Hearing really good with BAHA device

Posted by oldmandove48 @oldmandove48, Jun 29, 2019

Hi I have had the the BAHA Device place on my right side of my head 4 weeks ago. I'm looking forward in 2 weeks to get my hearing aid and being able to hear from my right ear. At the age of 5 my ears have giving me trouble and started losing my hearing over the years. I have had 6 surgery's on both of my ears. Over the years I would act like I heard people but I really didn't. I would at times ask them to repeat what they said to me and many times people would hate to repeat themselves. I then became afraid, to ask people ( What did you say) because many would get upset in repeating. So I pretended I heard them. So I'm looking so forward in being able to hear good enough to hear people and many other things This is so great and I'm like a kid getting a candy bar for the first time. Will have my left side done in August having both side equal out and hearing really great. It will take time to adjust all this but looking so forward. I hope I can encourage others in having this done and being able to hear. Thanks for all the support I will get from here. But Thank God for the Mayo Clinic and the doctors here. More later all as my new life in hearing really good begins.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Hearing Loss Support Group.

Ethan McConkey, Moderator | @ethanmcconkey | Jun 29, 2019

HI @oldmandove48 thank you for sharing your success story! You may have noticed I moved your post to the Hearing Loss group so you can connect with others with similar experience.

I also wanted to tag fellow Connect members @cobweb @dstell and @contentandwell as they have experience with hearing loss and may be interested in your story.

Back to you @oldmandove48 you mentioned you have had si surgeries on both of your ears. Are you comfortable sharing what those surgeries were?

JK | @contentandwell | Jun 30, 2019

@oldmandove48 @ethanmcconkey I was not familiar with the BAHA device so I just googled it. It sounds like a great step forward. Is it a type of cochlear implant or is it somehow different from a CI? My hearing loss is getting worse, primarily in word recognition so I wonder if this could help with that also. At this point, the loss in one ear is considered to be profound and in the other ear severe.
I too get very tired of asking people to repeat themselves. One of my closest friends used to be a teacher of deaf children so she is extremely understanding, but other than that it is very difficult, even with my husband. My son is great about it though. As you mentioned, I often just nod my head and act like I have heard something when I have not.

I really look forward to hearing how it works out when you get the hearing aids. I plan to ask my audiologist about this on my next appointment. Thanks for posting.
JK

Denise | @azmn | Oct 19, 2019

Hi @oldmandove48, I enjoy reading about how very pleased you are with the outcome of the Baja! If you don't mind sharing, what manufacture did you choose? How do you hear while you are waiting for the skull to heal? What is the life expectancy of your baja?

The reason I am asking so many questions is that I feel I am leaning that direction. You see, I have otosclerosis in my left ear. I have had 2 surgeries and still having so many issues with word recognition. Yesterday, I saw my doctor and he said my 2 viable options are revision stapes or Baha. I am not sure if revision surgery is really viable because of the many unknows, or if I should go straight to the baha and not worry about the middle ear.

Thank you, @whatdidyousaynaz