. But like he himself said: Nothing is impossible. I wish you luck zebadee. If you ever need someone to talk to my pm is open.
 
Deaffy said:
I don't consider zebadee as a immature child with unrealistic view's. I see him as a young man trying to cope with a very hard situation. He has seen and read alot of of hype on the implants probably due to reading forums or where ever online, and he is trying his best to be optimistic that his chance with the CI will help further his career. Let's face it. 18 years hearing and only 2-3 months "deaf" is alot to deal with. I really do hope he gets the information he needs before he does take this leap of faith and then be disappointed. I personally think he could do very well with his implant due to having 18 yrs of hearing unaided. The time frame which he is wanting it all to happen is what is a concern. But like he himself said: Nothing is impossible. I wish you luck zebadee. If you ever need someone to talk to my pm is open.
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Agreed. The very reason I recommended therapy.
 
Deaffy said:
I don't consider zebadee as a immature child with unrealistic view's. I see him as a young man trying to cope with a very hard situation. He has seen and read alot of of hype on the implants probably due to reading forums or where ever online, and he is trying his best to be optimistic that his chance with the CI will help further his career. Let's face it. 18 years hearing and only 2-3 months "deaf" is alot to deal with. I really do hope he gets the information he needs before he does take this leap of faith and then be disappointed. I personally think he could do very well with his implant due to having 18 yrs of hearing unaided. The time frame which he is wanting it all to happen is what is a concern. But like he himself said: Nothing is impossible. I wish you luck zebadee. If you ever need someone to talk to my pm is open.
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Very nice, as always, Deaffy!
 
Deaffy said:
I don't consider zebadee as a immature child with unrealistic view's. I see him as a young man trying to cope with a very hard situation. He has seen and read alot of of hype on the implants probably due to reading forums or where ever online, and he is trying his best to be optimistic that his chance with the CI will help further his career. Let's face it. 18 years hearing and only 2-3 months "deaf" is alot to deal with. I really do hope he gets the information he needs before he does take this leap of faith and then be disappointed. I personally think he could do very well with his implant due to having 18 yrs of hearing unaided. The time frame which he is wanting it all to happen is what is a concern. But like he himself said: Nothing is impossible. I wish you luck zebadee. If you ever need someone to talk to my pm is open.
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I completely agree with you.
You've (Deaffy) had the best result that I know of (for overall experience, initial comprehension etc ) ... and I really do hope that zebadee has as good an experience. I also know that your experience is not "typical" and I really do fear for him.

He's gone from UNILATERAL EXCELLENT hearing ... to bilaterally deaf, and then will be unilaterally implanted - so he has no idea what the difference in sound discrimination is between NATURAL unilateral hearing and bilateral hearing ... let alone going from bilateral natural hearing to unilateral artificial hearing.

I was born with SSD (which became completely deaf right+mild/mod flux left + APD) so I know the many many challenges one faces even with "natural unilateral hearing" in sound discrimination - espeically in noise (concerts etc) because in those situations I am "functionally deaf" (can make NO sense of the sounds that I am able to hear).

I also understand from a musician's standpoint as I played in Orchestras for many years (as a Hoh/Deaf & APD person) and was involved in the music industry for a living until my car accident - so I know ALL TOO WELL how it is to be in a music environment and what the limitations etc are of that environment even with PERFECT natural hearing from one ear while being entirely deaf (+120db) on the other.

There is plenty that one CAN do in the music industry as a Hoh/Deaf person ... but there ARE very realistic sound limitations as well.
For one you cannot hear stereo with a single ear - be it natural hearing or CI hearing. You can't locate sounds in except by "sonar" ie rotating your BODY around in a circle until the sound is the loudest (which is MAJOR for running audio etc)

There are LOTS of things that zebadee WILL be able to do. But there are also very realistic limitations which for a person who's going from bilateral "excellent hearing" to unilateral CI hearing ... he needs to understand is going to be very different and sometimes out of reach.
 
zebadee2010 said:
Iv'e heard they all sound about the same but i wanted the longer electrode so that when future sound processors come out i would have more options for hearing.
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In my case I could not have the longer electrode for my small cochlea and second it is the most thickness of all three manufactures arrays and will not fit in my small cochlea. One the biggest surprise that I have with my implant is that the bass response is fantastic and I can certainly hear the bass drum in its glory. I do not worry about "what if" situations or even wish that my cochlea size was normal. I deal what life has given to me and the future is now.
 
Deaffy said:
Zebadee,

I completely understand how upsetting and life changing it is to one day be able to hear and get on with your everyday life like you always have and then the very next day it all be gone and you are lost in translation. I was angry for a long time trying to cope and learn who I am as a deaf person. But as all the poster's here have said before you really do need to understand that the CI is a powerful tool it has the ability to give back alot of what you had once lost, but the tool does not do all that work alone. Your brain is what gives you the ability to distinguish the electrical impulse's on your auditory nerve and decodes them as sound. If your brain cant adapt to that then you will have a slow rehabilitation process. I hope you are able to achieve this. But not everyone is able to understand speech on day one. I am on of the few lucky ones to be able to progress with the CI at a rather fast pace. I personally know it can be done. But its not very common to happen. My audi told me that where I am hearing with only a few months worth of rehab sometimes takes other users years to achieve. It's touch and go man the dr's have an idea of what you possibly can achieve but they will never tell you .. " YOU will be able to understand speech and music.. You very well may never be able to. That's teh real reality of this. I am not being negative towards what you are wanting to achieve. After my activation I could hear rather well on day one but even still there was alot I couldnt hear. There was a life support chopper over head as we were driving back home I could not hear that at all. Now 4 months later I am hearing very well. IT takes practice and patience. I sure do wish you the very best in your journy. As far as seeking professional mental health help. It cant do you any wrong. Might help you in terms of comming to terms that you are becomming a Deaffy. I know that I wish I would have gone this route when I first lost all my hearing. I alienated those around me I also felt like I was living on a deserted island for many years. You need to be able to accept that there are going to be many many challenges ahead in your life with your auditory situation regardless wether you have a implant or not.. There has been times where I have gone out with my implant and be at a gathering only to realize I didnt bring extra battery's and I hear that fateful ( beep beep beep) welp guess I got 5 more minutes of hearing left for the evening. That in and of itself can be a very depressing situation. Just thought id toss my .02 out there.
Click to expand...

I will have to agree that this is "well said" as well.

Don't bring your own pessimistic attitude in here when all we've done is try to be realistic and explain to this guy some resources (like the shaking alarm clock, strobe lights), what he *can* potentially expect from CI activation (written from those who went through it themselves) and you've done nothing but tell him we've "pigeonholed" him, and "held him back". The poor guy is 18 years young, he's inexperienced with real life just yet so I can understand the immature and unrealistic attitude he's brought here. Only time will tell how things turn out. I certainly hope for the best for him.
Click to expand...

I don't understand pigeoholed. Whatever that is. But i'd rather not have people getting angry at each other. I am and can be sensible i'm trying not to judge others. And i'd rather not be called inexperienced as this is far from the truth. I've never been big on social life and i'm basically the only one who does anything around our house.

I don't consider zebadee as a immature child with unrealistic view's. I see him as a young man trying to cope with a very hard situation. He has seen and read alot of of hype on the implants probably due to reading forums or where ever online, and he is trying his best to be optimistic that his chance with the CI will help further his career. Let's face it. 18 years hearing and only 2-3 months "deaf" is alot to deal with. I really do hope he gets the information he needs before he does take this leap of faith and then be disappointed. I personally think he could do very well with his implant due to having 18 yrs of hearing unaided. The time frame which he is wanting it all to happen is what is a concern. But like he himself said: Nothing is impossible. I wish you luck zebadee. If you ever need someone to talk to my pm is open.
Click to expand...

Thanks loads. I really have no doubt that I should do good, but as you said it will be the time frame that determines it all. I still think that I can accomplish it though.

I was born with SSD (which became completely deaf right+mild/mod flux left + APD) so I know the many many challenges one faces even with "natural unilateral hearing" in sound discrimination - espeically in noise (concerts etc) because in those situations I am "functionally deaf" (can make NO sense of the sounds that I am able to hear).

There is plenty that one CAN do in the music industry as a Hoh/Deaf person ... but there ARE very realistic sound limitations as well.
For one you cannot hear stereo with a single ear - be it natural hearing or CI hearing. You can't locate sounds in except by "sonar" ie rotating your BODY around in a circle until the sound is the loudest (which is MAJOR for running audio etc)

There are LOTS of things that zebadee WILL be able to do. But there are also very realistic limitations which for a person who's going from bilateral "excellent hearing" to unilateral CI hearing ... he needs to understand is going to be very different and sometimes out of reach.
Click to expand...

I think my chances are better because where ill be in particular we have a curtain that separates us from front of house sound. so the loudness isn't as big of an issue. and i also have my own personal monitors that will probably help as well. Not saying this increases my understanding chances but it definitely increases chances of success.

I also know of the disadvantages of only having one implant which is why i wish i could have two right now. But hopefully being able to hear from one ear will at least help my balance.

Finally all limitations aside. I can only hope for the best and expect the worst. with this in mind you can't go wrong. Your ready for the worst but hoping for the best!! :)
 
The moment before they turn it on is the most sureal feeling you could ever feel. You have absolutely no clue what to expect. A month of anticipating that moment can lead to alot of mixed emotion's. I hope it goes well for you man. When you get activated that processor becomes your ear.... WEAR IT ALL THE TIME.... except when u sleep or shower or swim. And do not get frustrated if you cannot understand everything. The longer you wear it and the more often you hear sounds they will normalize eventually. Water was the worst for me it sounded nothing like water at all. Now i can hear it just like I remember it when I was a hearie. You are in for a ride Z. There are still challenge's that you will face. I had a 105 DB loss in my right ear before implant. Now when I take my processor off It is completely dead. I used to be able to hear my voice kinda before implanted. Now nothing at all comes through.. thats something you may want to consider thinking about also.
 
Deaffy said:
The moment before they turn it on is the most sureal feeling you could ever feel. You have absolutely no clue what to expect. A month of anticipating that moment can lead to alot of mixed emotion's. I hope it goes well for you man. When you get activated that processor becomes your ear.... WEAR IT ALL THE TIME.... except when u sleep or shower or swim. And do not get frustrated if you cannot understand everything. The longer you wear it and the more often you hear sounds they will normalize eventually. Water was the worst for me it sounded nothing like water at all. Now i can hear it just like I remember it when I was a hearie. You are in for a ride Z. There are still challenge's that you will face. I had a 105 DB loss in my right ear before implant. Now when I take my processor off It is completely dead. I used to be able to hear my voice kinda before implanted. Now nothing at all comes through.. thats something you may want to consider thinking about also.
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Haven't actually though about not being able to hear my voice?! So after surgery for those 3 weeks or so i probably won't be able to hear myself talk even through my head or however its coming through? Like the vibrations or whatever?
 
zebadee2010 said:
Haven't actually though about not being able to hear my voice?! So after surgery for those 3 weeks or so i probably won't be able to hear myself talk even through my head or however its coming through? Like the vibrations or whatever?
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Not for 3 weeks - forever (or until they "organically cure deafness") unless you are wearing the CI and it's on.

You'll only be able to hear yourself WHILE wearing the CI (and the CI is powered on) and you'll hear yourself THROUGH the CI's microphone

When you aren't wearing the CI you'll hear and feel (ie internal voice sounds) nothing - just like now (possibly even less).

Often (but not always) you'll lose any residual hearing you have currently (so ANY sounds etc you hear from the side that gets the CI might be destroyed) which means that whatever you do hear now MAY disappear as well (when you aren't wearing the CI powered on)
 
That's a very real possibility man. You most likely will lose what hearing you do have left. I lost mine. But with the processor on you should hear fine. Things just wont seem right for awhile.
 
Anij said:
Not for 3 weeks - forever (or until they "organically cure deafness") unless you are wearing the CI and it's on.

You'll only be able to hear yourself WHILE wearing the CI (and the CI is powered on) and you'll hear yourself THROUGH the CI's microphone

When you aren't wearing the CI you'll hear and feel (ie internal voice sounds) nothing - just like now (possibly even less).

Often (but not always) you'll lose any residual hearing you have currently (so ANY sounds etc you hear from the side that gets the CI might be destroyed) which means that whatever you do hear now MAY disappear as well (when you aren't wearing the CI powered on)
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Just never thought about not being able to hear my voice internally, although i maybe will still feel it. No guarantees. I knew i would lose residual hearing just didn't think about the voice part. And as its only is one ear i maybe will still hear my voice but i don't think so as I can hear nothing in my left ear. (cracked cochlea)
 
Deaffy said:
Zebadee,

I completely understand how upsetting and life changing it is to one day be able to hear and get on with your everyday life like you always have and then the very next day it all be gone and you are lost in translation. I was angry for a long time trying to cope and learn who I am as a deaf person. But as all the poster's here have said before you really do need to understand that the CI is a powerful tool it has the ability to give back alot of what you had once lost, but the tool does not do all that work alone. Your brain is what gives you the ability to distinguish the electrical impulse's on your auditory nerve and decodes them as sound. If your brain cant adapt to that then you will have a slow rehabilitation process. I hope you are able to achieve this. But not everyone is able to understand speech on day one. I am on of the few lucky ones to be able to progress with the CI at a rather fast pace. I personally know it can be done. But its not very common to happen. My audi told me that where I am hearing with only a few months worth of rehab sometimes takes other users years to achieve. It's touch and go man the dr's have an idea of what you possibly can achieve but they will never tell you .. " YOU will be able to understand speech and music.. You very well may never be able to. That's teh real reality of this. I am not being negative towards what you are wanting to achieve. After my activation I could hear rather well on day one but even still there was alot I couldnt hear. There was a life support chopper over head as we were driving back home I could not hear that at all. Now 4 months later I am hearing very well. IT takes practice and patience. I sure do wish you the very best in your journy. As far as seeking professional mental health help. It cant do you any wrong. Might help you in terms of comming to terms that you are becomming a Deaffy. I know that I wish I would have gone this route when I first lost all my hearing. I alienated those around me I also felt like I was living on a deserted island for many years. You need to be able to accept that there are going to be many many challenges ahead in your life with your auditory situation regardless wether you have a implant or not.. There has been times where I have gone out with my implant and be at a gathering only to realize I didnt bring extra battery's and I hear that fateful ( beep beep beep) welp guess I got 5 more minutes of hearing left for the evening. That in and of itself can be a very depressing situation. Just thought id toss my .02 out there.
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Deaffy,

+1!!!!

Good posting!

Zebadee - Like Deaffy, I'm one of the few a going concern from day one. I probably was even faster getting up to speed but I was always hard of hearing to begin with. How does one explain that? The point is that there are no guarantees in life no matter what one's background is. I had no idea how well I was going to do with a CI. They told me I should do pretty good. It just happened to turn out better than that. I have too many friends with CIs (one who had hearing at one time and the rest HoH) to think it is a "walk in the park". None of them are in my league thus far (and all of them have had their CIs for several years). One might get there one day but I don't know.

You need to moderate your expectations and realize that you might have some struggles in the beginning. That way you can focus on the possibilities and not on what didn't happen right away. As for your desires in music, a noble endeavor but not the easiest thing with a CI. You will be challenged on that score no matter how well you hear. Listening to it is one thing but interacting with it (i.e., singing, playing an instrument, etc.) is another thing. It can be done but beware there will be limitations.

In some ways, Deaffy and I aren't the best posterboys for those aspiring to do well with a CI. We epitomize what all should want to obtain but few reach it.
 
zebadee2010 said:
Just never thought about not being able to hear my voice internally, although i maybe will still feel it. No guarantees. I knew i would lose residual hearing just didn't think about the voice part. And as its only is one ear i maybe will still hear my voice but i don't think so as I can hear nothing in my left ear. (cracked cochlea)
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zebadee,

A CI would probably also help you to maintain your speech, probably more so than any hearing aids would at this point.
 
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