My Cochlear Journey

1. I do take mine off at night, the magnets by themselves would not keep the CIs in place. But there are third party solutions like head bands generally for sports, that might keep them set through the night. I wouldn’t have been able to keep BTEs on my head at night either, so that might be more of a me problem.

2. It is probably lost in the length of this thread but I have had me second implant for over a year now. I would say that I have dierctionality most of the time. There are always situations where it takes some effort but then I recall situations back when I was 20 and had normal hearing that I couldn’t always locate things either, so I would say that is normal. I certainly have stereo, can tell with the old music when they used to send different things to the different speakers.

Pat, if you are driving in a car, can you hear what anyone is saying in the backseat? (Or vice versa?) Do you understand the words? (btw I almost teared up on the message that you had a normal phone conversation!- that’s great!)

Amazing journey you have posted here. I come back to this thread each time my hearing goes a little more. Just received a nice message from someone on the board about a specific practice in Pittsburgh that might be worth seeing for a second opinion. I may do that.
How long have you had the CI’s to date?

From the backseat it can be hit or miss, depending on the person. To be fair I drive a Mitsubishi Mirage, great gas mileage but not the quietest cabin.

It has been a bit over two years for my left year and not quite a year and a half for the right.

@dieslgrl said:

Pat, if you are driving in a car, can you hear what anyone is saying in the backseat? (Or vice versa?) Do you understand the words? (btw I almost teared up on the message that you had a normal phone conversation!- that’s great!)

Sorry Pat, sharing my experiences.

This is a tuff question. So many variables can affect your hearing results.
Windows up, no radio, I can usually get most of what is said from the back seat. I need more practice, could be better.

Same thing for a eating out. It’s all about the situation. Many instances I hear better than the average person but then other situations I struggle to understand. Recently a friend and I picked up hamburgers to go at an old building converted to a beer joint/restaurant. It was crowed and loud. I struggled to hear. Did not use the forward focus, it probably would have helped. We were not there that long.

Returned home to eat with a few home brews, much better hearing results.

That is truly inspiring! You can understand someone in another room?! Whaaaa did you just say??!? Wow! That’s great!! Thanks to those on this board I’m now scheduled for another candidacy appointment this summer. If you were making progress soon after activation then that’s hopeful for me! I’m single and rely solely on my income in sales and personal training so if I can’t hear I can’t make money. I mean, I can, it’s just a lot more exhausting and takes creative workarounds to maintain contact. I don’t really have a team of people, support network or anything like that. So being here means a lot. I’ve only heard rave reviews of quality of life improvement w/CI, so looking into AB now for Phonak compatibility.

Good luck with candidacy appointment @dieslgrl… Hopefully all will go well. Cheers Kev

Good luck, let us know if you have any more questions.

Good for you @dieslgrl… Hopefully all will go perfect. Cheers Kev

Congratulations
Time to start your own CI journey thread.
Which ear will you get implant?

Congratulations and good luck. Keep us updated as you travel this hearing journey…

My 0.02 on brand choice after a lot of back and forth on the decision is that probably the most important part of the choice is the familiarity of the surgeon and audiologist with it. The one study that I found showed that the performance of the big 3 is all within 10% of each other.

If you have a hearing aid in the other ear you might want to consider compatibility. Beyond that look at the various features and pick the one that is best for you. To help with that you can find the most recent version of the comparison chart here.9.

And then once you have made your decision relax and don’t second guess yourself.

I think my audiogram is on my profile, if you click on it. I don’t know the type of hearing loss that you are experiencing, but it is scary to watch it decline quickly! I feel for you! Thanks for your words! I hope it gives me a new lease on life. If I have to work at it for it to be successful, then that’s up my alley. Good luck to you!

Thanks for the comparison chart! I am currently being groomed by AB, but my surgeon is suggesting(?) Med El. He is a ear-only specialist and they told me AB isn’t FDA approved and is actually removing more of their implants (than they are implanting) due to the rate of failure. I always trust a technician more than a salesman but if I feel it’s worth the risk for that connectivity, then I will decide and not look back. I am looking to you all for guidance, so thank you again for the advice!

I’ve been doing a lot of research and have talked with reps from all three and done zooms with Med El and AB. That info on AB doesn’t sound current, but of course I’m no expert! I found this link https://www.bioworld.com/articles/501264-sounds-good-advanced-bionics-receives-fda-approval-of-marvel-cochlear-implant-platform?v=preview2
The Med El rep said the same to me about AB not being FDA approved and AB indicated that is old info.

The connectivity with the Phonak Marvel is great-hands free phone use like I have now with my Oticons. It would be hard to lose that and it is a strong pull for me toward AB-it connects the CI seamlessly with the hearing aid. No intermediary y device. As others have reassured, sounds like they are all viable options.

Please keep us posted. I did see your graph. Mine is also on my profile. Both ears had always been the same until the rapid decline of my left ear two years ago.