Re: I am trying to decide whether to have the CI surgery or not- HELP

[Guest guest]

Hi Taryn:

There's a couple of teachers at least on this site with CIs. I'm one and so

is .

Two years ago my hearing dropped overnight after a long gradual decline that

HA's had been able to help with. It was right at the beginning of summer

break so my surgeon did the tests and got the insurance approval and I had the

surgery at the beginning of the next school year. I had lots of sick leave so I

had the surgery, waited a month for hook-up and tried to figure out the new

sounds for two weeks before going back to teaching. I used 6 weeks of leave.

The hearing with the CI works but it's very different from my old hearing.

If the HA's can be made to work for you, I sure don't recommend getting the CI.

You'd probably do better than I tho because you get some sounds from the

other ear whereas mine is pretty useless.

I have trouble in settings with lots of commotion--teachers' meetings,

restaurants etc. Since my hearing with HAs had become so poor, the CI was better

than HAs the first day I got hooked up to the microphone. The testing is done

in

a hearing booth and on sentences I got scores of 90% tho on single words it

was closer to 40% but sometimes in reality I don't get 90%--it's hard to tell.

I'll hear 9 of 10 words but it's the 10th word that is essential. Like

" Did you hear what & %@# did at school last night? " An audiologist will say

I got 90% but I'd say I missed the whole thing.

Anyway, you're not alone--there are other teachers trying to cope with the

same problem.

Hal

[Guest guest]

Taryn,

Welcome to CI hear, I hope we can give you enough information to

help you with your ci decision here.

First thing you should do is to consult with an audiologist who

specializes in cochlear implants; get an evaluation, and see if you

do qualify for a ci.

Levels of hearing must be...60% or less speech discrimination in the

best aided ear.

3 months might not give you enough time to get the ci, be activated,

and be performing at a level that would allow you to return to

teaching, unless you were one of the very fortunate ones who is

approved by insurance immediately and you have immediate success

upon activation.

Some people are able to return to work about 2 weeks after surgery,

but they will not have been activated yet. Activation takes place

approximately 1 month after surgery and there will be several

mappings(adjustments) to go through in the first year.

While you don't have to be completely deaf to get the ci, you do

need to meet the criteria in order to have it done.

The level of performance can't be grouped into 1 month, 2 month, etc

because every single person has a different experience with the ci.

I was one of the very lucky ones who had immediate success and was

able to hear well right after activation. I perform at about 95%

speech discrimination in quiet now and slightly lower in noise.. a

complete reversal from what I was pre ci, but many people take

months to years to get to peak performance.

I spent one night in the hospital, some go home the same day, and I

had my bandage removed before I went home. Stitches came out about 8

days after my surgery.

My advice would be to see certified ci audiologist first then go

from there.

Please feel free to contact me with any questions you may have..

either here on the forum or privately.

Warm regards,

Silly MI

I too am progressively hearing impaired, but i was to the point

where I called myself deaf because I only had 5% overall speech

discrimination at the time I was implanted. I now function as mildly

hearing impaired and i do well in both noise and quiet, although

noise is a bit more difficult.

[Guest guest]

Hi Taryn,

I am also a teacher and the implant has helped me to get a job as a

teacher trainer! Next year I hope to be a mentor. Anyway, I will try to answer

your questions below:

In a message dated 5/23/2004 9:54:04 PM Eastern Standard Time,

tarynbriggs@... writes:

1. How long after hook-up did most of you return to work.

A: I was implanted on September 28 of 2000, hooked up on October 26/27 and

went back to work the second week of November

2. When did you feel you were hearing at at least the same level as

when you had heraing aids?

A: When I started to really understand speech, it far surpassed my hearing

aids. It was like an all or nothing thing.

3. Do CI help with noisy environments or just quiet environments.

A: BOTH

4. I rely highly on lip reading can you hear after CI without lip

reading?

A: I can but not 100% of the time

5. Most videos I have seen only people with deafness have gone

through with the surgery. Have people with hard of hearing loss just

calling themselves deaf because we struggle so hard to hear in

certain situations or should I wait until I go deaf to have the

surgery?

A; I was teaching up until the day before my surgery

6. How long do you wear bandage after surgery? When can you swin

after sugery?

A: My bandage was off after 2 days. I don't know about the swimming, that

would be a question for the surgeon.

& . Are there any good web sites with actual data about the levels of

hearing loss before the implants and where people are hearing at the

1 month mark, 2 month mark, etc?

A: That would be the type of thing that the forum members could share with

you. But that doesn't mean that you can take thier data and apply it to

yourself. We all work at our own individual pace and I don't believe it can be

forced. Helped along but not really forced.

Thanks for all of your words of wisdom and expertise.

I will send you my journal, is that ok?

[Guest guest]

Hi,

I was in a situation very similar to yours. My hearing loss started

about 3 years ago. Slowly but steadily I lost the ability to hear. A

year ago I had reached the point ot being able to understand 50-60%

speech using my HA's and in perfect conditions. In the real world it

didn't amount to understanding much at all, and I was relying more

and more on sign lauguage interpreters.

> I have bilateral progressive hearing loss. I am a teacher and

hear

> pretty well when I am faced with small group instruction and

> conversation. However, background noise, conventions, parties,

large

> meetings, and resteraunts are hard for me.

It was exactly the same for me.

> But I have many questions I am hoping people can

> answer.

> 1. How long after hook-up did most of you return to work.

I was off for about 3 weeks, but I honestly could have returned to

work within a few days. My surgery was just before Christmas; I had

use-lose leave to burn up; I was exhausted- so I had a good excuse

to take it easy for a few days. :-)

> 2. When did you feel you were hearing at at least the same level

>as

> when you had heraing aids?

I needed about a month. It was VERY different at first, and quite

challenging. But after the first month things really were great.

Since then it's only gotten better.

> 3. Do CI help with noisy environments or just quiet environments.

The CI definitely helps in noisy places, but they're still a

challenge for me. Depends on the particular environment. I say

without a shadow of a doubt that I can hear better in n oise with my

CI then I could with my hearing aids.

> 4. I rely highly on lip reading can you hear after CI without lip

> reading?

YES!!!!! :-)

> 5. Most videos I have seen only people with deafness have gone

> through with the surgery. Have people with hard of hearing loss

just

> calling themselves deaf because we struggle so hard to hear in

> certain situations or should I wait until I go deaf to have the

> surgery?

When I had surgery I still could manage about 50% speech

recognition. I was a borderline implant candidate. I pushed for the

CI because it was easy to see things were getting worse and I

believed it would be easier to adapt to artifical hearing before I

went totally deaf. I'm only speaking for myself, but from what I can

tell I made the correct decision.

Dealing with the hearing world had gotten very difficult for me.

I'm well educated, and I'm accustomed to thinking fast and dealing

with changing circumstances. I'd just about run out of steam and

patience with being deaf. Deafness had gone from being a

inconvenience to being a total pain in the butt. I think if I had

struggled along until I went totally deaf, and THEN had to struggle

for a while getting accustomed to the CI I'd have probably ended up

fired, divorced, and in a mental hospital.

> 6. How long do you wear bandage after surgery?

About 3 days from what I can remember.

>When can you swin

> after sugery?

I'm guessing after everything is completely healed again? Really

not sure!

> & . Are there any good web sites with actual data about the levels

of

> hearing loss before the implants and where people are hearing at

the

> 1 month mark, 2 month mark, etc?

Not sure of web sites.

For myself...I went through some aural rehab this spring. At the 5

month mark I was able to understand (using only the implant) 90%+ of

sentences with the sentences at 60dB and noise at 50dB.

To say the least, I've been really happy with the results I've

gotten so far. :-)

Hope I've provided some answers you're searching for. If you have

other questions please ask. On the forum or privately is Ok.

-Jeff

Clarion 90K & Auria & Hi-Res 12/03