Not a candidate for CI?

Hohtopics said:
That's a good question. He also has other medical issues going on so understandably he's kind of being sidetracked with it at the moment. And I won't bring it up again unless he does.

He also happens to be friend from a distance whereas we used to live close to one another but currently lives far away from me. So, it's not like we see each other on a regular basis or something. We mostly just occasionally keep in touch through the net.

For starters, he does have more of an hearing loss than you do. His is like 100+ or something.

If I were you, I'd at least look into getting some auditory input of some kind. And that if you have some concerns that a CI would be too much too soon and that it also involves surgery and all that. You could start with an HA. Sometime it's good to start with something small and build on from there.

And lastly, the HA's are better now than they were 20+ years ago.

Again, good luck! Although let me know if you have any more questions.
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Yeah, I agree on trying to get some auditory inputs to see how I feel. I may never get it, but I would want to at least try.

For how long did he try HA before giving them up?

Any ideas on how much better HAs are now as compared to 20 years ago??
 
natty_4ever said:
Everyone keeps saying to try HAs first before CI. I thought the audiologists MADE you try HAs for a certain period of time before you can get CI. Does that apply only to children or something?
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That's a good question. I do not know, cause I went straight from HA to CI. I think this thread revolves around the concern that it might be too much for someone to go from not getting any auditory input for some time straight to the CI.

Hmm, another good question is that are there any AD'ers out there reading this that currently has a CI and got one after not getting any auditory input, not even wearing hearing aids for some time?
 
dereksbicycles said:
Yeah, I agree on trying to get some auditory inputs to see how I feel. I may never get it, but I would want to at least try.

For how long did he try HA before giving them up?

Any ideas on how much better HAs are now as compared to 20 years ago??
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Don't go by my friend too much. Cause we all have our own individual experiences or choices to make. Personally, I think he gave up too soon and that he's also being stubborn. But that's his call.

However, he did say that wearing the hearing aid did better help him determine whether or not he was speaking loud enough in a room with some background noises in it.

How much better are the HA's now than they were 20 years ago? The audiologists might be able to better answer that question. For starters, I do know some HA wearers and many have said that they seem better now than they were 20, etc.

If you do wear HA's, the progress probably won't be overnight or something. And will probably take some time and getting used to. But the likelihood is that as you continue to wear them, your communication skills will improve.

And one reason why I suggest that you at least get some auditory input if you were not to take the CI route is cause the longer you go without any auditory input, the longer and harder it will be to overcome it.
 
It was my understanding that one should consider Cochlear Implant ONLY if a hearing aid DIDN'T "work/assist".

There is the cost factor to consider-right: surgery.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
dericksbicycles, you have abit better hearing than I do... mine are 95 and 97. I used to use a phone with hearing aid only with my mother (later on with people that I am very familiar with - few people have speech that is easy to understand). I have speech with deaf accent. Go with hearing aids and see what comes up. I could use phone but I find VRS even better and easier.

I have no idea if a person without any speech skill will speak good after CI implantation. I have read that some hearing people tried to lose their accent (boston accent or foreign accent, etc) with great difficulty. They aren't deaf so I suspect that CI will not really make one speak without any accent.
 
Buffalo said:
dericksbicycles, you have abit better hearing than I do... mine are 95 and 97. I used to use a phone with hearing aid only with my mother (later on with people that I am very familiar with - few people have speech that is easy to understand). I have speech with deaf accent. Go with hearing aids and see what comes up. I could use phone but I find VRS even better and easier.

I have no idea if a person without any speech skill will speak good after CI implantation. I have read that some hearing people tried to lose their accent (boston accent or foreign accent, etc) with great difficulty. They aren't deaf so I suspect that CI will not really make one speak without any accent.
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FYI, some of the deaf's speech did improve after they got the CI, even some of the late deafened. However, I agree, he ought to try the hearing aids first.
 
drphil said:
It was my understanding that one should consider Cochlear Implant ONLY if a hearing aid DIDN'T "work/assist".
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Indeed, I have seen many a SP/UP hearing aid for sale second hand from some poor person who was made to purchase a pair simply to prove they didn't work in order to progress to a CI! Obviously I see the logic in doing this, but it's also a huge burden on people who don't have any coverage for hearing aids, you'd think the CI centres could loan a pair for the whatever number of months they have to be tried.
 
dereksbicycles said:
Yeah, I agree on trying to get some auditory inputs to see how I feel. I may never get it, but I would want to at least try.

For how long did he try HA before giving them up?

Any ideas on how much better HAs are now as compared to 20 years ago??
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Many hospitals (especially CI centers that require a trial period) and organizations such as Lions Clubs and AGBell have established loaner programs that enables you to try different HAs so you either find something that works or have the chance to exhaust all non-surgical possibilities before opting for a CI. My state's Deaf & Hard of Hearing Commission provided lists of such resources available locally. We took advantage of trying several hearing aids on this basis, paying something less than $1000 all told if I remember right. I've heard of several people who have successfully gotten their health insurance to pay for molds and batteries, too -- we weren't able to, though, but probably didn't try hard enough.
 
Hearing aids are great compared to 20 years ago. Ultra high power in much smaller cases, transposition if you have a loss where you hear mostly low sounds. it is much better.
 
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Bottesini said:
Hearing aids are great compared to 20 years ago. Ultra high power in much smaller cases, transposition if you have a loss where you here mostly low sounds. it is much better.
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Pardon me, but what is transposition?

I also thank other people for their feedbacks. I plan to contact Chicago Hearing Society(Chicago Hearing Society) and go from there. I also have Blue Cross health insurance.
 
GrendelQ said:
Many hospitals (especially CI centers that require a trial period) and organizations such as Lions Clubs and AGBell have established loaner programs that enables you to try different HAs so you either find something that works or have the chance to exhaust all non-surgical possibilities before opting for a CI. My state's Deaf & Hard of Hearing Commission provided lists of such resources available locally. We took advantage of trying several hearing aids on this basis, paying something less than $1000 all told if I remember right. I've heard of several people who have successfully gotten their health insurance to pay for molds and batteries, too -- we weren't able to, though, but probably didn't try hard enough.
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I have trialled 3 different HA's and had sound booth testing with all of them and none of them were suitable for my loss (it was top of range powerful hearing aids Siemens reflex, Oticion, and Phonak digitals)
At my centre they do loan out try every possible HA before going to CI route.
 
From my direct experience- there is a substantial difference in cost between a Hearing aid to a Cochlear Implant. I also acknowledge various countries handle CI in very different cost fashion. Where I live-Toronto Ontario Canada my Implant was entirely covered because I fit the criteria- physical/hearing wise. It became my responsibility after 3 years-insurance purposes.
There is a special -ADP- programme that covers roughly 2/3 of the replacement cost( the entire external package) for another 3 years. Which I am on right now.

I have no comment on what other countries do in this regard.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Hearing aids are DEFINITELY way better than they were 20 years ago. My hearing aids that I got last year were obviously better than my last set of hearing aids that I originally got maybe 8 years ago. When I first put them on, I immediately noticed a difference. Just letting you know though, there's an adjustment period with hearing aids too, even though it seems like hearing aids aren't as serious as a CI. I have worn hearing aids nonstop since I was about 6 years old, and it still takes me a bit of time to adjust to a new pair. Hohtopics mentioned the time period it takes to get used to HAs too.

I'm sure you will be just fine! Just try out the HAs, and if you decide you don't like it after some time, then you don't have to wear them. At least do the 30-day trial I know some brands do. Ask the audiologist about trials if you can, and use the full 30 days to get used to wearing the hearing aids everywhere you can. After that, maybe you'll love them, perhaps you'll want a CI later on, or maybe you'll just wear them sometimes. You always have options. :)
 
drphil said:
It was my understanding that one should consider Cochlear Implant ONLY if a hearing aid DIDN'T "work/assist".
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That's correct, but let me clarify "work or assist."

I was told that audi often use speech discrimination in addition to audiogram to qualify the person. In my case, I had nearly 100% speech understanding WITH lipreading, yet only 3% without lipreading. For this reason alone (without lipreading) it qualified me -- Keep in mind my audiogram was something in 90db zone with NO RESPONSE after 1,000 freq. I had same test result since I was 3. It was believed that I was born deaf. I spend my whole life wearing hearing aid and lipreading. I rarely sign but use interpreter at times.

When I got the implant, it was mindblowing! I was hearing TOO MUCH! :shock:

With therapy, I was able to learn to hear and understand about 60% of speech without lipreading,,, I do not think I will ever be able to understand 100% but I am very pleased with 60% for it's a far cry from 3%.

One thing came out of it,, I went from full time hearing aid user to PART TIME CI user,, as I said eariler, I was hearing too much.. My family hate it when they realize that I wasn't listening,, :lol:

so in closing,,,,,,,,,,,,
I think it's good to have the best of both worlds.... :hmm:
 
natty_4ever said:
Everyone keeps saying to try HAs first before CI. I thought the audiologists MADE you try HAs for a certain period of time before you can get CI. Does that apply only to children or something?
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One of the criteria for being a candidate is that the individual has been using an HA and receives little to know benefit. So the answer to your question is "yes".
 
Lee H glad your Cochlear Implant had such a positive effect on your Hearing and life. That is the hoped for results everytime-however not always. Right- the human variability.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Lee H glad your Cochlear Implant had such a positive effect on your Hearing and life. That is the hoped for results everytime-however not always. Right- the human variability.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
Lee H. said:
That's correct, but let me clarify "work or assist."

I was told that audi often use speech discrimination in addition to audiogram to qualify the person. In my case, I had nearly 100% speech understanding WITH lipreading, yet only 3% without lipreading. For this reason alone (without lipreading) it qualified me -- Keep in mind my audiogram was something in 90db zone with NO RESPONSE after 1,000 freq. I had same test result since I was 3. It was believed that I was born deaf. I spend my whole life wearing hearing aid and lipreading. I rarely sign but use interpreter at times.
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Yes, I'm another that was told that although I'm an excellent lipreader, I did very poorly with speech discrimination (i.e. without lipreading) prior to the CI. It's a little better now but there's still room for improvement.

Lee H. said:
With therapy, I was able to learn to hear and understand about 60% of speech without lipreading,,, I do not think I will ever be able to understand 100% but I am very pleased with 60% for it's a far cry from 3%.
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How long have you had therapy? Cause I was taking some auditory verbal therapy lessons for a while there but am currently taking a break from it. And can you use the phone?
 
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