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My Cochlear Implant - a journal
I’ve been loosing my hearing for around 25 years. It started after my first kidney transplant - or that’s when it got bad enough to go see an audiologist to see why I was saying “What?” “Pardon?” “Could you restate that?” I would get home from work seeing clients and would be utterly exhausted, for no apparent reason. The audiologist I met with, Dr. Robert Sweetlow, advised a hearing aid for my right ear. I can’t even tell you how many aids I’ve had since then - about enough to buy a nice new car I’d guess, since they run about $2000 each.
I work and play for an RV Caravan tour company, we are wagon masters and tail gunners depending on the trip. We usually travel with 16 to 25 RVs and go all over North America, Europe, Africa and Australia. It’s super fun! And it is super stressful for me with my hearing loss. I’m with groups of people in all kinds of challenging hearing/understanding situations. As a retired psychotherapist, you have to know that I love connecting with people and being in the middle of things. Challenging? Oh my, yes.
In 2015 my discrimination was at R-46, L-32. In 2017, Resound 3D Linx hearing aides offered a lot of help to my declining understanding. So, I struggled along for those years. Then this year (2019), after a particularly challenging caravan, I decided to make an appointment for another hearing test and adjustment. In Albuquerque, NM I met with Dr. Terry Sankovitz. I just wasn’t understanding people and was cranky and exhausted all the time. After the exam, Dr. Terry showed me the audio gram... R- 14, L-12. Whaaat? Seeing it on paper my whole insides went cold and still, I was stunned. Barb, my best friend and wife, was just as shocked when Dr. Terry shared the test with her. The test measured how my ears understood speech without any visual cues. Dr. Terry said that there is no point adjusting my hearing aids further, louder wasn’t working. She talked about my options, one of which is cochlear implant. I had to let that sink in...
With a cochlear implant, there is no going back. You’re implanted period. But wait... with my ‘discrim’ I couldn’t go back anyway. The other option would be to withdraw from the world. Understanding .4 in one ear and .1 in the other is deaf. I am highly functional because I speech read; read bodies, context and situations - in the right situation I do okay. In groups, in noise, in a car, in low light... well you know.
It just happened that Cochlear Americas was hosting a panel discussion the next day, for people interested in CI (cochlear implant) and for those with CIs. Did we jump on that opportunity!!! WOW. What an eye opening. The group moderator was a woman who had been deafened as a child and as an adult had chosen bilateral cochlear implants. She was dynamic and compassionate. Her mother was a member of the panel discussion that included a couple, sisters and a single person. Here’s the best part. They hired a court XXX to transcribe speech to captions on a screen for all to see. I am not sure anyone in the room needed them as badly as did I. When I walked in the door, I felt afraid and when I left I felt elated. Arms full of booklets and information, Barb and I talked about the meeting and agreed that both of us felt a sense of hope, at last.
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Great to know your story!
How old are you and at what age did you start having teh hearing loss?
Thanks.
I started loosing my hearing when I was 45. I had my cochlear implanted when I was 69. I’m 71 now, Hope that helps.
L
Would you mind mailing the fleshed out version to me?
Hi @kmgiamei, We removed your personal email address from your message above. We recommend not posting personal contact information in the public forum. You can use the secure private message function to exchange contact information with another member.
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3 ReactionsHello. I am new to my CI and have all ready misplaced the sound processor.
The help articles I have found say use the app. I did install the app on my iphone 8, but it shows I am not connected to the processor.
Reading further, apparently I should have connected (paired) the app and processor when I had them together.
Is there a way I can find the processor just using the app? I had very little training from my Doctor's PA. Maybe she connected them and I am doing something wrong.
I am afraid the battery will run out before I can find it and then I will never be able to use the app.
I would appreciate any help you all can give me. Thank you.
I am on the path to getting a CI. If I were you I would call your doctors office. They should be giving you better training on that unit. They should have staff there that can give you a lot of information on that. Good luck.
You may want to call Cochlear at 800-483-3123 for assistance.
This is for moo2.
Yes, you can use the app to locate your device. Make sure your Bluetooth is turned on. Go to the app, and click. When the page comes up, there are three dots in the upper left hand corner. Click that and on the drop-down choose "locate sound processor". If they paired the processor when you received it, the GPS will show it's exact location. If it is nearby, it will show when you get close to it just by walking around, or if it is not on your premises, you can click the little balloon and it will show the exact address where you lost it.
I lost mine, (the clip broke) and it showed it was at my vet's office three miles away where I had been earlier. Evidently it had fallen off when I was there. You would think I would have noticed right away, but I did not with the excitement of getting my dogs settled into the car. Unfortunately for me, I went back several times and never found it. I had to get a refurbished one that has never been the same. I can only hope that yours was paired with the app, and that you can locate it.
@lmayo Thank you for providing this advice. The newer processors have many features that are not on the older ones. I'm using a 'loaner' N7 right now as I wait to get my N8 processor from my provider. As a Freedom implantee (Cochlear Americas), I've been a CI user since 2005. It is absolutely remarkable to learn and use the features in the most recent processors.
The Freedom processor was so simple. No remote, just buttons on the processor to switch programs and use it 'to the max'. No remote control. That got added with the N6. Now, the N7 and N8 are controlled by smart phones. It keeps getting better and better, but requires a bit more to learn. That definitely should mean that the provider/fitter takes more time to teach these things. I did not know there was a 'locate sound processor' ap. Thank you for sharing that.
Regarding a lost processor. Be aware that the magnet on that device is attracted to metal. I know many people who have set the device on a bedside table only to have it missing when they look for it in the morning. They are sometimes found happily attached to the metal bed frame. A friend of mine lost one when working out in a gym. It was attached to one of the exercise machines; the pull down device he had been using to build biceps. We laugh about these things, but it's not funny when we cannot find it. I love that the most recent processors can be found with an ap!