CI questions for the surgeon

I won’t see a surgeon until next week. In fact, I really don’t know anything about the surgeon. Last week I went to a different audio just to get another opinion about where I stand, and after the hearing test, she said that I was likely a candidate for a CI. The audiogram wasn’t much different that the one from 1 1/2 years ago. She asked if I would like to see one of their surgeons for further evaluation and information I said yes, and so I have an appointment next week. Yes,I have read quite a bit about CI’s, especially everything I could find in this forum, but I was thinking current users might have special insight that I might want to ask about

@Roberto2 said:

In fact, I really don’t know anything about the surgeon

I did a bunch of CI research before making a decision. The more I learned the more I realized I didn’t know. I figured out there was no way I could learn enough to make a smart decision. I asked a surgeon I didn’t know that has hundreds if not thousands of implants what his opinion was. In my location he was adamant about a particular brand and told me why. It was enough to change my mind. It was a great decision for me.

Once this decision is made things get much easier.

Thanks Joan. That’s a very helpful site!

Questions for surgeon:

• Ask thoughts on brand - they usually, and should tell you its up to you. Some surgeons will recommend a brand because that’s the one they have more experience with. If you feel a different brand suits your lifestyle better, you should be able to get what you want.
• Some offices will refer to failure rates or recalls as a reason to go with a certain brand. All brands have recalls and failures - what matters more is how the company resolves it at their expense. I believe the help site has a section on this that explains things.
• Another consideration for brand is where you are located. You will need regular “mapping” appointments to tweak the CI settings as in the first couple years. In my case I traveled over 5 hours for surgery at a leading CI hospital (Vanderbilt) and had go for one or two follow ups. After that they transferred my mapping appointments to the audiologist closer to me that works with the brand I chose (Advanced Bionics).
• Some candidates are concerned about retaining residual hearing and shop for surgeon that way. Mine said it’s a 50/50 chance regardless of who does it according to their data. Lots of factors in addition to surgical skill. I had a good bit of hearing on the lower ranges to lose and wanted to keep it, but I didn’t. Ended up not really mattering at all to me because the CI worked better.
• You might want to know how long they want you to wait to be “activated”. It is common to wait 3-4 weeks to allow swelling to go down, but there are some cases where they found using steroids helps reduce the swelling and allow activation sooner. Mine was just under 3 weeks and I managed, but it depends on your situation. If you live really far, Vanderbilt University and some others will do tests and surgery one day and activate the next day so you can get home - but over 5 hours wasn’t far enough. Either way, just be prepared for that gap.
• Ask about after surgery care - they should have a post surgery write up you can review to have a sense of how what they recommend - might be helpful.
• Above all - have a positive attitude! It helps. You have made a big decision to help yourself communicate better going forward. Acknowledge and accept there will be ups and downs of the process and know that it will take time for your brain to understand how to hear with a CI.

Good Luck!

Well done Joan! Just the kind of helpful information I was looking for.

Just something to remember when going through the link that @joanhawsey included. This is a bit out of date since Cochlear released the new Nucleus Nexa. This has only been on the market for a few months. Implant3