Cochlear implant update

I have been reluctant because of the six months of speech therapy. Could you explain what that entailed? Do you still have one hearing aid to compliment you CI?
Can you waterproof your CI?
Lots of questions. I look forward to hearing from you or anyone else in the group.

I've mentioned this before, but feel it might be helpful to mention it again.

I had the advantage of knowing several people who had gone the CI route before I decided I should consider it. Thus I had the opportunity to ask a lot of questions. I was using hearing aids at that time and had reasonable success with telecoils. An HLAA friend who was a retired professor in an audiology program (this was in 2003), told me to use a neckloop with my hearing aids telecoils to listen to audio books. One ear did poorer with the hearing aid than the other did. This friend told me to do this ONLY with the poorer ear more than with both. I took that advice and listened that way for over a year before getting the CI in that poorer ear.

Long story short...I was able to rehab that poorer ear and had immediate success with the CI. Yes, I continued to listen that way after my CI was activated and the transition happened within a couple of months. I know others whose CI audiologists have told them Not to use the telecoil feature after activation. I wish there were more studies on this. Telecoils are older technology and some manufacturers are taking them out of hearing aids and CI processors. The primary reason is to make them smaller. Those of us who have had telecoil success and who have been strong advocates for the assistive listening systems in public venues that connect with those telecoils are aghast at this attitude. It is like taking away the best thing that can happen. Yes, I'm a strong advocate for telecoils, hearing loops, assistive technology, hearing aids and cochlear implants. I WANT TO HEAR! I don't care if what I use to be able to enjoy participating in conversation and events that require listening and hearing to enjoy shows when I'm using it.

Do you?

How long had the implanted ear gone without hearing? I just got my implant 10 days ago, but my ear had been without “useable” hearing for 15 years. My neurotologist still felt it was worth trying to get some hearing back in it.

I just had a Cochlear (brand) implant done 10 days ago. It was the brand recommended by my audiologist and neurotologist.

How long had you been without hearing in the implanted ear?

I was never completely without hearing and it fluctuated because I have Ménière's disease, but it had not been useful in my left ear for several years. At the very beginning of the pandemic I lost almost all hearing in that ear (I was at 4% for a while), and most in my right ear for a while, but things improved gradually. My right ear has now been stable for over a year with moderate to sever hearing loss. The combination of a CI and a HA works well for me. I used my telelcoil less than two months after activation and it was fantastic. Much better than with my previous top end Widex hearing aids. My audiologist never stops empahasising that the more you put in, the more you get out. I spent a lot of time on rehab.

What type of CI did you get?
Can you waterproof them and how visible are they when you are wearing them?
Also what was the learning curve in adapting to them?

Here is my 'reality'. When I was fit with a hearing aid in 1975 both ears were affected by progressive sensorineural hearing loss. I didn't want to have hearing aids and was embarrassed to have them. I was shocked at the cost which was $500 then! I finally agreed, then to be fit with a bicross aid that only aided one ear while it transferred sound from the other side. The aided ear was the one that tested slightly better. I wore a bicross system for over 25 years. The unaided ear suffered from 'sensory deprivation' over that time. I could hear basic sounds in that ear, but speech understanding in tests was very poor.

I took the advice to get an aid for that deprived ear and using the telecoil in it to listen to audiobooks, I evidently was able to rehab it to a certain point. When it was time to get the CI, the surgeon preferred to do the CI on the better ear. I made the decision to have it done on the ear I had been trying to rehab as I was fearful of losing what that better ear still had. The surgeon was OK with my decision.

So, basically I was without hearing for over 25 years before having the CI done. However, due to the telecoil/hearing aid rehab I was told to do, I had far better results than I might have had without it in that ear.

Now, my ''better ear' has the poorer hearing, but I find my brain has rewired itself to need both technologies to hear well. If I use only one or the other there's a big difference. But, I will say that the best technology for me between the two is the CI.

I qualify to have a second CI but do well enough that I've chosen to stay bimodal at least for now.

Curious to know what brand hearing aid you are using with your new CI? I have a new Cochlear N8 processor, and recently tried a ReSound aid so I could use the mini mic accessory with both devices. I have been using a Widex aid with my CI since 2005. I could not adjust to the ReSound aid as I had hoped to. I'm back using my 8-year-old Widex. I am disappointed in that reality.

It's unfortunate that the CI manufacturers choose to work only with one brand of hearing aid. But that's the way it is. Thankfully, I can still use the telecoils in both devices. NOTE: The latest ReSound aids that are rechargeable have eliminated the telecoills. What the H?

I am using an N8 and a resound hearing aid. I loved the Widex I had before (but not half as much as the set up I have now!) I have adapted well to the Resound hearing aid. I find the hearing aid really adds a roundness to the sound. I can hear with either the CI or the HA but it's so much better with both. I love the ease of controlling both at the same time. I've only used telecoil with the CI. Most over the ear hearing aids don't have telecoil these days; they need to go through a mini mic or whatever. I was told they're just too small to fit everything in. Interestingly my audiologist says if she was choosing just hearing aids for herself, she would choose Widex.