Desired metrics for a hearing solution for a severe, bordering on profound, binaural loss wearer:

Thanks, missed that.
His word understanding on one ear is probably a CI candidate. As you said the other ear may be as well.
He definitely needs to get the CI evaluation for his own knowledge. Odd his audiologist are not supporting him on this.
Has Skip mentioned where he is? What country?

@Raudrive said:

Has Skip mentioned where he is? What country?

IIRC (I may be wrong) - northwestern Georgia?

CIs have moved along a bit in the past decade and there are a lot of clinicians who just haven’t caught up with new 60/60 guidelines. Further, clinicians who don’t know patients with CIs often have some weird ideas about them.

Thanks.
It’s tuff talking to people about CI sometimes. Not getting blunt. I have done so well with CI and there are those out there that just don’t get how hearing better is so possible.
I appreciate your support.

I thought it was northeastern Georgia in the USA.

@AttilaDaPun said:

Could audiologists not making a sale if the client opts for a CI evaluation have any influence on their opinions?

That thought occurred to me as well…

The current audiology, presuming I ever get a copy of it, seems less-loss than all my recent ones, in the lower frequencies. It was done in an office, not in a booth, and used the foam tips speaker method of tonal and speech audiology testing. Not having seen it I dunno about the tympanology part, and actually have no clue how to evaluate the importance on any of the other tests I’ve had over the years

And, I’m very much in NE GA; the I70 provider’s in Clayton, the county nestled between North and South Carolina; can’t get any further NE GA than that!

(My home is one county south; I can see SC across the river )

@Neville said:

Yeah, I imagine some people are like “I know you hear things like a distorted robot, you just forget what real hearing is like” and you sit there thinking “no, the brain is just way cooler than you know.”

Fully agree, as a CI user with a bit more “normal” hearing in the better side. I have still problem with the pitches (with CI only, e.g. in streaming, better ear plugged), but with no problem I differentiate between characteristic “plomping” from the piano keyboard, continuous sound from bowed instruments, not to mention plucking the guitar strings. Still not perfect, but enough to have pleasure of listening to music and I say that despite having certified basic musical education (in Poland it’s after 4-6 first year of primary music school).

With speech is even better than with music.

In geography lessons in school about 20 years ago, memorizing 51 states was quite a hard part. Especially along the East Coast!

I’m originally from California - the West Coast is a lot easier to memorize!

Three states , the progressive politics or the wonderful coastal weather/beauty ?

@Skip said:

Where/who/what do I need/go to for an appropriate evaluation? ENTs in NE GA are scarcer than hen’s teeth, and HAProviders

I will assume NE GA is in Georgia since ENT’s are scarcer than hen’s teeth.

I am pretty sure in the USA you don’t need a referral to see any doctor when 65 and older. Something you could do is use the Internet to ask one of the CI brands where to get the CI evaluation, Cochlear, AB or MedEl. That is how I found my excellent audiologist and surgeon.

I should have specified that I expect the number to be few. Unfortunately, there are people who might do such in every profession.

Maybe call or have someone call the CI group in Atlanta and see if they can recommend someone for cochlear implant candidacy evaluation, and whether they know someone good close you to or if you’ll have to travel.

The other option might be to look for your closest pediatric audiologist and ask them–Pediatric audiology is often a bit more professionally close to the implant team because of the children they are referring.

Anyone with a magnetic external piece has an internal processor. Could be cochlear implant or could be bone conduction implant. You’re not a candidate for the latter. People with normal inner ears and problematic middle ears get bone conduction devices and hear very well with them because the inner ear is still functioning normally.

I didn’t choose where I was born and raised. We moved to Oregon in 2021 because my wife liked the climate better and our son (I’m his stepdad) and daughter-in-law got jobs here and moved first. We’re not on the coast, but that’s okay - no tsunami watch!