Removing CI

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Dr. Strangelove

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I have a Cochlear Implant, have had one since I was 9, but have not used it since I was 14 or 15. There are occasions where I get frustrated with the fact that the damn thing is still in my head. I would really like to have it removed, so I feel better and that part of my past is no longer in me.
I got started up earlier today about removing the CI today while reading "MindField" by John F. Egbert (IUniverse.com), a RECOMMENDED book.

Does anyone have experiences, or know of anyone who succesfully got their old CI removed? I know some people have gotten it replaced, but removal is a different thing, and Insurance companies normally won't foot the bill unless it will benefit my health(getting a CI benefits my health?).

Any kind of help of feedback is greatly appireciated.
 
Cochlear Explant

I have never heard of someone having it explanted. Most people that get one are pretty content with it. If you were 9 when you got it, and you haven't used it since you were 14 or 15, how old are you now?

Why do you hate your implant so much, to feel the need to have it explanted? Are you unhappy with the results? It's possible you just need to have it tweaked, by an audiologist. Is your speech not what you expected it to be, after the implant? Maybe you could consider learning Cued Speech and/or speech therapy.
 
I'm 29 now. No offense, but I do not wish to have it tweaked or whatever. I just want it removed. It is a solid bump on my head behind my right ear. On occasion I will get a headache from it, but not at the level of a migraine.
I just want it out out out out! I have wanted it out or removed for a long time. It is sitting there being completely USELESS. I also worry that it is risky leaving it in and not using it. I do not like the feeling I get if I get the CI area bumped aganist(hasn't happened in a long time though) I have absolutely no intention of trying to hear ever again, as I am extremely content with being stone Deaf.
I would not consider any alternative other than ASL for a deaf person or child. IMO, it is ignorant to recommend anything other than ASL.
I do support CI implants for hearing people who suddenly lost their hearing due to anything, but parents putting it on their children? NO. I would like it to be ILLEGAL to implant children, and only legal if the person is 18 and geniunely wants it.
Being Deaf and communicating in ASL, and the level of communication is eons ahead of all these hearing people and their so-called spoken language.
 
I haven't heard of any cases where a CI has been removed just because someone was unhappy with it. In order for a CI to be explanted, there needs to be a medical reason such as infection, migration or failure.
 
I wanted to add one other comment about CIs and health.

My CIs improved my health substantially. I'm a long time migraine sufferer. My migraines are severe and triggered by cigarette smoke, certain types of food, barometric pressure changes, extreme heat or cold -- and stress.
Ever since receiving my CIs, I haven't had a single migraine.

Part of this is due to the fact that I was prescribed allergy medication during my initial CI evaluation. At the time, it was discovered that my allergies were having a negative impact on my hearing. (After a month of being on allergy medication, my hearing "improved" from a bilateral profound loss to a severe-profound loss in my right ear and a profound loss in my left ear.)

The combination of allergy medication *and* my CIs resulted in a significant improvement in my health.

I no longer suffer from recruitment nor do I struggle to hear and understand what is happening around me. I come home at the end of the day with energy to spare -- and then some.

Long story short? My CIs have definitely improved my health. No doubt about it! :)
 
Dr. Strangelove said:
I'm 29 now. No offense, but I do not wish to have it tweaked or whatever. I just want it removed. It is a solid bump on my head behind my right ear. On occasion I will get a headache from it, but not at the level of a migraine.
I just want it out out out out! I have wanted it out or removed for a long time. It is sitting there being completely USELESS. I also worry that it is risky leaving it in and not using it. I do not like the feeling I get if I get the CI area bumped aganist(hasn't happened in a long time though) I have absolutely no intention of trying to hear ever again, as I am extremely content with being stone Deaf.
I would not consider any alternative other than ASL for a deaf person or child. IMO, it is ignorant to recommend anything other than ASL.
I do support CI implants for hearing people who suddenly lost their hearing due to anything, but parents putting it on their children? NO. I would like it to be ILLEGAL to implant children, and only legal if the person is 18 and geniunely wants it.
Being Deaf and communicating in ASL, and the level of communication is eons ahead of all these hearing people and their so-called spoken language.
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I see so many older students at my work who do not have any use for their CIs and some of them have the exact same complaints as u do. That is why I believe in letting the child make that decision when they are older but parents and doctors insist that the earlier the CI is implanted in the child, the better. In some other threads, I mentioned that I cant stomach the thought of babies getting CIs and some people reacted strongly to that but those are my opinion and my feelings.

Are u angry with your parents for making that decision to implant you?
 
Dr. Strangelove said:
I'm 29 now. No offense, but I do not wish to have it tweaked or whatever. I just want it removed. It is a solid bump on my head behind my right ear. On occasion I will get a headache from it, but not at the level of a migraine. I just want it out out out out! I have wanted it out or removed for a long time. It is sitting there being completely USELESS. I also worry that it is risky leaving it in and not using it. I do not like the feeling I get if I get the CI area bumped aganist(hasn't happened in a long time though) I have absolutely no intention of trying to hear ever again, as I am extremely content with being stone Deaf.
...
Click to expand...

A reasonable request but whether anybody will do it is a entirely different matter. As some have stated, I never heard anybody getting one removed "willy nilly" (no real valid medical reason for doing so beyond one's wishes). If you got the money, you can get it removed I suppose. I can't imagine it being all that expensive.

Dr. Strangelove said:
I would not consider any alternative other than ASL for a deaf person or child. IMO, it is ignorant to recommend anything other than ASL.
I do support CI implants for hearing people who suddenly lost their hearing due to anything, but parents putting it on their children? NO. I would like it to be ILLEGAL to implant children, and only legal if the person is 18 and geniunely wants it.
Click to expand...

I totally disagree with this but each to their own. There are too many aspects to this whole issue to just be a soundbyte. It is not a rational statement to make and condemn (yes I know what I'm saying) many individuals to not have the optimal success they could have with a CI. Spoken language development later in life cannot ever match that of a young child. There are other threads that have gotten into this a lot more and I will leave it at that.

One thing I get so tired of is that one's experience colors everything and one is totally unable to see beyond that. There have been many successes as well as some failures due to a myriad of reasons. Bottomline is because YOU didn't have a successful experience doesn't mean it won't be successful in somebody else. I do agree if one does a CI in a child is to give them both spoken language and ASL and go from there. At least they can't say that their parents didn't try to give them opportunities.
 
sr171soars said:
A reasonable request but whether anybody will do it is a entirely different matter. As some have stated, I never heard anybody getting one removed "willy nilly" (no real valid medical reason for doing so beyond one's wishes). If you got the money, you can get it removed I suppose. I can't imagine it being all that expensive.



I totally disagree with this but each to their own. There are too many aspects to this whole issue to just be a soundbyte. It is not a rational statement to make and condemn (yes I know what I'm saying) many individuals to not have the optimal success they could have with a CI. Spoken language development later in life cannot ever match that of a young child. There are other threads that have gotten into this a lot more and I will leave it at that.

One thing I get so tired of is that one's experience colors everything and one is totally unable to see beyond that. There have been many successes as well as some failures due to a myriad of reasons. Bottomline is because YOU didn't have a successful experience doesn't mean it won't be successful in somebody else. I do agree if one does a CI in a child is to give them both spoken language and ASL and go from there. At least they can't say that their parents didn't try to give them opportunities.
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Well said:thumb:
 
sr171soars said:
A reasonable request but whether anybody will do it is a entirely different matter. As some have stated, I never heard anybody getting one removed "willy nilly" (no real valid medical reason for doing so beyond one's wishes). If you got the money, you can get it removed I suppose. I can't imagine it being all that expensive.



I totally disagree with this but each to their own. There are too many aspects to this whole issue to just be a soundbyte. It is not a rational statement to make and condemn (yes I know what I'm saying) many individuals to not have the optimal success they could have with a CI. Spoken language development later in life cannot ever match that of a young child. There are other threads that have gotten into this a lot more and I will leave it at that.

One thing I get so tired of is that one's experience colors everything and one is totally unable to see beyond that. There have been many successes as well as some failures due to a myriad of reasons. Bottomline is because YOU didn't have a successful experience doesn't mean it won't be successful in somebody else. I do agree if one does a CI in a child is to give them both spoken language and ASL and go from there. At least they can't say that their parents didn't try to give them opportunities.
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Excellent post! :)
 
Also the age of 9 is pretty late to be implanted by todays standards (assuming he didn't benefit much from hearing aids before that) and with a device that was 20 years old it doesn't surprise me that Dr Strangelove's outcome wasn't that great. Even though I'm neutral about deaf children being implanted I'm not sure if I would implant a child under those conditions.

Also just as a side query why the suggested age 18 as the age of consent for a CI? It seems a bit silly that a person could legally have sex and even get married before they are "allowed" to have a CI?

At the end of the day each to his own but personally I'm glad generally speaking that we parents have a choice in how to raise our children. As a deaf adult if I had a profoundly deaf baby one day bilingualism with the help of a CI seems an attractive option to me.
 
Dr. Strangelove,

I would like to make a comment even though I am not a CI user....yet.

I watched a video not too long ago and a CI doctor was asked questions what most people generally would ask in regards to the cochlear implant. When he was asked, what if someone had a CI and then wanted it removed. The doctor mentioned that he hasn't met anyone that wanted it removed. Additonally, if someone wanted the CI removed, not to hook up the processing unit and forget about it. As far as I recall, he didn't say anything about having the implant taken out.

In my case, I have been a hearing aid user practically all my life. One day, all of a sudden, my left ear would not benefit from the hearing aid anymore. I was experiencing vertigo with sound. I even tried putting my right hearing aid in my left ear and still experienced vertigo. That's when I started going to doctors to find out what's wrong. I have the phenomenon tullio effect. To be able to hear from my left ear again, my only alternative is to have a CI. Getting to the point, over time, the hearing can change in some people. What if one day down the road, you are not able to hear out of the other ear and you would have to rely on the CI you already have implanted?

I just thought I would share my side of the story so you could look at this view from a different prospect. I wish you luck.
 
Nothing wrong with hearing

Blazing Sunset said:
I watched a video not too long ago and a CI doctor was asked questions what most people generally would ask in regards to the cochlear implant. When he was asked, what if someone had a CI and then wanted it removed. The doctor mentioned that he hasn't met anyone that wanted it removed. Additonally, if someone wanted the CI removed, not to hook up the processing unit and forget about it. As far as I recall, he didn't say anything about having the implant taken out.
Click to expand...
I watched that same video. It was a local show in Pheonix, Arizona. I believe Community View it is name. Yes, like Blazing Sunset said, the doctor said that he had never heard of anyone getting it explanted. He continued to say that most people are pretty happy with it, and if they don't want it, they can just not wear the processor.

The reason I asked how old you are is simple. A cochlear implant from 20 years ago is not going to give you the same results of a modern one. As I stated, maybe you could consider learning Cued Speech and/or speech therapy.

Plus, IMHO, there is nothing wrong with hearing, just like there's nothing wrong with being Black or White, Queer or Straight, Hearing or Deaf. Again, all just IMHO.
 
shel90 said:
I see so many older students at my work who do not have any use for their CIs and some of them have the exact same complaints as u do. That is why I believe in letting the child make that decision when they are older but parents and doctors insist that the earlier the CI is implanted in the child, the better. In some other threads, I mentioned that I cant stomach the thought of babies getting CIs and some people reacted strongly to that but those are my opinion and my feelings.

Are u angry with your parents for making that decision to implant you?
Click to expand...

No, he is used want to got CI since his parent offers and he thought CI will help him to hear from everything then proved as wrong then stopped wear when he was 14-15 years old.
 
Taric25 said:
I have never heard of someone having it explanted. Most people that get one are pretty content with it. If you were 9 when you got it, and you haven't used it since you were 14 or 15, how old are you now?

Why do you hate your implant so much, to feel the need to have it explanted? Are you unhappy with the results? It's possible you just need to have it tweaked, by an audiologist. Is your speech not what you expected it to be, after the implant? Maybe you could consider learning Cued Speech and/or speech therapy.
Click to expand...

No, He don't want learn to use oral language, including cued speech, also he's hardcore deaf and use ASL at most time.
 
Nothing wrong with learning a new language

Pacman said:
No, he is used want to got CI since his parent offers and he thought CI will help him to hear from everything then proved as wrong then stopped wear when he was 14-15 years old.
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Pacman, as a former Chicago native, I have to disagree with you. First of all, Dr. Strangelove's CI is from twenty years ago. It is not like a modern CI. Also, no CI can "help him to hear" "everything", and no audiologist will tell you that it can. I understand that the stopped wearing it, but there are other things he should consider, rather than removing it.
Pacman said:
No, He don't want learn to use oral language, including cued speech, also he's hardcore deaf and use ASL at most time.
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Why not? Is there anything wrong with speaking? No, there is not. You can learn new things anytime in your life. ASL is wonderful, and so is speaking.

For example, I use English when I'm with some of my friends and Spanish when I'm with other friends. Why do I do that? That because its our prefered language. Hispanic people prefer to use Spanish. Similarly, Deaf people prefer to use ASL, and when I'm with my Deaf friends, I use ASL: our prefered language. There is nothing wrong with learning a new language, to broaden the opportunities you have.
 
Taric25 said:
Pacman, as a former Chicago native, I have to disagree with you. First of all, Dr. Strangelove's CI is from twenty years ago. It is not like a modern CI. Also, no CI can "help him to hear" "everything", and no audiologist will tell you that it can. I understand that the stopped wearing it, but there are other things he should consider, rather than removing it.Why not? Is there anything wrong with speaking? No, there is not. You can learn new things anytime in your life. ASL is wonderful, and so is speaking.

For example, I use English when I'm with some of my friends and Spanish when I'm with other friends. Why do I do that? That because its our prefered language. Hispanic people prefer to use Spanish. Similarly, Deaf people prefer to use ASL, and when I'm with my Deaf friends, I use ASL: our prefered language. There is nothing wrong with learning a new language, to broaden the opportunities you have.
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There is nothing wrong with learning how to speak but it is a difficult skill for many deaf people especially for those who are profoundly deaf and it requires a lot of motivation. Some deaf people are just not interested in it and there is nothing wrong with it. Everyone is different.
 
Speech for Profoundly Deaf

shel90 said:
There is nothing wrong with learning how to speak but it is a difficult skill for many deaf people especially for those who are profoundly deaf and it requires a lot of motivation. Some deaf people are just not interested in it and there is nothing wrong with it. Everyone is different.
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That's true and that's why Dr. Orin Cornett invented Cued Speech.
 
Taric25 said:
That's true and that's why Dr. Orin Cornett invented Cued Speech.
Click to expand...

Strange thing..I did try learning Cued speech a few years ago out of curiousity and I just cant seem to process the information being said by the other person even though English is my first language. The same thing goes for signed English. I went to a deaf social last night and I met this lady who signed in exact English and I just couldnt comprehend what she was saying cuz my mind ,whenever I see sign language, automatically goes into ASL mode. My first exposure to sign was in ASL so maybe that's why I have trouble understanding other forms of sign language even though my first language is spoken English. The mechanics of language processing is very odd sometimes. :giggle:
 
Shel,

Yes they are! :) My experiences with sign mirror yours except that I have a much easier time understanding PSE and SEE vs. ASL. When I started learning ASL in 1995, my brain wanted to translate everything into English. LOL! When I used a tactile interpreter in the past (prior to my CIs), I used PSE (and sometimes SEE). I have no problem understanding ASL, but I feel more comfortable using PSE or SEE since both are English based and English is my first language. Since ASL is your first language, I can understand why PSE and SEE are a little more difficult for you to grasp.
 
Hear Again said:
Shel,

Yes they are! :) My experiences with sign mirror yours except that I have a much easier time understanding PSE and SEE vs. ASL. When I started learning ASL in 1995, my brain wanted to translate everything into English. LOL! When I used a tactile interpreter in the past (prior to my CIs), I used PSE (and sometimes SEE). I have no problem understanding ASL, but I feel more comfortable using PSE or SEE since both are English based and English is my first language. Since ASL is your first language, I can understand why PSE and SEE are a little more difficult for you to grasp.
Click to expand...

No, ASL is not my first language. Spoken English is my first language and was the only language I knew until I started taking ASL classes at the age of 25 and then became fluent in it at 28 years old. Very late to learn ASL so that is why I find it odd that I have a hard time understanding PSE and SEE. Know what I mean?
 
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