My CI Consultation appointment

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LadySekhmet

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Well, I had my CI appointment today to do hearing test and determine if I'm candidate for CI.

I did poor on the sentence discrimination, which I'm kind of surprised because I speak fluently, and I can hear a lot, as well lip read well with both of my aids in.

I've lost some hearing since 10 years ago, Big shocker :roll:

So, in the end I am perfect candidate for CI. My only concern is this...Fuzzy's post about CI Candidacy. She said, CI should be implanted if all other options are exhausted. Now, I have digital hearing aids (which drives me batty sometimes), and with it on, I feel that I can hear very well....if that's the case, then why would the Audie say that I'm perfect for CI?

She says that because I can speak very well, and have a lot of auditory memory, that my sentence discrimination can reach 90% or even higher. Can that be true??

If I had the sentences in front of me, I will be able to tell exactly what she said 90% of the time. However I didn't so the sentences that I spoke really made no sense at all.

I'm seriously considering getting it, but just a bit worried. :) Isn't that why I'm here?? :-D
 
I too would like to get a CI and will apply soon.

BTW,can you tell me how is your audiogram data ( or average loss ) ? my loss is 92 decibels in both ears. I do hear environmental sounds well with my digital hearing aids but speech understanding is not satisfying :ugh3: lip reading is a must for me.

Good luck on your journey :)
 
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Fuzzy's post about CI Candidacy. She said, CI should be implanted if all other options are exhausted.
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It doesn't have to be a rule!
And after all those discussion (and it was Deafdyke who caused a "breakthru" for me) I actually started to wonder lately why indeed it should be a last resort.
All those people here who got implanted are very happy with their implants - with a very, very few exceptions. VERY few. That is important to know.
Why indeed wait for an absolute communication downfall then, for years to come, when you can hear much better NOW? Sure, you can hear well now but you may hear even better yet with CI.

Eventually what matters most is what YOU WANT. If you want to hear even better, and you are a candidate.... But its your decision.

Fuzzy
 
I agree, Fuzzy.

Where do you see the "exceptions" of the few that did not benefit them?

I only know one person that felt "out of balance" when she implanted one, but then she implanted the other, and felt pretty great.


Why do people get two? Is it the saying, "Two is better than one." true in CI cases or does it vary from person to person.

My other "concern", (reason why the quotes is because it's a silly little thing, but to me it's important), is the after effect of surgery regarding to my hair. My hair is very long, and I like it long, and if I have that part shaved, it will look strange when I put it up in a ponytail, and will take ages for it to grow even again.

I know for many people who have CI, have short hair, so it easily grew back, but what about those who have really long hair?
 
LadySekhmet said:
Well, I had my CI appointment today to do hearing test and determine if I'm candidate for CI.

I did poor on the sentence discrimination, which I'm kind of surprised because I speak fluently, and I can hear a lot, as well lip read well with both of my aids in.

I've lost some hearing since 10 years ago, Big shocker :roll:

So, in the end I am perfect candidate for CI. My only concern is this...Fuzzy's post about CI Candidacy. She said, CI should be implanted if all other options are exhausted. Now, I have digital hearing aids (which drives me batty sometimes), and with it on, I feel that I can hear very well....if that's the case, then why would the Audie say that I'm perfect for CI?

She says that because I can speak very well, and have a lot of auditory memory, that my sentence discrimination can reach 90% or even higher. Can that be true??

If I had the sentences in front of me, I will be able to tell exactly what she said 90% of the time. However I didn't so the sentences that I spoke really made no sense at all.

I'm seriously considering getting it, but just a bit worried. :) Isn't that why I'm here?? :-D
Click to expand...

LadySekhmet,

I understand how you feel. I thought I was doing well with sentenced discrimination as well. I thought my speech was really good. I found out that I was not doing either well. My speech was having pitch problems and I was leaving off endings of words. I also was not picking up conversations well. Family and friends did not share this with me because they were use to the sound of my voice and use to repeating.

I am not sure of my db loss. I know that hearing aids were not giving me the range I needed. I was also getting migraines from sound. My doctor gave me the options of new digital ha, no ha, or CIs. I decided to do bilateral so I could get the best benefit.

My speech discrimination is fantantic now. I am sure I am picking up between 70% - 90%. I do not use lipreading as much. I also had a lot of auditory memory and it just picked up fast. I can understand conversations in crowded rooms. I enjoy music with an ipod and in the car. I pick up high tones, but just learning what they are.

My results might not be the same as you. Each person is different. I do believe that you can't compare. I also believe that you should not get a CI out of fear. If is not a cure or a miracle. It is a tool like a hearing aid. One thing I have learned from this site is you have to embrace your deafness. One way is to become involve in the deaf community and learning ASL.

Valerie
 
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Fuzzy's post about CI Candidacy. She said, CI should be implanted if all other options are exhausted.
Click to expand...

could you tell me where did I wrote that, please? I wonder if context also matters.

As for "exception" I reffered to to PuyoPiyo who developed unfortunate side effects, and as result was unable to use his CI for more than 4 months.
But these side effect are not that common and are more of indivudual response to the implant rather than the CI itself, the way some people develop sensitivity to certain medication, while others doesn't.
Another person that seemed to be unhappy with CI was Smithr. Both gentlemen posted their experience on the forum.
If I am not mistaken, both were born deaf or deafened before the language development. that too, make a big difference.

Why do people get two? Is it the saying, "Two is better than one." true in CI cases or does it vary from person to person.
Click to expand...

personally I think it is better to have two, for balance.
I see huge difference while wearing one or two HAs. First of all I hear much worse with just one, and kinda very "one-sided". I guess the same with CI. People have various reasons as to one or two implants, very personal.

I know for many people who have CI, have short hair, so it easily grew back, but what about those who have really long hair?
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Well that is a bit of a problem for a while but they will eventually grow back :)
You may not even have time to worry about it, what with all that follows surgery :)

Fuzzy
 
LadySekhmet said:
I agree, Fuzzy.



My other "concern", (reason why the quotes is because it's a silly little thing, but to me it's important), is the after effect of surgery regarding to my hair. My hair is very long, and I like it long, and if I have that part shaved, it will look strange when I put it up in a ponytail, and will take ages for it to grow even again.

I know for many people who have CI, have short hair, so it easily grew back, but what about those who have really long hair?
Click to expand...

My hair is long enough to pull back. It did persent a problem while growing out. There is one length where it always sticks out. BUt that can be fixed with clips or hair spray or whatever. It can be done. I don't shave my hair tho I've heard of some women who have really thick hair who have to because of the hair and the thickness of the skin flap. My hair has finally all one length, it's taken about 18 months. The amount of time would depend on how fast your hair grows and the length of your hair. :)
 
Audiofuzzy said:
.

could you tell me where did I wrote that, please? I wonder if context also matters.

Fuzzy
Click to expand...


In your CI post, YOU didn't say it, looked like it was a snippet.
The cochlear implant is designed for patients with sensorineural hearing loss that have failed conventional treatment including medications and hearing aids. Sensorineural hearing loss is a specific type of hearing loss, defined as any abnormality of the inner ear or auditory nerve that prevents transfer of electrical signals to the auditory nucleus (the brain's center for hearing).


I'm just going to read the posts on people's experiences, and think about it. I have a few weeks to consider it.

Thanks Fuzzy, Jag, and Valerie. It's nice to have support! :)
 
LadySekhmet said:
Well, I had my CI appointment today to do hearing test and determine if I'm candidate for CI.

I did poor on the sentence discrimination, which I'm kind of surprised because I speak fluently, and I can hear a lot, as well lip read well with both of my aids in.

I've lost some hearing since 10 years ago, Big shocker :roll:

So, in the end I am perfect candidate for CI. My only concern is this...Fuzzy's post about CI Candidacy. She said, CI should be implanted if all other options are exhausted. Now, I have digital hearing aids (which drives me batty sometimes), and with it on, I feel that I can hear very well....if that's the case, then why would the Audie say that I'm perfect for CI?

She says that because I can speak very well, and have a lot of auditory memory, that my sentence discrimination can reach 90% or even higher. Can that be true??

If I had the sentences in front of me, I will be able to tell exactly what she said 90% of the time. However I didn't so the sentences that I spoke really made no sense at all.

I'm seriously considering getting it, but just a bit worried. :) Isn't that why I'm here?? :-D
Click to expand...

After I saw your loss, I can see why you audiologist might feel you would qualify. Also, you appear to have a progressive loss, which means there is a real possibility that you will lose more hearing over time. Hearing aids put pressure on your existing damaged hair nerves which can result in further losses.

Also yes, if you already speak fluently, are a good lipreader and have speech perception that does give you a significant advantage in terms of how well you will probably do with the CI.

And yes, it is possible for prelingually deaf people with that background to get 90% sentence discrimination with no visual cues (i.e. no sentences in front of you and no lipreading). I have managed to do it. With hearing aids at the time when my hearing loss was similar to yours is now, I would have got maybe 20% in that test. Now I get 80-90% which is a huge improvement. I can also use the phone, which I couldn't before.

Ultimately it's a personal decision. Some people do not feel they can risk having surgery, or possibly losing their residual hearing or the small chance of a device failure. Some people are happy with what they have.

In my case, I only got the CI when hearing aids no longer had any benefit for me. My hearing loss suddenly dropped from where yours is now to about 120db and they were painful to wear on top of that! It was that point that I got my CI and once I did my research, I knew the time was right.

If you are happy with how you are functioning now, then hang on for a bit longer. If you are experiencing a lot of tiredness, feel frustrated, left out etc then that might be a factor which might make going for the CI now more positive.
 
In your CI post, YOU didn't say it, looked like it was a snippet.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I thought something was not right :) after initial confuse, I wondered if actually I said that. can't remember anyway :)

Whatever you decide, please let us know :)


Fuzzy
 
I'm a wee bite late on this thread... I want to say congratulations on becoming a candidate. The test that the audiologist performed was your best aided conditions which shows that if you didn't lip read, you would probably miss a lot. I wore digital aids for years in just one ear and I felt that I was doing just fine and dandy. I was able to talk on the phone and so on and so forth. It wasn't until I lost the ability to talk on the phone that I considered the CI and it was presented to me in the past. That was rock bottom for me.

I have been activated for four weeks now (I chose my dead ear that I have not heard anything out of for 15 years) and when I am presented with a test of multiple choice sentences and when one is said I can pick it out with pretty darn good accuracy. The same goes with words. Even if I am given a subject such as names of the US States, I get a majority of them right with out lip reading. Unfortunately, this is not how conversation flows lol. My lip reading is great. I can hear someone call my name from behind me. Its a huge improvement over what a digital aid gave me.

As far as hair goes, I had long hair when my CI surgery was done, it depends on your surgeon with how much hair is shaved off. Hopefully you will give a surgeon that does not shave off too much. I had quite a bit shaved off and it is hardly noticeable, even when I pulled it back into a ponytail. My vanity was in full force when I had my surgery as well. I even tried bribing the gas man and the attending surgeon not to let the doc shave my hair LOL! Since then, I opted to let my hair stylist do a new do with my hair and ended up getting a cute little bob but not because of what got taken off, just because she wanted my face to be featured more.
 
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