New hear and need advice

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bwanaswan

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Hi, my name is Chris and I am new to this site.

Short history: I have been deaf in my right ear since age 13 and have had severe tinnitus since that time. I have been losing my hearing in my left ear for years and am now at the deaf level with nothing but distortion when I use an aid so that is not an option any longer. I have been told I am not a good candidate for CI so that is off the books...at least for now.

My last usable hearing in my left ear gave way this past fall and my GP took me off of work in December and I have not been able to return thus far. I am 54 years old by the way.

I have used up all my leave and have been told to return to work or they will replace me. I work at a hospital in high public contact and have told them I don't think I am suited for that type of work any longer.

Since going deaf I have started having panic attacks, depression, and social phobias and am scared to death about returning to any work.
I am on Xanax and depression meds but I still have a hard time being in a public setting let alone a busy work environment. My health is a wreck right now and I am at a loss for how to move forward.

I have applied for SSD but am guessing that is a long shot.

Anybody here have the same issues?

Advice?

Thanks,

Chris
 
I was told that my right ear has been shot too long to be considered and that my left ear might be a consideration but with sensor neural loss as bad as it is and my severe tinnitus it may or may not work. In the past they have scared me off so many times saying I was not in consideration that I'm a little gun shy.
Plus that is an huge out of pocket even with insurance for a maybe.
 
bwanaswan said:
I was told that my right ear has been shot too long to be considered and that my left ear might be a consideration but with sensor neural loss as bad as it is and my severe tinnitus it may or may not work. In the past they have scared me off so many times saying I was not in consideration that I'm a little gun shy.
Plus that is an huge out of pocket even with insurance for a maybe.
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CI is specifically for very bad sensorineural loss.

Who are you seeing about this?
 
UIHC They are one of the best rated and yes I am tempted but for whatever reason they keep telling me that I'm a long shot. I have other health issues that they are concerned with.
 
bwanaswan said:
UIHC They are one of the best rated and yes I am tempted but for whatever reason they keep telling me that I'm a long shot. I have other health issues that they are concerned with.
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Ok. Yes the University of Iowa is one of the best for CI. That is why it is really surprising they would give you information that CI isn't suited for sensorineural loss.

Good luck.
 
Welcome to the forum, I have almost regular tinnitus I have gotten used to it but I can't imagine ringing in my ears since I was 13. I would consult your doctor about possible CI as much as I despise them it seems like the best possible option. I can relate to the social phobias for a while. I was worried about looking awkward or weak to my fellow coworkers and students at the U. Eventually I realized that I could be independent and needed to stop fearing I would fail to do my job or succeed in school. I also had a phobia of talking to the Deaf Community, I went regularly to the meetings and gatherings for months just sitting in the corner observing everyone socializing and flurry of signs. I was scared to death to even sign the little bit I knew because I feel like they would brush me off as just some hearing student. All it took was to explain my situation (really slowly signing) and I had a support net in seconds. They actually embraced the fact a former hearing (Who has NO Deaf Relatives) actually accepted being deaf and felt it wasn't a disability rather a change on his life views.

So anyway moral of the story is discuss your issues with your doctor and hopefully he can accommodate your grievances, sure your job is going to stress you out, I didn't think I could work talking to hearing people after my hearing started leaving me but I managed to work something out with my job (I was shifted from talking to people at a cash register to working alone on the kettle corn machine with the occasional question or two from a curious guest, luckily for me a coworker is interested in ASL and I taught her plenty of phrases that we use at work and she at least can fingerspell anything else.


Options: I would personally suggest learning ASL being vocal is all well and good but I personally love ASL because you can talk to other people facing some of the same issues as you.

I would talk with work and see if they could place you somewhere where you can do either independent work or deal less with the public. I try my best to read lips and in the chaos of a hospital I would imagine that is incredibly difficult. I have a hard time when it is really busy at the Amusement Park I work at.

You could otherwise apply for disability.

Anyway this site is a wealth of information and I am rambling so again welcome to the forum.
 
Weird..... you're the second LD person I've read today who has said they're having issues getting the CI......That is really frustrating....late deafened people tend to be superb users of the CI. What are the other issues? Can you fight? I mean it would give you SOME hearing, which is a lot better then what you're getting even with a HA
 
deafdyke said:
Weird..... you're the second LD person I've read today who has said they're having issues getting the CI......That is really frustrating....late deafened people tend to be superb users of the CI. What are the other issues? Can you fight? I mean it would give you SOME hearing, which is a lot better then what you're getting even with a HA
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He's been deaf since 13 and now 54. Yes, late deaf, but it's been a very long time. I can see where his Audioligist is coming from.
 
AlleyCat said:
He's been deaf since 13 and now 54. Yes, late deaf, but it's been a very long time. I can see where his Audioligist is coming from.
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The best explanation or at least the best I can remember is that I have been HOH for so long that there is a good chance that my brain won't learn to interpret the message sent from the CI. That is for sure the case with the right ear and that is not even an option they would consider but they have to believe strongly that the procedure would be a good bet before insurance would approve.

They also said that the best candidates are young children born deaf and those that are newly deaf or suddenly deaf.
 
you used GP are you from uk if so they can't do that law on your side....
I know about panic attacks they one worse thing human can have so get paper bag and breathe in and out of it and take extra calcium.
people in uk got problem with nhs and hearing aids hope not you......
I just assume you uk not sure americans say GP
 
caz12 said:
you used GP are you from uk if so they can't do that law on your side....
I know about panic attacks they one worse thing human can have so get paper bag and breathe in and out of it and take extra calcium.
people in uk got problem with nhs and hearing aids hope not you......
I just assume you uk not sure americans say GP
Click to expand...

No we say it too. Just an older term here. He's from my state of Iowa.
 
caz12 said:
you used GP are you from uk if so they can't do that law on your side....
I know about panic attacks they one worse thing human can have so get paper bag and breathe in and out of it and take extra calcium.
people in uk got problem with nhs and hearing aids hope not you......
I just assume you uk not sure americans say GP
Click to expand...

GP or General Practice doctor. My OTO doc and audiologist didn't really do anything for me after my last hearing test. Told me that an aid was of little use since I have such a high degree of distortion. They said how sorry they were for me but not much other advice so I went to my regular doctor for the mental issues.

I'm guessing if we can't get these issues dealt with then he will send me to a head shrinker. :crazy:
 
Hi Chris, I really feel your pain. I'm in a very similar situation regarding hearing and work. I'm still waiting to find out about cochlear implant but in Canada this can take up to 3 years. I can relate to the panic and tinnitus as well. My tinnitus is so severe that I have to take strong sleeping pills just to get any sleep. I wish I had a solution for you....I'm hoping to get some advice from here as well. I wish you all the best.
 
bwanaswan said:
The best explanation or at least the best I can remember is that I have been HOH for so long that there is a good chance that my brain won't learn to interpret the message sent from the CI. That is for sure the case with the right ear and that is not even an option they would consider but they have to believe strongly that the procedure would be a good bet before insurance would approve.

They also said that the best candidates are young children born deaf and those that are newly deaf or suddenly deaf.
Click to expand...

That is exactly what I was thinking as far as the bolded statement above (and where I was saying I can see where the audiologist is coming from. It seems to be the general consensus among audiologists as far as pre/post-lingually deaf, as well as HA usage, fare with a CI)
 
Oh so basicly deaf= dead or unaided b/c they thought you really didn't need aiding being unilateral? That really does suck!
 
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