First appointment

Cloggy said:
Congrats on your decision. On your "CI" journey you will feel more and more if this is the way to go for you or not.
Main thing is to start the journey and you just did just that!!.

Regarding the first steps, that will probably be registering how bad you actually hear, condition of your sensory nerves and codition of the cochlea (using scnning).
But then, you allreqady mentioned that you were a candidate, so I guess that it's more a formal "checkup ".
Enjoy the attention!
Click to expand...

Yeah. I know I was told I was a possible candidate when I was 10 (never went through the whole battery of tests) so...I feel I owe it to myself to find out for sure and to get the ball rolling, at least. :)
 
Good luck for get CI... It wasn't too longer to make all approve with CI and get surgery date.
 
Hey thats great!! Good Luck to you LuciaDisturbed. When you go, you'll get a full blown hearing tests of many kinds & a Cat Scan. When I took my wife there. They pretty much explained everything to you. Once again good luck to you:):)



LuciaDisturbed said:
I have my first appointment on Sept 5th to see about getting CIs. What should I expect, and are there questions that I should be asking?

Damn, I'm anxious! :hyper:

No anti-CI bullshit, please.
Click to expand...
 
If she can get even the slightest benefit from it, I think it's worth doing.

She is hardly the militant, you're making her out to be
Click to expand...
I never said she was a militant. It's just that I have seen some posts and people that almost sound like they are selling it. Especially now that the've loosened the canidancy requirments.
Boult..........I don't have a CI yes, but you know what? I AM hoh....I have been hoh my entire life. I'm not anti-CI......I just think people should be highly skeptical of CIs, just the way that they should be highly skeptical of anything!
 
DO make sure you have your meningitis immunizations, and ensure that they do not use any spacers of any kind in your surgery...

Otherwise, I can't think of anything that no one has covered already in this thread...do make sure that this is what you want though - no straddling the fence on this one. ;)

Best of luck to you, Lucia and feel free to ask me anything you'd like...I have mine since early 2002.
 
Malfoyish said:
DO make sure you have your meningitis immunizations, and ensure that they do not use any spacers of any kind in your surgery...

Otherwise, I can't think of anything that no one has covered already in this thread...do make sure that this is what you want though - no straddling the fence on this one. ;)

Best of luck to you, Lucia and feel free to ask me anything you'd like...I have mine since early 2002.
Click to expand...

I don't wanna sound stupid, but what are spacers?

Nope, I am not straddling on the fence. :)

Thanks! :)
 
deafdyke said:
I never said she was a militant. It's just that I have seen some posts and people that almost sound like they are selling it. Especially now that the've loosened the canidancy requirments.
Boult..........I don't have a CI yes, but you know what? I AM hoh....I have been hoh my entire life. I'm not anti-CI......I just think people should be highly skeptical of CIs, just the way that they should be highly skeptical of anything!
Click to expand...

Eh, you have your opinion. But, Lucia has done her homework. She is aware of what she is getting into. She pretty much has made up her mind this is what she wants. Therefore, no amount of "skeptism" from us is gonna change her mind.

I don't always disagree with you, DD. You know that. However, I'm for CHOICE. She's made her choice, so I really think she is better served if she is supported; rather than have people tell her a bunch of crap she probably already knows.
 
Tousi said:
Also, I think it'd be cool, too, IF you have some or a lot of auditory memory to discern speech. I assume that's what your'e after, right?
Click to expand...

That's a Very Good Question here.
 
yeah the audiologist said high frequency transponder wont work for me as mine is progessive loss so cant use that..

i remmy at my first appt- i had the audiogram then talk to the dr and he said prolly will implant on the left as there is no useable hearing then i had the ct-scan as they were not busy so i was lucky to get in same day! wow! but i had to wait 3 weeks then come in for balance tests then within few days i got the results in mail. i have to come back to DR this thurs and we will talk more about how I am doing iwth the treatment and did it help any?? i know we will talk about CI again cuz my hearing still go then come back.. its so damn frustrating.. i cant stand not be able to hear one day then next day i can hear? wtf? this is annoying, im serious.. then after that i dont know what will happen?? will find out..

but be sure to ask alot of questions if you want to know more.. research online and write down any questions so you can ask the ENT.. all i can say is GOOD LUCK! :)
 
Tousi said:
Also, I think it'd be cool, too, IF you have some or a lot of auditory memory to discern speech. I assume that's what your'e after, right?
Click to expand...

That's a Good Question (And I would like to see
Lucia's response to Tousi about this. Thank you)
 
Tousi said:
Also, I think it'd be cool, too, IF you have some or a lot of auditory memory to discern speech. I assume that's what your'e after, right?
Click to expand...

I don't expect to understand speech. I am keeping my expectations low. I do hope, though, to hear enviromental noises and possibly music, but not words or speech.
 
Lucia:

I just started the process that you are about to go thru. My first appointment was with the audiologist Monday of last week. She did the normal tones test in each ear, with and without hearing aids. Then she tried words but I could not repeat any, so that part came to an end very quickly. Then she did a couple of other test which I don't recall the names of. One of them involved air pressure in the ears. From there we went into her office and she explained the results and then one by one she explained each of the 3 CIs. I got to see and handle these items. I put the processors on my ear just to see how they feel so that I could make a decision on which one I want. The whole visit was about 2 hours. By the way, it was requested, and I did send in prior to my appointment, all my audigrams for the past 26 years. Well, at least those that I could find. They are help to the audi in looking at the history of one's hearing loss.

Next day, I met with the ENT surgeon and he checked my ears, nose and thoat. Asked me many questions and I had my list of questions that he answered thoroughly. My hearing loss is progressive over the last 26 years and now hearing aids help me about 2%. I have progressive, profound, sensorineural loss. The surgeon explained how the surgery works and one thing that was of interest to me is that they do not use gas to put a patient out. The anesthesia is administered intraveniously. By the way, I got my meningitis shot the same time.

That completed PHASE 1.

For PHASE 2
This week I am going to a auditory-verbal therapist. This auditory/verbal evaluation assesses (a) the affects of hearing loss on a patient's listening skills at home, work, and educational setting (b) possible benefits of a CI, and(c) the need for hearing therapy or hearing and speech therapy after the CI is activated.

Next week, I go back to the audiologist for a videonystagmography which is basically balance testing.

Later in September, I have an appointment with a neuropsychologist. This evaluation is to obtain info regarding overall cognitive, adaptive, vocational and emotional functioning relevant to pre-operative concerns.

The last part of phase 2 is the MRI

Hope this info help.
 
But, Lucia has done her homework. She is aware of what she is getting into. She pretty much has made up her mind this is what she wants. Therefore, no amount of "skeptism" from us is gonna change her mind.
Click to expand...
I know that.....and it wasn't my intention to change her mind. She does sound like a perfect canidate. I totally support her....and she's got realistic expectations etc......I'm not bashing her. I think this is a great choice for her!
Lucia.......did you have any speech perception with hearing aids when you were younger? Or was it mostly enviormental sounds etc?
 
deafdyke said:
I know that.....and it wasn't my intention to change her mind. She does sound like a perfect canidate. I totally support her....and she's got realistic expectations etc......I'm not bashing her. I think this is a great choice for her!
Lucia.......did you have any speech perception with hearing aids when you were younger? Or was it mostly enviormental sounds etc?
Click to expand...

I would have to say mostly enviromental sounds. Occassionally I could hear my mother's voice but I never understood speech. I can readlip a little and speak some, but only people who know me well will understand me. If you never met me IRL, you will NOT understand my speech unless it's something like "bathroom" or "thank you" which I can say very well.
 
Back
Top