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Never too old, 103-year-old deaf and blind man has cochlear implant

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This is absolutely fantastic! Good for him! My 93 year old mother, with dementia, has lost her eyesight, but has WAY better hearing than I have. It is the only path left to her to make any sense at all out of the world she lives in. The only thing that moves her is music. I am so thankful that she can at least hear. Observing her fellow nursing home residents who can’t hear was the inducement for me to seek a cochlear implant now, in my sixties. There are so many challenges that come with aging, and losing sight and/or hearing is so extremely hard on a person, basically rendering one unable to even advocate for one’s self.

Are you happy with the cochlear implant? I am wondering if that might be a better solution than the hearing aids I wear. I still have the television turned up, with a device to send the sound to my hearing aids, AND closed cationing. I can’t hear on the phone or Zoom, and I often have to ask everyone to repeat. I feel my quality of life is poor.

Whoops! I though I was responding to someone who said she had gotten a cochlear implant.

@ibawaya said:

I am wondering if that might be a better solution than the hearing aids I wear. I still have the television turned up, with a device to send the sound to my hearing aids, AND closed cationing.

You have a mild to moderate loss. Cochlear implants are normally only for people who are severe or profound. Have you tried a different hearing aid? I found I didn’t hear as well with Oticon but I heard a lot better with Phonak.

In reply to @ibawaya

Hello, Ina. Yes, I did get an implant, 8 months ago. I was struggling a LOT and hearing aids weren’t helping me anymore. Like you I couldn’t hear on the phone at all, which made it very difficult, especially looking after my mother’s affairs. With Covid rules, I couldn’t just show up in person to speak with people, and masking made it impossible to lipread. I think these last two years have made a lot of people aware of just how bad their hearing is.

That said, there is a threshold as to when a person’s hearing loss qualifies them for an implant. I got a referral from my family doctor to a specialist who was very decisive once she sent me for new hearing tests.

Do I like my cochlear implant? YES!!! I am so lucky to have had immediate success with speech recognition, even though voices were robotic. But that has disappeared. I can talk on the phone and, while I still use the captions on the TV, it is mostly out of habit. I hear most of the dialogue without any intermediate device. I am not overstating it to say I have my life back.

Thank you for your response. I am so happy for you that the implant changed your life! I am due for a new hearing test that may put me into a category that would allow a cochlear implant. I may try another hearing aid first, but I am tired of not hearing.

In reply to @Zebras

Thank you for your response. I think my hearing test needs to be updated on this site, and I am due for a new test as well. I may fall into a moderate/severe category now. My first hearing aid was a Phonak, and I am considering a trial of another phonak.

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