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I want to hear, I want my life back!

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Hi Deaf_ piper
Yes, your is pretty close to mine.
I have set evaluation already (I want to know what the outcome is regardless what I decide to do).
I still can hear many things but low volume and very little clarity (the is the main problem), so I have to read the lips and still I don´t understand if there are some backgroup noise…In most of situations that you have mentioned I can´t understand (with some exceptions), sometimes I understand 50%, others 20%, others 70%, but usually I have very hard time understanding in any noise environment.
About a job, well that is the thing, I don´t have a job because I can´t have a regular conversation at least it is face to face.
About TV, I can´t understand in any language, I listen music, but I can´t understand what they are saying (in any language). and for sure I am missing many high frequency instruments.
I don´t hear the birds chirping, the water running, forgot about understanding kids…
I haven´t used the hearing aids for the last eight years, they were anoying, but I´ll ask about it
Thanks for your thoughts.

Yes, you are a candidate, yes I would suggest moving forward. It sounds to me that what you stand to gain hugely outweighs what you currently have to lose, given that you say you are withdrawaing from your life.

If you don’t move forward with cochlear implants but you think you ever MIGHT, you have to get back into hearing aids and wear them consistently. The longer you go without stimulating the auditory nerve, the worse you can expect your future CI outcomes to be. Even if no aidable hearing above 1 kHz means that benefit fromt he hearing aids will be limited.

In reply to @cochleargonzalo

Please get back into wearing your hearing aids all day every day ASAP. You need to be stimulating the nerves so you can get a better outcome.
You could be asked to wear the hearing aids for 6 months then another evaluation done. As they do prefer to do some aspects of the evaluation with hearing aids. So please see your to get then adjusted as best as possible. Don’t buy new ones though.
Good luck with the evaluation, please let us know how it goes.

In reply to #3

Hi, My looks very similar to yours. I am using More 1 with a 100dB receiver. Only have the for 4 months. So far looks OK. Still trying it out and need fine tuned.

I think we all have to reach the conclusion that the op has decided that hearing aids won’t help him at all because he’s tried several. I’m not sure if the op knew what the aids would do since aids don’t return your loss to normal. I just hope that those with implants can educate the op on what to expect with implants because there’s no going back

If they’ve been wearing hearing aids for 30 years, I’d presume they have a relatively good idea what they can and cannot do for them.

I’ve the feeling that some of you believe that I don’t want to use hearing aids, and I’ve already decided to put cochlear implants.
That is not true, I prefer to avoid ANY surgery including . My problem is that haven´t worked with me and I don´t see any other solution than CI.
I tested 4-5 different brands of HA in 2010 and then I was told by providers and audiologists exactly the same things that some of you are saying here, and regardless I haven´t had any good test I bought a pair of HA and used them for three years just to realize that I was right since first day, I never could hear near to normal, but I was told that improved HA were in the market, then in 2015 I tested another brand for a week (US$8.000 the pair) but same thing, no improvement…
My expectations weren´t to recover my hearing, I just wanted to have some near to normal conversations over the phone or small groupos even without backround noise…but it didn´t happen.
Now, an and two audiologists are saying that no HA is going to help me to take the sounds to my brain because I have lost the cochlear cells hair, and syggested that CI can do it.
They also said that results can vary from person to person but overall CI are offerering excellent results…so here I am

My guess is that you would really like the ’s. Someone like yourself who has had a slow steady decline in hearing seems to benefit the most from CI’s. Keep doing research and make up your mind when ready. Brands are all similar, so whatever you get should work. (I based my selection primarily on which CI manufacture had the most market share)
Kind regards,

I can only speak for my experience, but if you look back in my history here you’ll see me asking about stronger and stronger hearing aids years ago… and then my hearing aid dispenser said “you need to look into ”, and referred me.

It changed my life for the better in the two years since I started the CI journey. I now don’t struggle to hear everything and get mentally spent by the end of the day. Hearing is just “natural” again. I could go on and on, but if you are a candidate, take the tests and confirm if its right for you with an audiologist. If i could give myself advice 5, 10 years ago I would have say “dont be scared about the downsides, the upside potential far outweighs it”.

Sadly on this forum a lot of people who are very negative towards people looking into getting a . Just because they don’t think it’s right for them. I had the same experience when I was asking questions 4-5 years ago. For me my results speak for them selves my went from bilateral 33% to 12 months post CI WRS 94%. For me it’s been a life changer. As long as you are prepared to do the rehab that is requires you will do well. I have a Cochlear N7, it connects to my phone and streams directly to my ears.

Do your research on what company you think would suit you best. Speak to your CI surgeon on what devise he implants, and prefers to use. Contact all 3 company representative and ask if you can have an appointment to speak with them. Have a hands on session with the representative… This way you can see what devise you want. Do all this soon before you go back to your surgeon after your evaluation… This way you have got some knowledge of the devices when you speak to your surgeon.
Good luck on your new hearing journey.

@Deaf_piper said:

Sadly on this forum a lot of people who are very negative towards people looking into getting a CI. Just because they don’t think it’s right for them.

I mean, the risks are big and scary for all that they are not common. I see so many patients with really stellar outcomes, but it doesn’t really soften the pain and the regret when a patient goes through the process on my recommendation and then, say, has a post-op infection and the implant fails and they lose all hearing on that side. So much easier to accept the potential risks of surgeries when you would literally die without them. Much harder when it’s elective.

Edited

In reply to @Deaf_piper

Thank you Deaf_piper
I appreciate your comments, on fact I only consider comments from people who actually have (good or bad experiences, all are welcome), but I am not interested to know what people who don’t have implants think about it…because what could they talk about?

Regarding your other comments, yes, this Wednesday I already have a video conference appointment with an Advanced Bionics specialist. I plan to do same with Nuclear and Med-El. My gave me brochures and contact information of the three, so I assume he can implant any of them, but I’ll ask his preferences and why as well.

My CI evaluation is on November 15th, so I am doing my homework :grin:

Do you have some personal opinion about the three companies, and why did you pick “X”?

Thanks again!

In reply to @Neville

I appreciate your honest opinion, however I can read statistics about risks, complications, etc. of surgeries in Google.
I want to know what people with CI have undergone in the process, how good or bad the rehab has been, what accomplishments the reached, all the pros and cons…
I hate surgeries, I am against plastic or cosmetic surgeries because they are risky and the outcome doesn’t worth the risk for me (except when there is a medical reason like an accident, morbid obesity or an obvious deformity…).
But, I don’t consider CI as an election when your hearing loss is so serious that you have to give up to most of your social life including getting a decent job, and there is not other option to get your “normal” life back. It is like @Deaf_piper said a life changer…I want that!
Of course I am pondering and weighing all the facts, risks, benefits, etc.
There is only ONE question that I have to make and answer to myself “should I give up the opportunity of having a “normal’ish” life or should I take the chances? And I’ll have to live with that decision for the rest if my life
That’s the only reason that I posted my message in this forum.

In reply to @cochleargonzalo

Remember I’m Australian and our health systems are very different.

I personally looked into both Cochlear and . I liked the AB, I did prefer the AB. But I had to fly to Sydney for the surgery, mappings and all the Drs appointments. So that added $$$ for hotel and return flights & accommodations each visit. As I’m retired the extra cost was not in our budget. Mappings are frequent in the first 12 months.

The 2nd thing I didn’t like about AB was all the recalls they have had on the internal parts. They have had several over the last 10 years.

Cochlear Nucleus system hasn’t had a recall since 2011 I think. When I got to see my surgeon he wanted to use Cochlear, so that was that. I was OK with that I liked the thought of direct streaming for phone calls. And I will say it’s brilliant. Being able to control my CI from my iPhone was another benefit to me. It meant I didn’t have to carry around a remote control as well. In fact the remote is still in the box. The N8 processor is being released in November, it’s meant to have improved functionality. As well as improved sound. Time will tell. And all the mappings were bulk billed to my health insurance, therefore I had no out of pocket expenses for mappings. Cochlear overnight supplies to us when we need replacement pieces.

Some of the US surgeons have a Cochlear 2 device policy, check with your surgeon what he offers. If he does offer the 2 devices you would be able to get the K2 and the N8. @Raudrive has both. I’m not sure which device he prefers to use or if the magnet strength is still a problem for him. I have the N7 coupled with the Resound Enzo, I enjoy being , my hearing is great this way. Ask your surgeon about the complications that can occur post operatively. While I personally didn’t experience any of them, you still need to be aware they can and do happen sometimes.

In reply to @WhiteHat

I’ll listen to professional opinions, what I meant is that I am not interested to hear negative opinions from people that don’t have and just because they are afraid of, dislike or don’t qualify for CI.
Thanks.

I do not have a yet, but I have had a CI evaluation and was cleared for both ears pending approval. You do not mention the type of hearing loss you have. If you have a ski slope sensorineural hearing loss, you may be offered a short electrode array if you choose Cochlear Americas. There is quite a bit of controversy surrounding this electrode array. In fact, the have not used it in Australia, where the parent company is for a decade or more.

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