Lost my hearing in both ears just a year ago.

Prince820

Prince820

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Not only am I scared I’m angry at the world. Getting cochlear implants soon I hope. Would be nice to talk to some people that have them. Or just chat in general. Thanks.
 
Have you tried finding support groups for each brand of CI? (Advanced Bionics, Cochlear, Med-El) There are forums and FB groups. I'm only familiar with the one for Advanced Bionics as that is the brand I have.

If you have talked to representatives from the 3 brands, I would hope that they would be able to put you in touch with "mentors" - people who have their brand.
 
There is no need to be angry at the world. You did not say how you lost the hearing however.

You probably by now have or are beginning to learn new ways to "Hear" the world around you. For example feeling through the air loud music or through the floor etc. Heck a long time ago we had compressed air blowing through the halls and classrooms to be same as the bell in between classes in one building. when people walk by in the store for example they move a bit of air and I can know they are there and where they are going etc.

I think at some point when the work is done in healing etc from the Cochlear you will more quickly regain your hearing after learning for a time whats possible with them. Its going to be a little different than your original hearing.

Finally but not last, where you live makes a difference. Its easier for me to hear when I am not running mountains. Going up and down makes the changes in the ears a little bit for a period of time. They usually adapt quickly. Flying is a little more painful However I love to fly and its not a problem. Its harder in the big jets than in the small planes because they can change the cabin pressure quite a bit pretty fast.

Good luck to you!
 
Prince820 said:
Lost it after waking up from a heart attack in the hospital.
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SOB, that's crazy glad you are still here.

I'm only posting due to pure coincidence, I was watching an episode of Scrubs which had a Cochlear Implant as part of the story line (S6 E16) I haven't logged onto this site in years but figured I'd check it out after watching the episode and saw your post.

I get being scared, and I get being angry, I still am at times. Feel it, work through it. You have suffered a loss, your life has been forever changed. You need to grieve, and have every right to the feelings that you are experiences. it ******* sucks, every thing about it. I started to lose my hearing at age 33, age 38 completely deaf. Over the years I've had hearing aids, then a single CI then finally in 2016 bilateral. It's been 10 years since I got hit with this, Autoimmune Hearing Loss they say is the reason.

I assume you had normal hearing prior, which means you should respond well to Cochlear Implants (assuming your hearing loss doesn't impact your hearing nerve). They aren't perfect, but I can hear, function, communicate, socialize and I've advanced my career beyond what I could have imagined when I first got hit with it. I also lost all my vestibular function, so double-whammy for me. It's been a bitch. But I can say my balance loss is what I struggle with mentally/physically more so than my hearing loss, but I still have bad days with my hearing loss because as good as CIs can be, there are still situations where they just fall short. Bad acoustics in rooms, inconsiderate people on conference calls, large airports with bad announcements...etc.

CIs take work, but will allow you to have your 'hearing' identity and allow you to still function in the world you know.
 
Father loved his music. We would call him a Audiophile. Back home there are a couple solid state music sets that are no longer made still running very well. Although its pure analog. Not digital. You lose something with digital. Then again with digital you can hear wife getting into cookie jar at 2 am in the morning across house.

One day Pa woke up deaf in one ear. In the night some sort of virus attacked him and his defenses responded and by pure chance the battle was won at the area of his head and ear.... at the price of losing hearing in that one. He does ok and keeps on going but regrets not learning sign language from me when I was growing up with him coming and going from the deaf school in those days. I think he will cross that bridge if the other ear is burned out, however he is late in life and aging so.. thats not all thats creaking and in need of fixing.

Where I am its very quiet. My cats if I had them like the last one, took over the hearing for me. It will claw into my leg when the meter person came around onto the lands. And track it to and from the meter with it's radar ears outside from inside our room. Pets like that are priceless.
 
Prince820 said:
Not only am I scared I’m angry at the world. Getting cochlear implants soon I hope. Would be nice to talk to some people that have them. Or just chat in general. Thanks.
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Hi Prince820, did you get your implants? If so, how are you doing with them? Wishing you well.
 
Yes I guess I did! I’m doing ok. I hear better in noise now then I heard in quiet before. Still not where I want to be though. Thanks for asking.
 
Hi Prince820, sorry about the loss of your hearing, but glad you survived your heart attack. Still I can understand the stress and frustration you must have felt losing your hearing on top of your other stressors. I know how hard it was for me. I felt alone and excluded by family and friends in conversations not to mention losing the ability to make appts and communicate with professionals in my life? I got one implant put in my L ear, the other ear is toast as well, but I have had the one CI for over a year now, and still not quite where I want to be either, it's a little bit like 2 steps forward, 3 steps back, but it beats the total silence I heard before the implant. My loss was from a immune condition and also genetics. I'm hopeful and you should be too. I've had some months of improvement but that fine tuning striving for even better hearing, sometimes drives me off course at times, and discourages me too. Hang in there. I wish better hearing for the both of us. Take care.
 
Prince820 said:
Yes I guess I did! I’m doing ok. I hear better in noise now then I heard in quiet before. Still not where I want to be though. Thanks for asking.
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i understand your emotions. I lost my hearing slowing due to Mastoid problems. your emotions are your true feelings, try to look at the good ( i know that is hard) it will take time, i am still dealing with it at times, everyone still acts like i can hear because i sound the same. Hope these word's help. Keep up the faith, in time you will adjust.
 
Prince820 said:
Not only am I scared I’m angry at the world. Getting cochlear implants soon I hope. Would be nice to talk to some people that have them. Or just chat in general. Thanks.
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Hey I'm not angry at the world well you know I guess I am...it's so tough to deal with the rudeness that deaf people do. - Especially now for me as I am becoming deaf and almost all the way there. The jokes, the shoulder shrugging eyes rolling and sighs. It was though deaf people are stupid. I don't think that blind people experience this, do you?
 
Nearly 10-year CI user here. I had a progressive loss that begin in my teens. Finally got an implant around age 33 when it had advanced to profound.

My hearing is very situation.
1) Noise
2) Whehter I can see the person's lips move
3) Group conversations
4) Non-native speaker

The problem is the variability. My speech comprehension can be anywhere from 0-100% depending on the circumstances.
 
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