decision on 2nd implant

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samantha kennel

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my son got a new hearing aide this morning.. and they tested his hearing with out his implant and on his hearing aide side here was hearing at 50dbd. for speech and 30 dbd for low pitches. He has lost most of his high pitches.It was good news.. I wanted to see how he heard with hearing aide before I decided on the 2nd implant. He is hearing at 20dbd with implant.So for now I wont implant other side. he will loose all his hearing eventually with his eva.but for right now he will have a ha and implant. :) : :) :) :)
 
I'd definitly wait, unless your son got a sudden drop in his hearing. The hearing aid is still giving a lot of benifit....Like he can hear with the aid, about as well as I can without hearing aids (I have a moderate-moderately severe loss) and I've gone extended amounts of time without my hearing aids.
If he was hearing with the aid at severe or profound levels, I'd say definitly implant him. Also he has the implant, which means he can really hear. You don't have to wait til your son is grown to decide, but just wait til he's four or fiveish. Getting him a second implant when he's a toddler will still give him time to learn to use it.
 
Yeah that's good.. well.. I am gonna continue wearing my hearing aid on my left ear when I get an CI on my right ear. My audiologist offered to do it for free if the implant doesnt work in my right ear and iI want it done on the left ear. But I have a feeling that it will go well on the right ear! :)
 
:gpost:

deafdyke said:
I'd definitly wait, unless your son got a sudden drop in his hearing. The hearing aid is still giving a lot of benifit....Like he can hear with the aid, about as well as I can without hearing aids (I have a moderate-moderately severe loss) and I've gone extended amounts of time without my hearing aids.
If he was hearing with the aid at severe or profound levels, I'd say definitly implant him. Also he has the implant, which means he can really hear. You don't have to wait til your son is grown to decide, but just wait til he's four or fiveish. Getting him a second implant when he's a toddler will still give him time to learn to use it.
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samantha kennel said:
my son got a new hearing aide this morning.. and they tested his hearing with out his implant and on his hearing aide side here was hearing at 50dbd. for speech and 30 dbd for low pitches. He has lost most of his high pitches.It was good news.. I wanted to see how he heard with hearing aide before I decided on the 2nd implant. He is hearing at 20dbd with implant.So for now I wont implant other side. he will loose all his hearing eventually with his eva.but for right now he will have a ha and implant. :) : :) :) :)
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I would not go for the second implant. He can hear with the HA, so that's great. Perhaps there are other possibilities in the future (Stemcell etc.) that could benefit him.

For my daugter the situation was different. She had no benefit at all with HA's. Waiting for new technology for the second implant would still leave nerve on the non-implanted side non-operational, so even with new technology there is a chance that it won't help since the nerve has not been stimulated...

For your son, he can hear with HA. That's great! There's several people that wear CI and HA..
 
Thanks Cloggy!!!!! I was afraid you were going to be very gung-ho about it.
If a kid has NO response whatsoever with hearing aids, then maybe bilateral implants would be good. However, ambigious cases should wait. The benifit really isn't that much. I know that some of the sales techniques make the CI sound like the latest high speed computer......
 
I'm new here, so I hope yo don't mind my input.

My daughter has just the one CI on her right side, but no benefit from ha's on the left. After we see how it she does with the CI then might start deciding on a 2nd or not. But her little friend has both CI and ha. She's rapidly losing residual hearing in her left ear, and they are trying to keep that side stimulated in case her parents decide on a 2nd CI.
I do know a couple adults with CI's (implanted as adults) that also do ha too.
I would have to say, just from my opinion, that if you son is still doing well with the ha on that side, to stay with that for now. If something comes up in the future you can always reconsider. It's not a now or never decision.
 
deafdyke said:
Thanks Cloggy!!!!! I was afraid you were going to be very gung-ho about it....
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We slowly get to know each other...
No, there are rules at which CI is not an option, and when one can hear with even 1 ear, and follow speech, then you're not even close to that boundery.
But still, if CI brings the dB up to 20dB, and the HA will leave it at e.g. 70dB, I wonder what that is going to do for perception of speech direction and recognition of speech in noisy environment.
Normally the ear is dealing with this with two ears that are equally sensitive.

But still, CI and HA will be fine for now. As long as the "HA-ear" is monitored continously.
 
Yeah, be a lot more conservative when it comes to a second implant. Wait til he's a little older to make the decision.
 
deafdyke said:
Yeah, be a lot more conservative when it comes to a second implant. Wait til he's a little older to make the decision.
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Welcome to AD again :cheers:
 
Cloggy, you do seem very gung ho when it comes to a second implant. It's good to know that you're being conservative about it.....some people out there are very......almost like walking ads for implantation....It is good to know you're not one of them!
 
deafdyke said:
Cloggy, you do seem very gung ho when it comes to a second implant. It's good to know that you're being conservative about it.....some people out there are very......almost like walking ads for implantation....It is good to know you're not one of them!
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Would somebody who is happy about their hearing aids and tells others be considered a "walking advertisement for HA's?"
 
neecy said:
Would somebody who is happy about their hearing aids and tells others be considered a "walking advertisement for HA's?"
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Whoa what a zinger! :bump:
 
as for "almost like walking ads for implantation" my answer is... THEY ASKED!
 
Well on the other hand, I don't really see hearing aided folks going on and on about hearing aids, the way some CId folks do.
 
Because we already know what HA can do and it's been around for ages longer than CI. hmm...

and there are some thread asking what this specific brands can do and can't do. *shrug*
 
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