Not a candidate for CI?

dereksbicycles said:
I realize that CI doesn't work for many people who have not wore hearing aids for many, many years. Maybe they weren't motivated when they got CI? Not that I would go for CI right now, but just gauging answers.
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I think some of it may have just stemmed from being "too much too soon". I also see you doing research and applaud you for it!
 
I am not going to run and get a CI right now, but I'll be 34 this weekend. If I decide that I want CI, I would have to do it soon, you know or else it would be a moot point.
 
Do you feel ready yet to go talk to a surgeon and get evaluated? That might give you some answers that address your specific situation.
 
Beach girl said:
Do you feel ready yet to go talk to a surgeon and get evaluated? That might give you some answers that address your specific situation.
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I have not even tried hearing aids. Would rather do that first. I am trying to figure the best insurance to cover hearing aids. It seems like BLue Cross does a poor job of cover hearing aids. I would be wrong though.
 
Most insurance plans do not cover hearing aids very well; certainly not if you need/want really expensive ones. If you do not have health insurance now, they might not cover you anyway, considering your hearing loss a "pre-existing condition."

Do you have a job or a regular income from other sources? Many audiologists offer some type of financing plan where you can pay them off over a year or two.

My advice: ask your girlfriend to call maybe 3 different audiologists in your area, and ask if they have a financing plan. Make an appointment and get evaluated. Then decide.

There's only so far you can go just getting information on-line. At some point, if you're serious about it, you really need to get professional advice about whether or not HAs would help you, how much they would cost, how you could pay for them, etc.
 
I buy and sell stuffs from my house. I have an E Bay account for selling stuffs. I don't have a real job.
 
You may be able to put that through as self-employed, depends if you sell enough stuff year-round.

CI is tricky to know because you have to invest in the sugery and everything to know if it's going to work, but hearing aids if you want to try them then they are pretty easy to go and try, and you will get all or most of your money back if they don't suit you.

I'd say look for auditory rehabilitation materials too. There tends to be more of it on CI sites than hearing aid sites, but things like the MedEl and Cochlear websites have auditory discrimination games on them. Whether you go with hearing aids or CI you stand a better chance of maximising your potential with them if you invest the time in auditory retraining. You might find that if you can hear some vowel sounds then putting that together with lipreading makes a massive difference. I find too often with hearing aids it's a case of there you go, strap them on, you'll start hearing now. I had years of auditory deprivation to make up for and I needed to make a concentrated effort to figure out what sounds were. I did my AD training again last night for a new hearing aid and was impressed to find I can now tell the difference between the thunder, applause, newspaper scrunching, rain and vehicle noise. I thought they were all the same before! I was used to listening very vaguely to a very small palette of sounds, so working out what subtle things are different about them was tricky at first.
 
oh, ok - yeah that and the Optimist Club were one of the ones in that helpful list Bott posted. Now I know more about what the optimist CLub is. I would often see their name on the "Welcome to so-and-so" town signs when traveling and was curious. So now I know.:)
 
dereksrbicycles: I think your step is get an audiological examination- where exactly are you Hearing wise? Is a Hearing aid enough for your exact condition ?

The cost of a Hearing aid is much less than a Cochlear Implant which requires surgery.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
 
drphil said:
dereksrbicycles: I think your step is get an audiological examination- where exactly are you Hearing wise? Is a Hearing aid enough for your exact condition ?

The cost of a Hearing aid is much less than a Cochlear Implant which requires surgery.

Implanted A B Harmony activated Aug/07
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Interestingly enough, had I gone through with a CI surgery, it would have cost me the entire $3,000 deductible I have through my insurance.

2 HAs for me can cost $4,000 easy. I do wear 2. Not covered.
 
The guilt is because it goes against what deafness is.
 
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AlleyCat said:
Interestingly enough, had I gone through with a CI surgery, it would have cost me the entire $3,000 deductible I have through my insurance.

2 HAs for me can cost $4,000 easy. I do wear 2. Not covered.
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I paid $989.00 for mine and they are super power digital programmable:D.
 
AlleyCat said:
Interestingly enough, had I gone through with a CI surgery, it would have cost me the entire $3,000 deductible I have through my insurance.

2 HAs for me can cost $4,000 easy. I do wear 2. Not covered.
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I paid $989.00 for my superpower digital programmable. :D:D
 
AlleyCat said:
Interestingly enough, had I gone through with a CI surgery, it would have cost me the entire $3,000 deductible I have through my insurance.

2 HAs for me can cost $4,000 easy. I do wear 2. Not covered.
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SOme insurance can cover HAs but not 100 percents. My insurance does and I have not use it yet. I rather for my hub to get his CI first to see how much leftover we need to pay.
 
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