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Hearing Loss | Last Active: Oct 5 11:44pm | Replies (75)
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I am seeking advice as well. Long story short, a history of hearing loss and wearing hearing aids for 9 years. Right ear is always the worst. Recent hearing test showed 0 clarity in right ear. It turns out I had extensive Cholesteotoma in the right ear that was removed three weeks ago and the ear drum repaired. My doctor wants to do a second look surgery in December. If all clear, install a cochlear implant.
I am nervous about the cochlear implant process and is the benefit worth going through it all.
Replies to "I am seeking advice as well. Long story short, a history of hearing loss and wearing..."
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@rsedlock1958
This past Friday, October 3rd, I had my cochlear implant surgery done on my right ear.
I only decided to have the surgery after an extensive hearing test showed that my hearing loss on both side was beyond any hearing aid could compensate.
I spent a lot of time to understand as much as possible about the benefits, the recovery time, the activation and subsequent phase of training the brain to hear again with the implant.
Preceding the surgery were a string of medical exams, MRI and CT scans and I got from my audiologist packages of literature from all 3 manufactures and contacted each of their local area support managers, with whom I had several zoom Q/A meetings,. Each put me in contact with volunteer users who I talked to, in order to learn from their individual experiences and get suggestions for the phases to maximize gaining from the cochlear implant.
I discussed with my clinical audiologist the differences of the 3 suppliers and decided in favor of Med-El because of
1) Med-EL's OTOPLAN program, which the surgeon uses to upload the MRI and CT scans, and plans the entire procedure and is used as a guide during the procedure.
2) Being a retired engineer and also a classical music lover, it was important for me not only to get a good technical understanding of the procedure and hardware but also by using the OTOPLAN program the surgeon would select the longest electrode array in order to cover the maximum available length inside the cochlear.
Regarding your understandable nervousness about the implant process, I also had those moments, but I have learned in my long life (I am 85) that the best way to overcome such fears and reluctance is to dig into the details, understand as much about the procedures, and the efforts needed to learn to hear again.
If you haven't done it yet, I encourage you to contact other CI users to learn as much as possible from their experience. It can only help you to think positive about it.
Since I will have Bimodal hearing, I need to continue wearing my obsolete OTICON miniRITE hearing aid on my left ear, and I am anticipating that in a few months I might decide to get an implant for my left ear, too.
I have one major regret: I should have decided to get the procedure done at least two years ago when an audiogram already showed that I had sensorineural severe hearing loss.