Preparing for CI — how to increase chances of success?

Welcome to the forum.
What company has she chosen to go with for her CI? Cochlear, Advanced Bionics or Med El?
I noticed you said she’s not tech savvy, does she use a smart phone? iOS, Android or google pixel? If she doesn’t use one of the above she’s going to be at a disadvantage. You could help her to prepare by becoming comfortable with using one of the above smart phones.
Why? Because most of the rehab programs are in the App Store.

Most of our forum members have Cochlear, a few have AB and a few have Med El

Has your mum started the evaluation process?
Good luck to you and your mum.

@Deaf_piper said:

I noticed you said she’s not tech savvy, does she use a smart phone? iOS, Android or google pixel? If she doesn’t use one of the above she’s going to be at a disadvantage. You could help her to prepare by becoming comfortable with using one of the above smart phones.

I would disagree with this. It’s not essential. I’m very tech savvy. I’m the tech support person for my house and my business. But my rehab was all person to person. You do need someone who is willing to support you with 45 minutes of rehab per day for the first 6 months, then taper after that. I reduced my working hours by about an hour a day to allow for this as well. Cochlear implants and rehab have been around for decades before smart phones, so there are old fashioned methods available.

Hello all, thanks for the responses. Some background: my mom is 65 and was a primary caregiver for three children (my brother’s children) in Canada. She has had deafness in one ear long standing that she essentially just ignored. A couple of months back, she developed vestibular neuritis/labrynthitis and lost hearing in her other ear (profound hearing loss). Treatment did not work, and a hearing aid is not working well at all. She is currently being evaluated for a CI–a decision will be made later in July it sounds like. She has been asked to look at different devices, and in doing research I found this forum and a couple of threads on deciding on which CI. (My sense is the quality and reliability are similar through all devices, and the choice boils down to preference between on ear and off ear, battery choices, waterproofing, possibly different levels of customer support–correct me if I am wrong!). My mom does not really use a cell phone much in terms of either phone calls or whatsapp or messaging or social media (she seems to figure out youtube videos lol). I think this type of technology (smart phones) will be important for her to learn moving forward as atleast she could text people. I’m really concerned about the possibility the CI won’t work, and was looking for ways to improve the odds in advance as much as possible.

The intensity of rehab varies greatly with each CI recipient. It can/might depend upon her hearing loss history, and how quickly she can understand speech after activation. And this also varies greatly, for recipients, from day of activation to 4-5 months or longer and anywhere in between.

Rehab can again depend on what suits your mum best. It can be watching old movies with captions @Raudrive did this. I joined my local library and streamed audible books. Others work their way through apps on smart phones or tablet. Others do ESL classes on desk top computer. So there’s really no right or wrong way it’s what suits your mum best and what’s she’s able to manage.

Then you have professional help with Aural rehab if she needs it.
https://www.asha.org/practice-portal/professional-issues/aural-rehabilitation-for-adults/7

Hope this helps.

@RajKan said:

She is currently being evaluated for a CI–a decision will be made later in July

Thanks for the update.

Is your mom active? Get out and about a lot? Interact with people? These are question the audiologist should be asking during the evaluation. An active life stimulates hearing. The CI medical team wants every implant to be a success.

I am older than your mom with bilateral CI. Lifestyle is probably more important than age concerning CI.

On the ear processors are probably more secure than off the ear. Both perform the same. Concerns about battery life are probably not worth worrying about. If she can deal with hearing aids she can deal with CI dexterity wise. The most important thing is getting through the rehabilitation phase. Once she learns how to understand speech with CI everything falls into place.

The only thing I don’t like about the BTE processor is that one size fits all recipients. Everyone’s ear shape is different, some need to use retainers eg hugfit. For me the N7 was a nightmare to get to stay in place. The N8 is a better fit but I still need to use the hugfit.