How bad must your own hearing be before you consider CI?

I also Agree with lady, I had my at 30, I had NO auditory memory of ANY word or sounds as I was born with profound deafness, I had very little benefit from HA's.
I practiced almost on daily bais on my Ipod you can download software off AB and listen through Ipod, getting my friends to ask questions with out visual. I live alone and it's hard to identify sounds but I made sure I identify the sound before I can have cup of tea!!!

Ask your mum/sister to help you with listening?

Lady, she can't have her Map any higher as it made her eye twitch.
Deafteen90, have they tested EACH electrode to see which electrode are the culpirt? Do u use Manchester or Nottingham Cochlear implant centre? Nottingham is very good.

Everyone, I had my good ear implanted (90db at 250hz NR 2000hz) as i wore HA in that ear alot. My Left was very profound (110db at 250hz NR after 1000hz) i rarely wears HA. My surgeon/Audi advises me to implant in my Right ear because i had the stimulation of some sounds using the HA.
 
C.I's are something I am gathering info about, to be honest they scare the crap out of me. I have been severely hearing impaired since birth (they guess now)but was not diagnosed until I was 19, received my first hearing aid at 19. (was treated like a mentally handicapped person growing up and have very fine tuned perception/intuition skills). I still have difficulty with loud noises and background noises, I don't like them at all! I am enrolling my son and I into sign language course (I have taken level I only before) as I am now losing hearing quite rapidly and will soon be in the profound level. I don't know if I could get used to a C.I. and all the noise, operations scare the hell outta me, but at the same time I am becoming more and more isolated (already a social hermit) as I do not and have not ever fit in well with the hearing world and have no experience with the deaf world. Lots to think about as I go with the flow and see where life takes me. I find it really helpful to read all of your experiences, some also ring true for me, and it does make me feel not so alone. :)
 
I was given the option of which ear to implant first, so I decided to have my left ear done since it was my poorer ear. I understand speech better with my right CI compared to my left (although there is only a difference of 11%) which I think may be due to the fact that I always had more hearing in my right ear.
 
I've always thought that it was a vague area for whether you qualify or not.

I do agree with you... that it should be for those who are profoundly deaf.



However, an audiologist once told me that I was a candidate for CIs.

I later found out from another friend who used to work in that department that those audiologists get "commission" for referring their students to getting CIs.
Click to expand...
:gpost: Vampy! I 100% support implantation for right off the bat canidates, as well as those with really poor speech discrimination even WITH good HA. Nothing wrong with people like that wanting better hearing. But I do think that there's some not too savoury business practices going on in the background. It's almost akin to the business arrangements that some docs have with Big Pharma. Some of the audis almost seem to be ....snake oil salesmen. Not that CI is useless....Far from it. It's more like they are making it sound like some miricle device that can overcome ALL disadvantages of being hoh!
 
LadySekhmet said:
They only do that because surgeons/audiologists want to "save" the other ear in case if something has happened. Either CI doesn't work (not mechanical failure), or to save the other ear for better technology (in fact, Cochlear has pretty much the same technology for 20 years, improving on small things such as curly array, etc).

If I had to go back and make the decision, I would have implanted my right ear first, because I was able to hear better in my right. No matter, i am bilateral, so I'm using both ears. It just took a little longer for my left to adjust because I was MORE deaf in that ear.

Almost everyone, even hearing people, have a hard time in noisy environment. Did you ever try the Focus program? With Beam? I found that it works great...especially with two.

As for music - it is a bit tough, but it's just easier for people who grew up with music than someone who didn't. If you have lyrics in front of you, would you be able to follow it? If not, it's probably because you haven't really exposed yourself with music. I've listened to music for over 15 years.
Click to expand...


Just curious...

Why didnt you have both implants done at the same time ?
 
deafdyke said:
:gpost: Vampy! I 100% support implantation for right off the bat canidates, as well as those with really poor speech discrimination even WITH good HA. Nothing wrong with people like that wanting better hearing. But I do think that there's some not too savoury business practices going on in the background. It's almost akin to the business arrangements that some docs have with Big Pharma. Some of the audis almost seem to be ....snake oil salesmen. Not that CI is useless....Far from it. It's more like they are making it sound like some miricle device that can overcome ALL disadvantages of being hoh!
Click to expand...

If you only knew !!!

The things I found out with my research a year ago.. It shocked and saddened me . That is why I chose MedEl, less snake oil and the nifty remote...
 
Before I forget

DeafDude congratulations you probably qualify for a CI.. Now call your nearest MedEL rep and go get it and stop fussing .

When speech discrimination scores fall below 30 percent, most insurance companies will pay for the implant. I waited till the remote came out and for better MAPing technology to improve and am glad I waited.

I tell friends I got the CI because I married a hearing wifey.. some laugh.. some dont .. ( wifey is just now cracking a smile over it )
 
SouthFella said:
Just curious...

Why didnt you have both implants done at the same time ?
Click to expand...

Funny that you asked...I actually thought one was good enough...but then I really felt so one sided, and I was reading blogs about bilaterals and stuff. So I said, "Screw it, i want the other one done ASAP. I found it was just so much easier because if I waited a whole year or two, I would literally have to start "over again". 4 months wasn't a big difference. I'm just glad my insurance company paid everything 100% and that's it.
 
LadySekhmet said:
Here's my little rant...hopefully.
First - I have residual hearing, and I *was* able to hear pretty well with my hearing aids, but then it progressively got worse. I'm one of those that cannot live without sounds. Hearing aids can only amplify so much...regardless, I would have never been able to hear the higher range/higher frequencies as I would have with my HA. I got surgery, twice, and twice my residual hearing has been saved. So...in your eyes, would you say I should "pass" the opportunity of having a great technology to someone else who hears worse than I do?

Second - I am a FIRM believer that ANYONE who has EXPERIENCE with hearing sounds and HA's, and they started to lose what they have, can do very well with CI's. However, anyone who has NO experience at all...i'm talking about those who never wore hearing aids, or very little, or even hear very little, will think the CI's are crap. Why? Because they are not used to the sounds and what they will hear. I've heard CI users complain about the sound of water running, toilet flushing, etc. To me, it sounds pretty much the same as it did when I had the HA's, just a bit extra clarity.

Thirdly - I am against those who wanted the CI just to see what it was like...that's just BS. I rarely see that often though. It is sad that I hear many of the stories where children or even adults (there's a couple that I remember reading about on AD), that had CI for a while, then they don't like it anymore for whatever reason, and just take off the CI. It is sad, but it happens.

So, while I'm with you for several things, but not with the fact that someone has to have 110db loss...trust me when I say that they will be in a huge shock. Suppose someone was hearing their whole life, then suddenly became deaf due to whatever reason...yet they only have 90 db loss. Hearing aids doesn't help with the clarity...would you turn them down? I know I wouldn't.

EDIT: I apologize ahead of time if I am not clear...not a good idea typing up something that requires thought and watching Hell's Kitchen. :) Hope I made any sense.
Click to expand...

no need to apologise, you make good sense , i like the way you explained this matter of peoples decision for acquiring CI's frivilous or not. I am in a hard situation myself, tinnitus is drowning out alot of my 'good hearing' and its hard for me to 'go Deaf' as i am not fluent and neither really wish to be in the "Deaf world" while I also acknowledge many of my experiences with HA is as similar to yours, and overthepond's and well as deafdykes.

I have alot fo questions too i will post some over the next few months. It jsut taking a long time to 'reflect' and put my feelings and observations into words to be ready for posting, as there is also alot of material already discussed, but like many of you out there says, CI experience varies from person to person as does it for HA !!, like i have noticed from experience many Deafies hear better than i do, yet i have much better speech discrimination skills and speech pronouciations (now im not trying to be an audist (i know exactly what that is OK) its just to show how maybe CI would suit me more than it might suit other d/Deaf people....but all the while I am frightened of the possibility of tinnitus getting worse, of losing the 'natural sound' that i am so ascustomed from over the years (all my life)....hmmmmm ok once again LadySekhmet you make a lot of sense, it is helping me to put along pros and cons, which for me quite difficult without CI experience but relating to HAs and expectation its gets alittle easier
Thanks
 
I really didn't find that I had to start over again after getting my second CI a little over a year later than my first. My brain quickly adjusted to what it heard with my right CI and it wasn't long before the sound of both CIs merged together nicely so that I was able to experience true bilateral hearing.
 
Ladysehkmet

Oh okay , thats understandable. I declined going bilateral at the same time for many reasons.
 
Back
Top