Surgical procedure

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rogsam

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Hi everyone. I am new to this Alldeaf. I am considering two options to resolve my hearing problem - bone conduction (baha) and cochlear implant.

Do you know :
- the length of surgical procedure
- Cost of device
- cost of surgery
- if Medicaid reimburses any amount (either device or surgery cost, or both)

Thanks in advance
 
Hello!

Welcome to AllDeaf!

BAHA is something that I don't know, and not familiar with. Keep in mind that BAHA and Cochlear Implants are two very different type of implant system.

Cochlear implants -
Length of surgical procedure - it varies. Average is 1 to 3 hours, some are a couple more. For both of mine, it took a little over 3 hours...my surgeon likes to take her time and not rush. Majority of time you go home a few hours after waking up. Depending how well you recover from anesthesia.

Cost of Device - again, it varies to the hospital costs. It is included with the surgical procedure. For both of my surgeries, it was about $46,000 each. I did not have to pay any of it. I think it is on the low end because I went to a teaching hospital. Regardless, I had a very wonderful surgeon.

Cost of Surgery - Up to the discretion of the hospital. Some are under 50k, others are over 100k. Insurance pays for it.

Medicaid should cover all of it, but it can get a bit of a pain in the ass for them to go through the process. At least I read about it. I have medicare so I never had any issues. Someone with Medicaid information should help you out.
 
Hi Lady Sekhmet
Thanks for your reply. This will be a life-changing experience for me. Cost is certainly an issue with the current state of slowing economy.
rogsam
 
baha is bone conduction hearing aid for single sided deafness.
cochlear implant is for bilateral (both ears) severe/profound hearing loss

can you share with us your hearing loss history or background like what do you have?

my left ear (implanted side with cochlear implant) used to be 105-125 in the profound hearing loss area and my right ear (unimplanted side) last time i took hearing booth test in may 2007 it was 90-105 but im suspecting that tiny part of my hearing came back recently because I heard fire alarm in other floor of the house when I used not to be able to with my both ear so that put me on major brake into considering implanting that ear because I'm afraid to destroy it if tiny part of my hearing did came back up enough to hear fire alarm and havy metal/rock music if jacked up loud enough...

if your one ear is at hard of hearing level (60 or less) and other ear is profoundly deaf, consider getting most powerful hearing aid available on market and test it in booth with word and sentence testing without lipreading and if your score is low (less than 50% correct) they might consider about implanting the profound loss ear, important is talk to your ENT or audiologist to refer you to specialist to discuss things.
 
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