Making the decision about which of the three brands of cochlear implants to go with is a tough one. Most surgical centers do all three and the surgeon often expects the patient to decide which route to go. I suggest asking a lot of questions of the audiologist and the surgeon if you have a chance to talk to him/her. There are good reports about all three brands. People who have gone the CI route with success will tell you that theirs is the best one.

I strongly believe in peer support groups that meet to discuss this kind of thing. HLAA has many of them that relate to CIs, but they are generally 'chapter specific', meaning they are located where a chapter is. The Wisconsin chapter I belong to has a non brand specific cochlear implant discussion group that has decided to continue to meet via Zoom, rather than in person. By so doing, people who don't live in the chapter's region can participate. Sometimes there are many participants and other times only a few. Nevertheless, the conversation is interesting. People who have CIs will discuss their thoughts and ideas. People who are considering them can ask questions. If you might be interested in participating in this group's July discussion group, you can personal message me and I will send you the e-mail address to get on the announcement list. Those meetings are held the 3rd Tuesday evening of the month at 6 PM CT.

Other HLAA chapters do this too, but I only have information from the one in Appleton WI.

You may want to go to http://www.hearingloss.org/chapters to find a chapter in your vicinity,