Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 Hi Mel, I am 51 years old, late deaf. I can use the phone with my Clarion BTE with tmic at 100%, I can hear conversation and understand it without lipreading in quiet situations (but in noise I have to lipread), and I can enjoy music as long as it's music I know. I don't care for listening to music that is unfamiliar to me. Being a late-deaf person, I find great joy in listening to the music of my generation (50's, 60's and 70's music). I used to play piano also, and I have a keyboard. She'll enjoy using it again, I think! :-) Cortland NY CII 5/01 check out my hard of hearing/CI homepage: http://www.angelfire.com/ny/tracilee/tracilee4.html PS, once you have a surgery date, let me know, and I'll invite you and/or your wife to the Clarion support group if you want me to! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ----- Original Message ----- From: melski823 My wife is in the process of getting an implant. She is 68 and has had a gradual loss for 30 years and can no longer use the phone or hear conversation, even with the strongest hearing aids. We are planning on getting the clarion and wonder if anyone who has a recent one could tell us of their experiences. Canyou use the phone? Hear conversation? Listen to music? She used to play the piano and keyboard, but now they always sound out of tune. Any information will be greatly appreciated. Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 In a message dated 2/8/2004 5:34:25 AM Pacific Standard Time, melb823@... writes: .. We are planning on getting the clarion and wonder if anyone who has a recent one could tell us of their experiences. Canyou use the phone? Hear conversation? Listen to music? Hi Mel....I have had my Clarion CII for just over 18 months now and am using the new HiRes software. I spent over 30 years in total silence and had a sudden loss at the age of 17. I am 50 now. To answer your questions....yes, I talk on the phone all the time! I have my own cell phone and I would say during the week use the phone 5-6 times a day. I enjoy talking to telemarketers lol!! I help out at my husband's office at times and answer the phone there too! Two weeks ago I participated in a four way conference call that had to be a CI milestone for me! Participating in group conversations is fun and music is bliss...I love the oldies of course, but am branching into new wave music and artists I have never heard before. I like going to and Nobles book store. In the music section you can select a CD and listen to it with headphones before you buy it. If you have not asked for the new Advanced Bionics HiRes video, send for it at info@.... Ask for " Hearing Your Life " , and give them your name and address and they will send you a free copy. I am one of the HiRes users in the video : ) I feel very honored to have been asked to participate in the filming. Learning to hear with a CI takes time and effort and practice. It will take months and months of mappings, work and listening exercises for your wife to get the CI to work to her best potential. I could not recognize voices at first...they sounded like quacking ducks! Now voices sound absolutely normal and I couldn't be happier! Deb H Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 8, 2004 Report Share Posted February 8, 2004 Hi Mel, As her husband, you are very much a part of this CI process your wife is about to undertake. You are going to be amazed at how much this decision will mean in your relationship as some of the neatest stories I have heard have been from the spouses. Congratulations to both of you. There's no way to tell right now how well she will do with her CI but chances are, she will hear on the phone and listen to music - perhaps even play. Many former musicians have returned to their instuments after having the CI. I will have to do some investigation, but there is a website (possibly listserv) of a very professional musician who is implanted. I'll find that and get back to you. Maybe someone else here will beat me to that. As for conversation - the cochlear implant is a speech processor. Conversation is it's very best feature. If she lipreads now, that will help her in adjustment but it should only take a few visits to the audiologist for her to enjoy a full life of conversation which you will truly enjoy as well. It will be like reuniting the two of you and I am hoping to look forward to your messages about that. Please tell her we would love to hear from her. If she has questions for us - we're always ready to answer. Does she have an implant date? Alice From: melski823 My wife is in the process of getting an implant. She is 68 and has had a gradual loss for 30 years and can no longer use the phone or hear conversation, even with the strongest hearing aids. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted February 9, 2004 Report Share Posted February 9, 2004 Hi, I was implanted with the Clarion 90K processor in December last year, and it was activated on 12/29/03. To date I've had the device programmed (mapped) 4 times. I'm 38 and lost my hearing over 2.5 years so I remember really well what things are supposed to sound like. The implant is working wonderfully! I could understand some speech almost immediately (depended on who was speaking and where they were) and after using it for a month I generally can understand any voice in any environment. Definitely works better in quiet places than in really noisey ones, but it's all getting clearer and clearer. Voices initially sounded very robotic and electronic, but that, too, is improving. Some sounds are very natural, others are still somewhat electronic. Along with clarity, sound quality is improving almost every day. Although I still sit where I can see the interpreter at church, this past Sunday I had no trouble understanding the pastor and could understand most of what the music miniter was saying while the music was playing (praise band- fairly loud). Talk radio is generally easy for me to understand when I'm driving. All things considered I'm very pleased with my implant. If it didn't get any better I'd be quite satisfied with what I have right now (only 6 weeks into using this), but from what I can see things should continue to improve. The CI works so much better than my hearing aids there's really no comparison. The Auria processor and headpiece are very light and a no-brainer to use. The rechargeable batteries last me 7 or 8 hours and take a few seconds to change out. Definitely a steep learning curve involved with adapting to artificial hearing, but worth the time and trouble. Hope things work out for you wife! Yours, Jeff Clarion 90K & Auria & Hi-Res 12/03 > My wife is in the process of getting an implant. She is 68 and > has had a gradual loss for 30 years and can no longer use the phone > or hear conversation, even with the strongest hearing aids. We are > planning on getting the clarion and wonder if anyone who has a > recent one could tell us of their experiences. Canyou use the phone? > Hear conversation? Listen to music? She used to play the piano and > keyboard, but now they always sound out of tune. Any information > will be greatly appreciated. > Mel Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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