For former and current Nucleus 22 users Where/what are you now?

[BornMellow]

Curious where you guys are now as I am a Nucleus 22 recipient. I have not used my CI in years as now I'm interested in giving it a try again as people tell me technology is better than before and am at the fence of upgrading the internal device. My major frustration was the magnet size as I was using the highest magnet and was going through the batteries like there was no yesterday. Thats how much juice I was using as well as the sound being so unnatural. I was implanted in '92 in the right ear at age of 10. I now have chronic headaches 3 days out of every 2 months now in frequency. It hits me for 3 days in row.

I have spent hours reading through a lot threads/opinions/etc on cochlear brands seems like MED-EL and Advanced Bionics are as good as Cochlear now. I trust the cochlear brand as I know it worked but not the way I wanted it to like my old Analog hearing aids I had little hearing as a kid anyways.

I really want to hear from Nucleus 22 or older versions recipients on their experiences, and if they just upgraded from the espirit to the newer one or went with other brand and had success or upgraded completely with newer magnet. I am more nervous about the shape the old magnet is in with the headaches I'm getting I have been waiting for the referrals with the doctor to get a CI specialist approved (insurance is such a hassle)

 

[mlb 10th inning]

I'm a Nucleus 22 recipient. I upgraded to the Freedom processor in June, 2008 . The sound processing strategies in the Freedom processor is 100 times better than the Esprit 3G. My speech recognition scores increased 25 percent.

I asked Cochlear about the Nucleus 5 processor? Their answer, "Nucleus 22 recipients could potentially have new compatible technology available to them in approximately 20 to 34 months (as of August 2011)."

It's possible that the N5 processor might come out in eight to twenty months. I'm very excited!!!
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