My first CI Audiology appointment yesterday ..

[AlleyCat]

I had my first CI Audiology appointment yesterday. It consisted of about 45 minutes of testing, and then about 3 hours of discussion.

In the 45 minutes of testing, I did the following:

1) Noise test - just being able to discern any noise - I got 17/20.

2) "Same or difference" test - I was told two words (both extremely similar) - I had to state whether they were they were the same two words, or different. I got 18/20.

3) Noise or voice test - being able to discern whether a sound was just a sound (like a chair scraping on the floor) or if it was a voice speaking. I only got 13/20 on this one.

4) Word distinction/phonemes test - I was given a paper with words in groups of 4. A word would be said (that was one of the 4); I had to identify which word was said. This was an important test as I was asked not to guess -- to either really feel that I know the word and circle it, or to leave it blank. I felt I got every one, so I did all 20. I got 18/20.

5) Sentence discrimination test - given 20 sentences. I was only able to guess portions of just three sentences, so 6%.

Based on my audiogram (100-105db) and test #5 at 6%, my audiologist deemed me qualified for a CI. However, in the 3 hours of discussion following, she emphasized that she felt my phone usage and group settings (e.g. team meeting, at the dinner table, out at a bar, etc.) there would be very little improvement. I seem to be able to pick up too many phonemes and individual words (which is true, I'm not saying this based off that test, I can recognize many words from family and close friends) as it is now. So while I might gain some improvement (such as with strangers), she felt my main area of improvement would only be with new sounds, because the CI should put me at about 30-40 db across the board. She gave examples such as hearing a cat meow, a fan blowing, the rustle of your clothes, etc.) However, that wasn't my main goal of a CI. Communication in groups and telephone were my main wishes for significant improvement, and she doesn't feel I will get much improvement in those areas. I appreciated her blunt honesty.

So at this point I now need to decide if the risks of surgery, immediately following surgery, and any long-term effect risks are worth this.

Thoughts, anyone?

 

[Hear Again]

if truth be told, it's really difficult to know for sure how much benefit you would receive from an implant. what do you think? do you think going through surgery is worth the "risk" (however you define that) of being able to hear more environmental sounds?

also, i'm curious about something. you said you received 18/20 correct for your word discrimination. were you relying on lipreading, your residual hearing or a combination of both?

my audiological ci testing (both times) took 3 hours to complete.

however, i didn't have some of the tests you mentioned such as a "noise" test or a "noise or voice" test.

also, when i was given a word discrimination test, the audi spoke them to me verbally while i wore ear inserts (placed deeply inside my ears).

 

[deafdyke]

Is the audi a really good university level audi? I'm very impressed by her attitude ie "the CI is a good thing, but you're already functioning really well, and the CI might not improve in those areas."

Communication in groups and telephone were my main wishes for significant improvement, and she doesn't feel I will get much improvement in those areas

Well bear in mind that most hoh people have difficulty in those areas as well.
Personally I'd stick with what you have currently.....

 

[Hear Again]

that's true, dd. it's entirely possible that alleycat's functioning in regards to communication could be poorer with a ci. it's really difficult to know for sure... too bad there isn't a test we could give in advance to determine how much benefit a person would receive from a ci.

 

[Daredevel7]

Wow, my audiology appointment for the CI evaluation had only sound testing, repeat the word, sentence discrimination. They used different hearing aids for me because they wanted to use "standard" hearing aids that they were familiar with. Holy Moley I BARELY could hear anything with them. I got like 2 words from the repeat the words, and 0% from the sentence part. I failed MISERABLY.

 

[Hear Again]

i guess some ci centers have stricter audiological testing than others. as for myself, i had word and sentence discrimination testing with and without hearing aids (and my comtek fm system using dai) as well as a hearing test. the entire testing took 3 hours.

 

[AlleyCat]

if truth be told, it's really difficult to know for sure how much benefit you would receive from an implant. what do you think? do you think going through surgery is worth the "risk" (however you define that) of being able to hear more environmental sounds?

also, i'm curious about something. you said you received 18/20 correct for your word discrimination. were you relying on lipreading, your residual hearing or a combination of both?

my audiological ci testing (both times) took 3 hours to complete.

however, i didn't have some of the tests you mentioned such as a "noise" test or a "noise or voice" test.

also, when i was given a word discrimination test, the audi spoke them to me verbally while i wore ear inserts (placed deeply inside my ears).

Good question, Hear Again. I wore my regular hearing aids for all testing. I did have some testing done prior to yesterday which is why yesterday was only 45 minutes. Absolutely none of the tests were done with lip-reading. Not even the audiologist's voice herself. It was all a recording. She said the reason for that is consistency -- for later testing, the same type/voice recording is used so there is no variation in future comparisons. So the 18/20 was based on existing hearing.

 

[AlleyCat]

Is the audi a really good university level audi? I'm very impressed by her attitude ie "the CI is a good thing, but you're already functioning really well, and the CI might not improve in those areas."

Well bear in mind that most hoh people have difficulty in those areas as well.
Personally I'd stick with what you have currently.....

That's why I really appreciated her honesty. She is the director of the Adult Cochlear Implant program at the University which is supposed to be one of the best in the state.

 

[Hear Again]

Good question, Hear Again. I wore my regular hearing aids for all testing. I did have some testing done prior to yesterday which is why yesterday was only 45 minutes. Absolutely none of the tests were done with lip-reading. Not even the audiologist's voice herself. It was all a recording. She said the reason for that is consistency -- for later testing, the same type/voice recording is used so there is no variation in future comparisons. So the 18/20 was based on existing hearing.

oic. that makes sense.

when i was tested during both of my evaluations, the audi tested my word discrimination using her own voice as well as a recording of a male speaker. the same male recording was also used for sentence discrimination testing.

if i remember correctly, my former ci audi told me that my testing consisted of 50 words (male recording), 20 words (audi's voice), 50 sentences in quiet (male recording) and 50 sentences in noise (male recording).

 

[faire_jour]

Honestly, if it was me, I doubt I would do it. Your scores are great, and I would be unwilling to lose all that hearing for the chance at slightly better.

 

[SteveESP52]

AlleyCat,

Are both your ears the same or do you have one that is worse?
Have you always been hard of hearing?
Did the Audi test each ear independently or one at a time?
Did you score the same in both ears?
Has the Audi indicated they would go after the worse of the two ears or perform Bilateral from the beginning?

I had one ear that was 100db and one that was fluctuating around 85db but getting worse as the days went by. My hearing varied loss by frequency by the hourVery fast progressive hearing loss when it really started slipping.
I qualified for a CI and opted to put it in my worse of the two ears. I can not say that my story is typical. I was extremely fortunate that from the moment the CI was activated I could hear speech clearer than I ever could with an aid.

Are noisy environments difficult to hear? Absolutely. Is it better than with a hearing aid, yes because the sounds are clear. I can say for absolute certainty, for a CI to be successful, it is critical to train your brain to use the CI but you will also need to train yourself to work to learn how to use the CI.

Because I was previously hearing, When I first received my CI, I listened to music that I knew almost constantly while awake. I played with the settings including the different speeds, volume control, sensitivity levels to figure out what worked for me. I worked with the Audi a lot during my appointments, we tried a bunch of different things to try and get the most out of it.

A CI is not Magic, it takes a lot of work to figure out what works for you in order to reap the benefits of the technology.

I will be going in for my second implant (bilateral) on December 9th. I am really looking forward to seeing what this is going to be like. I know it will be a lot of work just like it was the first time around to make it work and be as successful as the first one.

I hope you are able to make the decision that is best for you. I do not want to pursuade you either way. I just wanted to let you know what I have experienced. Please let me know if you have questions though.

Steve

 

[deafdyke]

Are both your ears the same or do you have one that is worse?

That's a very good thing to think about.
For ambigious cases like that , I do think that if a person has an unaidable or poorly aidable ear, then they should opt for a CI in their worst ear.
However, if they are doing well with bilateral HAs, and increased benifit would be ambigious .....stick with HAs.

i guess some ci centers have stricter audiological testing than others.

You know, if implantation criteria was more uniform and somewhat strict across the board, I wouldn't even speak up about ambigious implantation cases. I definitly think that they should be ambigious in cases with recruitment, and tintitas.
However, it does seem like CIs are being promoted as the latest "must have" cutting edge technology. You know? They are wonderful for cases where someone has maxed out their hearing aid power....but the question does remain with ambigious cases if there are people and doctors who are being influenced by factors either then "oh we merely want to improve hearing"...You know?

 

[Hear Again]

You know, if implantation criteria was more uniform and somewhat strict across the board, I wouldn't even speak up about ambigious implantation cases. I definitly think that they should be ambigious in cases with recruitment, and tintitas.
However, it does seem like CIs are being promoted as the latest "must have" cutting edge technology. You know? They are wonderful for cases where someone has maxed out their hearing aid power....but the question does remain with ambigious cases if there are people and doctors who are being influenced by factors either then "oh we merely want to improve hearing"...You know?

yes, i have no doubt that happens from time to time. in fact, i know of one ci user who had 80% comprehension with hearing aids who still received an implant. his loss wasn't even progressive in both ears. i'm sorry, but i just don't understand that.

 

[Lissa]

I dont think you should get a ci becuae your scores are really good at the moment. maybe if your hearing gets worse then yes.

 

[AlleyCat]

Honestly, if it was me, I doubt I would do it. Your scores are great, and I would be unwilling to lose all that hearing for the chance at slightly better.

Thank you for your opinion. I think this is the direction I'm leaning in now and it's good to hear that others likely agree with me. I admit to being a little bit disappointed because I had thought I had huge potential with a CI, but it does seem as if I already do so well with my hearing aids. I feel like I should just leave well enough alone. At least for now.

AlleyCat,

Are both your ears the same or do you have one that is worse?
Have you always been hard of hearing?

A CI is not Magic, it takes a lot of work to figure out what works for you in order to reap the benefits of the technology.

I will be going in for my second implant (bilateral) on December 9th. I am really looking forward to seeing what this is going to be like. I know it will be a lot of work just like it was the first time around to make it work and be as successful as the first one.

I hope you are able to make the decision that is best for you. I do not want to pursuade you either way. I just wanted to let you know what I have experienced. Please let me know if you have questions though.

Steve

Actually, I'm deaf .. I think 100-105db loss makes me pretty darn deaf LOL That's why I've been so surprised at how well I've functioned with my hearing aids. Both ears are the same with a variation of less than 5 db between the two. I was born deaf.

"A CI is not Magic, it takes a lot of work to figure out what works for you in order to reap the benefits of the technology."

Absolutely true. Just uncertain now that I will get enough benefit from a CI.

Congratulations on getting your next CI. Good luck with your surgery and let us know how it turns out. I appreciate all the feedback you gave!

 

[Lissa]

With my right hearin aid the loudest sound i can hear is abt 90 decibels up to 120