Is one CI enough ?

[vallee]

It might be fallicious, but I see the change in my daily life. I don't need the test scores. It is nice to see that data.

Let me see, I am in a hear of hearing and Cochlear implant section of alldeaf. Every posting all I see is negative comments, judgements placed on unvalid data and comments that are using what we call "dollar" words. I can see why others do not post or share anything. It should be a place to share experiences not place judgement on others. So I'm giving myself a change to cool off, maybe when I decide to enjoy the comments again, it will make some sense instead of being so negative.

 

[deafdyke]

Vallee, you didn't read my post correctly. I said that unless you have very low speech comprehension with HAs (like 25%-30% and below speech comprehension) it's worth it to experiment with a CI-HA combo, BEFORE opting for bilateral implantion. There's nothing wrong with bilateral implantion, but if you opt for it right off the bat, you should have really poor results with HAs. Some people actually do have sucessful results with the CI-HA combo, and that's b/c the info from the HA adds to the input from the CI.

 

[jillio]

It might be fallicious, but I see the change in my daily life. I don't need the test scores. It is nice to see that data.

Let me see, I am in a hear of hearing and Cochlear implant section of alldeaf. Every posting all I see is negative comments, judgements placed on unvalid data and comments that are using what we call "dollar" words. I can see why others do not post or share anything. It should be a place to share experiences not place judgement on others. So I'm giving myself a change to cool off, maybe when I decide to enjoy the comments again, it will make some sense instead of being so negative.

No one is judging, vallee. And yes, this is a CI forum. It is not a "postive comments about CI only" forum. And others post information that corrects mistaken assumptions being made in order to present both sides. Otherwise, AD would be guilty of propogating the myth that CI is a cure-all, and has no drawbacks whatso ever. The medical and audiological communities would object, I'm afraid, because giving a one sided picture is thier territory.

 

[GarnetTigerMom]

Vallee, you didn't read my post correctly. I said that unless you have very low speech comprehension with HAs (like 25%-30% and below speech comprehension) it's worth it to experiment with a CI-HA combo, BEFORE opting for bilateral implantion. There's nothing wrong with bilateral implantion, but if you opt for it right off the bat, you should have really poor results with HAs. Some people actually do have sucessful results with the CI-HA combo, and that's b/c the info from the HA adds to the input from the CI.

Speaking if hearing aid and CI, Both have good result denpending on how much you can hear or not even with the speech. I hear pretty well with one ear with hearing aid for 28 years with good speech like a hearing person. So I never wear hearing aid in my left ear because I have no nerve developed before I was born not ear nothing at all, expect hear well on my right hear with hearing aid until few years ago my hearing gotten worst and more serve on my right hear, so I got CI and hear great. So I don't need speech lesson since I already can talk very good. I don't want two CI anyway because it a risk because my left ear would never work with CI with no nerves in my left ear. So my right ear is my best one.

 

[john57]

I think it depends a lot on how much you rely on bilateral hearing currently. If you had two equal ears with a hearing aid then you are probably going to appreciate two CIs more than someone who has always had one or a dominant ear.

Most people experience the more dramatic improvement in hearing with the first CI, even if they are used to bilateral hearing. I just find bilateral hearing particularly helpful in noisy situations, but that's just me. When you think about how long it has taken researchers to establish that bilateral CIs confer benefits then it's obviously not something that knocks a lot of people dead!

Having two working ears when it is with hearing aids or CI really makes a difference in enjoying music as well.

 

[ismi]

Unfortunately, combining the comprehension percentages in both ears does not determine an overall comprehension rate. That is fallicous. Also, those percentages are undoubtedly derived from testing in a audiological office, not real life reflections.

Desspite those errors in logic, congratulations on your satisfaction with your CI.

They're not errors in logic. She's not adding those percentages, or averaging them; those percentages are the result of doing a given test with both CIs, as opposed to just one. (Testing is almost always done with the left and right ear separately, then with the two together.)

And yes, they're derived from testing in an audio booth - how else are you going to get data that you can measure or track? You already know this, but apparently it bears repeating: anecdotal, real-world evidence is of limited utility, particularly when it's collected over an extended period of time as with a CI.

When vallee cites scores like that (and when I get excited about my own scores), we are very much aware that these scores are not what we experience in the real world. Obviously we have to take into account positive factors (context, lip reading, predictability) as well as negative (background noise, 'surprise' situations). But having a controlled, consistent, standardized metric is still quite useful.

 

[R2D2]

Having two working ears when it is with hearing aids or CI really makes a difference in enjoying music as well.

Yes - I've really found that. Music with one CI was so,so but that didn't bother me as I am not particularly musical. But with two there is a definite improvement in quality, particularly with classical music where I seem to be able to pick out the pitches from different instruments together.

 

[R2D2]

They're not errors in logic. She's not adding those percentages, or averaging them; those percentages are the result of doing a given test with both CIs, as opposed to just one. (Testing is almost always done with the left and right ear separately, then with the two together.)

Yes, that's right. As someone who is bilateral, I get tested in both ears separately and then with both switch on together. I'd say that Vallee's 96% for both ears is a score that she actually did achieve with both ears, without any mathematical adding going on. I just checked her post in "CI moments" and this seems to be the case.

At my last mapping about 5 or 6 weeks post activation I got 84% with both ears, so her result is quite believable.

 

[R2D2]

those percentages are undoubtedly derived from testing in a audiological office, not real life reflections..

I agree. In fact that is why it took such a long time for any kind of consensus to be reached about the benefits of bilateral CIs, since the word scores of single ears vs. two ears were not that great in audiological testing conditions. However, in noisy real life conditions this is where the strongest advantage of two CIs lie and has led to more agreement on its benefits and insurance companies gradually and grudgingly beginning to fund them.

 

[jag]

Unfortunately, combining the comprehension percentages in both ears does not determine an overall comprehension rate. That is fallicous. Also, those percentages are undoubtedly derived from testing in a audiological office, not real life reflections.

Desspite those errors in logic, congratulations on your satisfaction with your CI.

You know my percentages in the booth were around 90% after 3 months. But my comprehension out in the real world was much better. The only situations where I needed to have anyone repeat anything to me or rely heavily on lip reading were in noisy situations. I could follow and participate in conversations and actually know what everyone was talking about. So to me the numbers in the booth seemed kinda low.

 

[highlands]

Actually, most insurance companies won't cover bilateral implantation AT THE SAME TIME, because they want to ensure that you are happy with the first implant before they authorize the second implant...

very good idea...ensuring positive performance of a CI for the individual and then going for the second implant.

 

[vallee]

very good idea...ensuring positive performance of a CI for the individual and then going for the second implant.

I had bilateral implants. I made a choice to fight the insurance company to make again it is a matter of choice. I pulled this from Let Them Hear web site. They were the ones that handled my denials.




The Let Them Hear Foundation Insurance Advocacy Program has been responsible for:

Seven different insurers changing their policies to include bilateral cochlear implantation as a standard coverage benefit, affecting over 125 million people,
Twenty-one different rulings from eleven different state insurance commissioners,
Over thirty other positive external reviewer rulings,
Over fifty oral arguments resulting in coverage for the patient, and
Several positive administrative law judge rulings for federally managed plans
them pay for the second one.

I have talked to alot who love just having one and the same with those who love two.