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My implant

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Just some notes for anyone interested.
i’m 72. live near Chapel Hill, NC.
Implant done 7/15. Activation on 8/14.
I hope I have picked my equipment well, but I trust the UNC staff

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Welcome to the forum.
Tell us more about your cochlear implant.
How are you doing with speech?

New to all this. I lost partial hearing in my left side 60+ years ago, total loss on left side 15 years ago. I wear a hearing aid on the right to get my hearing to 100%. I was told about 2 months ago that cochlear implant was a possibility. Had the surgery 3 weeks ago and I am waiting for activation in a week.

got the external part tuesday. so today is day 3. no one tells you that for the first couple of months that you are reprogramming your brain to the new input. right now speech sounds sorta muffled and underwater. in md office, i scored 9 of 10 on number quiz so i guess it is hooked up proper. I am doing at least an hour a day without hearing aid. any suggestions on exercises and such to help the process.

@oldesailor how are you going with your processor now? How much are you hearing and comprehending?
Your laying down new neural pathways in your brain, so your brain can interpret all the electrical signals coming from the processor.

For some it’s a very easy process, for some others it takes a month or two. Then the next group it takes a lot longer again. Keep doing your rehab, and keep going for your mappings. It will all fall into place for you, as frustrating the waiting is to hear.

I agree no one tells you it could take you 12 months or more to get to the stage of being able to comprehend every word spoken.

Good luck to you on your new hearing journey.

thanks. today is day 7. hearing and comprehending is improving. main issue right now is voices are an octave or two high. will bring that up next check up. a big improvement is I can tell direction of sound a lot better.
Sunday was unreal. I got to listen to music minister ‘warm up’ on the concert grand piano for about 20 minutes before service. 100 year old church that was built with premium acoustics. I cried like a baby when for the first time in over 60 years I heard music in both ears.
I am at library now getting a paper book and the audio book of same name. was listed as another type of rehab.

Your first mapping after activation should be coming up soon. Typically this mapping is a big step for improvements.

You are doing great.
Keep us updated.

In reply to @oldesailor

Wonderful news for you. Music is a very tough gig to appreciate after . It takes a lot of music rehab as well. I listened to the radio an awful lot. I couldn’t stream it as it didn’t have . So I just listened.
I also got the library app and streamed books by the hours each day, it was free.
Then I found Spotify and streamed the 60’s music, as I know the words for those songs. Listened to Podcasts of Spotify as well.

Good luck.

Had audio check up yesterday. My hearing doc and I spent time fine tuning both hearing aid and implant. Hearing through implant getting better. Wearing implant at least ten hours a day. Listening to podcasts with captions.

@oldesailor I found Spotify free version very helpful for listening to old music I knew from 50’s & 60’s. Also for podcasts. For streaming audiobooks join your local library. They have apps for borrowing audiobooks, another free service. @Raudrive watched old movies on the TV with captions on. Just a few suggestion for variety.
Good luck with your new hearing journey, you are doing very well. Keep on with the rehab.

Yes, I listened to Spotify as much as possible, even when I understood nothing and despite the bothersome noise on the streets entering through my better ear (I streamed only to my ear).

@oldesailor , here’s a list of rehab ideas that I copied from an older post by @Deaf_piper (!!):

Hearing Training Apps:

  • Games 4 Hearoes

  • Hear Beyond (helps with noise)

  • MindTrained i-AngelSound

  • Hear Today (MedEl)

  • Melodic Contour Identification

  • HearingHunt

  • Cochlear CoPilot

  • Bring Back the Beat (Cochlear) Cancatenated Sentence in Noise

  • WordSuccess ()

  • Speech ID 2

  • Speech Banana (iPad/Mac only)

  • Learn American English Podcast

  • LearnEnglish Podcast (British accent)

  • All Ears English Listening

Other:

  • Audiobooks (can adjust narrator speed)

  • Kindle audio/word follow along

  • Ted Talks (can slow speed, CC)

  • TedED (can slow speed, CC)

  • Netflix standup with one person (can slow speed, CC)

  • TV and Movie networks with CC

  • Telephone With Confidence (Cochlear America’s Website)

  • Auditory Training Exercises (Cochlear America’s Website)

  • Sound Success (Advanced Bionics website)

  • Musical Atmospheres (Advanced Bionics website)

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