My Two Cents on CI's

C

C-NICE

Active Member
Joined
Nov 22, 2008
Messages
980
Reaction score
54
First off, these are just some personal thoughts. There are alot of deaf people who are very well adjusted and manage just fine being Deaf. Also the Cochlear Implant is at best a commnication tool not a cure. The argument in favor of CIs is this. Before they came along(Also including digital HA's) it did not matter if you were well adjusted and fine with being deaf or not. The situation was what it was regardless.
 
My doctor is still pushing to give me a CI....my intrepretor told me that she knew many deafies who had the CI...and they just took them off and would not wear them.....made me wonder!...All that $$....for what?....Still thinking about all the costs after Insurance pays....:hmm:...
 
rockin'robin said:
My doctor is still pushing to give me a CI....my intrepretor told me that she knew many deafies who had the CI...and they just took them off and would not wear them.....made me wonder!...All that $$....for what?....Still thinking about all the costs after Insurance pays....:hmm:...
Click to expand...

Do you want it? It's really up to you on whether you want it or not, not the doctor.
 
Banjo said:
Do you want it? It's really up to you on whether you want it or not, not the doctor.
Click to expand...

Undecided...I've talked it over with my family also...Go back to the doctor on Feb. 3 for a re-check on my left ear (which had surgery)...and give him my answer then. I've been deaf for 50 years....and just getting to the point to where I'm enjoying life...ya know?...Just dunno if I want to go thru something like this, as being deaf is me, or has been for 50 years.

Not afraid of challenges, tho'.
 
rockin'robin said:
Undecided...I've talked it over with my family also...Go back to the doctor on Feb. 3 for a re-check on my left ear (which had surgery)...and give him my answer then. I've been deaf for 50 years....and just getting to the point to where I'm enjoying life...ya know?...Just dunno if I want to go thru something like this, as being deaf is me, or has been for 50 years.

Not afraid of challenges, tho'.
Click to expand...

It would be a significant change in your life, you have been deaf for five decades. You may benefit from it or the other way around. The problem is, you won't know for sure until you experience it for yourself.

It is a life-changing decision. Make sure to have all of the family and friends' support though, they do make a difference in your life. If you feel content with your life, then maybe you shouldn't have to change anything then.
 
Banjo said:
It would be a significant change in your life, you have been deaf for five decades. You may benefit from it or the other way around. The problem is, you won't know for sure until you experience it for yourself.

It is a life-changing decision. Make sure to have all of the family and friends' support though, they do make a difference in your life. If you feel content with your life, then maybe you shouldn't have to change anything then.
Click to expand...

Thank you so much...it's heart-felt...yeah, I'm content and even happy. And my oldest son told me that he was against it, but IF I wanted it, then that's my choice...If I were a lot younger, I'm sure that I would go for it.
 
If my hearing aids no longer work for me, I may consider getting a CI because I lipread better with sounds.
 
As for age consideration re Cochlear Implant I had just turned 70 when I became bilateral DEAF-December 20, 2006- and started the process. The operation happened July 12, 2007.

Banjo is correct the choice of consideration of Cochlear Implant must be the person themselves- which was me.

Perhaps the fact that I had almost a 15 year period knowing I would eventually become DEAF may have been factor. I have mentioned before- my ongoing study on Implants-without computers probably gave " some insight". The rapid development was a plus-at least in my case. I have also mentioned before-no ENT doctor _St Michaels/Toronto ever suggested I should have one.
Even more irony-I had a Cochlear Corporation 1998 detail information book for patients and in the end Sunnybrook/Toronto suggested Advanced Bionics-Harmony which came out 5 years ago.

I don't recall anyone making comments on Implants which were "rare" to say the least-then. The entire cost of $55,000. CDN was picked by Ontario Health Insurance Plan as I fitted the criteria.

It is hard to generalize from one person to another what one should do re becoming bilateral DEAF.
 
Babyblue said:
I know I would get one if hearing aids no longer worked for me.
Click to expand...

Me too! I think even those who are anti CI must admint that at least they rock for progressive losses and totally unaidable losses.
 
Babyblue said:
I am losing my vision, so I know I will get a CI if hearing aids no longer work for me.
Click to expand...

Yup, CI good idea for deaf-blind (meaning just deaf blind, not severe multihandicapped) that has maxed out on HA too.
 
I respect others' decisions to get a CI if hearing aids no longer worked. For me, if my hearing aids stopped working, I wouldn't get CIs. I've wasted so much of my life trying to hear more than I can or be more "hearing" than I am or getting stressed if the battery died and I didn't have another one, or dealing with people being impatient with me because they think I should be able to understand more with my hearing aids or telling me to put my hearing aids on so they can talk to me. Sometimes, I feel like I wear hearing aids for hearing people's benefit, not mine. It would be a relief actually to be freed from all of that.
 
It is one's personal choice on whether to have/use Hearing aid or if suitable a Cochlear Implant after one becomes DEAF. Deafness as a condition is very quiet-to say the least! How those that one knows-family et al interacts to one's condition-very specific. Does one accepts?
 
drphil said:
It is one's personal choice on whether to have/use Hearing aid or if suitable a Cochlear Implant after one becomes DEAF. Deafness as a condition is very quiet-to say the least! How those that one knows-family et al interacts to one's condition-very specific. Does one accepts?
Click to expand...

Exactly.
 
DeafCaroline said:
I respect others' decisions to get a CI if hearing aids no longer worked. For me, if my hearing aids stopped working, I wouldn't get CIs. I've wasted so much of my life trying to hear more than I can or be more "hearing" than I am or getting stressed if the battery died and I didn't have another one, or dealing with people being impatient with me because they think I should be able to understand more with my hearing aids or telling me to put my hearing aids on so they can talk to me. Sometimes, I feel like I wear hearing aids for hearing people's benefit, not mine. It would be a relief actually to be freed from all of that.
Click to expand...

this is why I would not get a CI.. I've spent so much time trying to be hearing for other people... I've spent so much time trying to accomodate other people, trying to be their idea of perfect instead of mine, instead of being who I am. I still wear my HA's for other people... not for myself... I think it would be different for me, if I wore them for myself... but I don't... I take them off for myself. I wear them at work, for my clients, for my boss... I wear them sometimes at home... not for me... but for my SO, for my parents... when I'm on my own time, when I'm at school, when I'm with friends, my HA's are off... and thats how I like it. I know that if I ever got a CI it wouldn't be for me... but it would be for those people around me... and I know I wouldn't want to wear it... just as it is with my HA's...
 
I'm 34 years old. My girlfriend has bought idea of CI to me and so has her family. Not to push it or anything, but hey, why not think about this type of thing, you know.

I'll admit that if I was 10 years old, I would be begging my Mom for a CI, but at 34, I really don't think benefit(or lack of) that I may get from CI would be worth the hassle.
 
I have CI's in both ears, have had one for 9 years and the other for 1 year.

I don't care what anyone says....the CI is a very powerful hearing aid, period. Just like all other hearing aids, no two people get the same results.

While I applaud Cochlear (and others) for creating this ingenious device, the medical community needs to stop pushing it as a "cure", because it is not a cure. It helps most of us hear, but not all of us.

It is probably the most controversial issue here. We can argue nonstop about the pros/cons. You will never hear me say "The CI is great, everyone should try it out".

If you are happy being deaf, with or without hearing aids, then a CI is not necessary. If you have lost your hearing and/or want to hear more, the CI is worth looking into. It is all up to the individual and his/her surgeon.

If I lived and worked with people that have no issues with me being deaf, and being deaf did not affect my chances of finding a good paying job, I probably would not have gotten the CI. Still, I am glad to have my CI's, as they make a difference.
 
Back
Top