Cochlear Implants: How well do they work at an older age?

Our sIL will be visiting soon and he is a tech expert so will have him check out the captions while he is checking out our lip sync problem! Bill loves controlling the remote and he has gotten terrible with it (cognitive problems). I hate to take it away from him as it is almost a security blanket for him.

This morning I accomplished two things - meeting with my Audi for adjustment and tests. After one month from activation I have improved both with HA/CI and CI alone about 50%. Of course 50% of 15 leaves a long way to go but apparently really good news for one month. I'm to continue finding noisy situations and listening to audio book with on CI and no reading for at least one hour a day. My family provides a lot of noisy situations and multiple conversations going at once.

As for the noisy places I managed that on my way home when I stopped to get my car emission testing done. Talk about noise! Place was full of BIG trucks with very noisy engines. Two years ago when I had it done (only using HAs) I couldn't understand a word due to the noise - done with hand motions, etc. Only a few cars and not many trucks. This time a long line and mostly trucks. Service guy had a heavy Hispanic accident and wearing a mask. I had to really work at hearing him but I did it! I only had to ask him to repeat himself once or twice. Fortunately not long conversations. My gas cap failed so he put on a new one, which allowed my car to pass the emission test and proceed for renewal. At first I thought I had heard wrong as I didn't connect 'gas cap' with the emission test. So it wasn't something I was expecting to hear. So both car and I ended up passing!

Last week I had an eye appointment and their reception area was overflowing. Noise was terrible and almost impossible to hear. There were 4 reception areas, behind glass with masks so people talking very loudly. I told them I might have problems hearing my name called and the guy was super nice about it (I did hear my name over the noise). When with the doctor I could hear perfectly!

Then last night went to dinner with family group for daughter's birthday (I can't believe I have a daughter 63 and next week a son 62!). It was a Mexican restaurant with a lot of small rooms - formerly their home. We were in a room with two sets of long tables. I was up against the wall in a padded area. The other table consisted of a very large Mexican family speaking Spanish.

The noise was overwhelming. I could hardly make out any of the conversations as it seemed like my CI and HA wanted to listen in to everything! So I picked up a lot of words but no isolated conversations other then if I leaned in very close and they talked into my ear. Daughter Robin was right across from me and I had an easier time of understanding at least part of her conversations.

My Auto Sense either wasn't working well or not helpful.

I did just relax and enjoyed watching my family and we all had a wonderful time - and the food was great!

I identify fully with this. In some noisy social settings it's just not possible for us to hear well, even with our wonderful cochlear implants. It's time to sit back, breathe, and relax, and if possible, carry on conversation one on one when we can with someone near us. Even that's hard.

I use the mini mic that works with my CI processor all the time and find it to be very helpful in those settings. Still, it's a reality that I cannot participate fluidly in a situation where everyone is talking at the same time. Restaurants with a group are very difficult. My favorite social 'group' is three people because there can be only one conversation going on at a time. 🙂 Add that 4th person and it gets harder....but still a lot easier than a larger group at a long table.

Are you using assistive devices with your CI processor?

Audi hasn't recommended them yet. I just was pointed to the word success app for my iPhone so one more place to do 'homework'! I emailed kids about what helped at dinner - what I could hear and couldn't hear. They are really good about helping with my homework. And understand that it takes time. Husband, who has cognitive problems, doesn't understand why my hearing isn't perfect now after the implant. I just smile and tell him I'm working on it! Apparently his having the TV on all the time is actually a good thing. Lots of household noises to figure out.

You are doing very well with your relatively new CI. I hope your audi will help you with the assistive tech before too long. It's therapeutic to be able to use it in those difficult settings.

Yesterday the 'clan' celebrated son's 62 birthday with a Taco Bar. I followed some suggestions for hearing in group situations and this time I did so much better. One was just listen to one conversation and ignore the others. Place body in a good position to be able to turn to whoever was speaking at the time. Don't fret if I don't get the whole conversation. Enjoy just being with them. At one point we were all (10 plus the one year old) gathered in the family room in a circle telling stories on ourselves. For the most part one speaker at a time. I caught almost every word using both the HA and CL!

Also, driving over, Robin had the radio on in the car while we were talking and I managed to pretty much block the radio out so I could hear her.

Either I'm getting smarter about hearing situations or my brain is taking control.

What an awesome report! I'm sure your brain is adapting to the CL/HA dual messages, but don't discount your own hard work. You are a "Poster Woman" example for how to make technology work for you.
Sue

Thank you. Family is a major help in practicing. And in giving encouragement, which is a major help. One of the things everyone on this site is so good about. Makes a world of difference knowing you are not alone in the journey.

You are doing great! Thank you for sharing your progress with the CI. You and your brain are both getting smarter! 🙂