Doc says I need to get a BAHA

@anonymous-monkey said:

coming to terms with needing a BAHA?

Since you have surgery scheduled I would think you have already come to terms with the BAHA and it's surgery.

As far as waiting for the surgery, time goes by pretty fast. If you are happy with the BAHA decision try to relax. I do not know enough about BAHA to give details or talk about experiences.

Like CI if you are a candidate for the BAHA it has the potential to really help your hearing and speech understanding. @TexOkie has a BAHA, maybe he will come in on this discussion. If my memory is correct he has had excellent results with it but has had a few problems with infection. I am not sure where he is with his BAHA now.

First, which BAHA? I have the Osia on my right ear. I love it!! I'm lucky in that my right cochlear nerve is completely functional. My hearing in that ear tests just a scooch below optimal across all decibles post surgery. (check out my audiology chart to fully appreciate this last.) My speech in noise score went through the roof as well. And yes I can tell the difference in real life. when out in the world I no longer use my beloved, traditional Signia ax7 aids at all. I revert to the Osia. It provides more volume and is easier to wear than a trad HA. So as you can see I'm a big proponent of the BAHA. The surgery was a piece of cake: not invasive of the inner ear at all. No possibility to do further damage. Quick recovery.

I did use an external wrap around version of this aid to get a sense of it before surgery. The post surgery results were a LOT better.

Not everyone has such a successful outcome. My left ear cochlear nerve is a bit more degraded than my right. Luckily for me, my left ear conductive loss is far, far less than in my right. If one's hearing nerves are damaged, the results may vary.

I came to realize before surgery that this is a no-lose situation. I can still use my trad hearing aids along with the Osia, if I wish, and sometimes I do. If a BAHA adds to your hearing capacity, given the near non-existent risk, I see no reason why not to have the surgery done, other than cost. (easy for me to say. Kaiser covered 99% of the cost in my case.)

I was skeptical of the whole bone conduction approach pre-surgery. I was convinced and delighted even on my drive home after the processor was turned on. These damn things can be a game changer, or at least, an improver.

@anonymous-monkey said:

how did you cope with the anxiety and coming to terms with needing a BAHA?

The thing about emotions is that the bodily sensations can often be the same. Anxiety is often the same physical sensations as excitement. You can reframe what you're feeling as excitement that you're going to be hearing again soon.

Now if you're experiencing fear, you should talk to your surgeon about it so those fears can be rationalized and put to bed. If you're experiencing specific thoughts then you should talk about those rather than the feeling in general as we can help you address those.