Re: new here, and nervous

[Guest guest]

Hal,

First - Welcome to CI Hear. This is exactly where you should be to get the type

of information you are seeking. Second - Congratulations on your candidacy for

the CI. We all understand the scary feeling that accompanies this decision but

I doubt you can give yourself a better gift than the gift of restored hearing

thru a cochlear implant.

Most people take about two weeks off work when they have the surgery but very

often, feel up to returning to work in just a few days. This is not a difficult

surgery for most and unless you are having bilateral surgery, you will still

have the use of the HA in the ear that is not implanted so you will likely have

just about as much sound as you have now. Once you have the CI activated, you

will probably realize more sound and better understanding than you have noticed

in a very long time. It does take the brain a little while to adjust sometimes

but your lipreading skills should be vastly improved immediately. 3-5 months is

more like the period of time it takes to aquire better skills like phone, music

and hearing without lipreading. You are about to improve your ability to hear

drastically and your on the job duties will likely become much easier than what

you are dealing with right now.

The CT Scans are not invasive and very easy to do. The surgery now takes

approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours and is often done on an outpatient basis. For a

few days, you may want to take it easy but not necessarily. We have people on

this list that have walked out of the hospital the same day and gone out to

dinner. It just depends on how you personally feel and what your doctor

recommends. We can give you tips to help with recovery as you get closer. Stay

close to this list as we are here to help. We know it can be scary but promise

you that it's worth every bit of the effort you make to do this.

What CI Center are you going to and who is your doctor?

Alice

[Guest guest]

> Hal,

>

>Thank you, I've never visited a forum like this as I'm always busy.

I had the audio test performed ay oshu (Portland Oregon. The scans

will be next week at ST. s Hospital (Portland) My Dr.'s

McMenomey. I praying i'll be one of those people that go right back

to work with little dizzyness. I'm a diehard worker and push myself

hard.

First - Welcome to CI Hear. This is exactly where you should be to

get the type of information you are seeking. Second -

Congratulations on your candidacy for the CI. We all understand the

scary feeling that accompanies this decision but I doubt you can

give yourself a better gift than the gift of restored hearing thru a

cochlear implant.

>

> Most people take about two weeks off work when they have the

surgery but very often, feel up to returning to work in just a few

days. This is not a difficult surgery for most and unless you are

having bilateral surgery, you will still have the use of the HA in

the ear that is not implanted so you will likely have just about as

much sound as you have now. Once you have the CI activated, you

will probably realize more sound and better understanding than you

have noticed in a very long time. It does take the brain a little

while to adjust sometimes but your lipreading skills should be

vastly improved immediately. 3-5 months is more like the period of

time it takes to aquire better skills like phone, music and hearing

without lipreading. You are about to improve your ability to hear

drastically and your on the job duties will likely become much

easier than what you are dealing with right now.

>

> The CT Scans are not invasive and very easy to do. The surgery

now takes approximately 1 1/2 to 2 hours and is often done on an

outpatient basis. For a few days, you may want to take it easy but

not necessarily. We have people on this list that have walked out

of the hospital the same day and gone out to dinner. It just

depends on how you personally feel and what your doctor recommends.

We can give you tips to help with recovery as you get closer. Stay

close to this list as we are here to help. We know it can be scary

but promise you that it's worth every bit of the effort you make to

do this.

>

> What CI Center are you going to and who is your doctor?

>

> Alice

>

>

>

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Hal,

Welcome to the CI Hear forum. This is a great place to ask away on

any questions. I joined back on June 2004. Had my surgery on July

12th and was activated on August 4th. What an increadible journey it

has been for me. Probably the best thing I ever did next to having

my family.

Your Cat Scan is going to be very simple. It lasted 5 minutes and

was back to work within the hour. For the surgery you will need

aproximatly 10 days to 2 weeks for recovery. Check with your boss

about getting medical leave for 2 weeks. This should not be a

problem and you might want to consider having the surgery done while

you kids are on vacation at one of your relatives. This will give

you the time you need and not to worry about them while you recover.

I felt well enough in 10 days to go back to work.

When your CI gets activated you will be shocked at first because you

will hear alot of noise that will not make much sense. It will take

a couple of days for you to finally pick up stuff you are familiar

with. But that's only the beginning. EVERYDAY there is an

improvment. It also depends on how much experience you had listening

as you grew up. The more experience you have understanding sounds

the faster it is for you to hear and understand things with your CI.

I had 110 db hearing lose in both ears before my implants. Now I

have 20 to 30 db in both ears. I lost all my high frequency sounds

and I got it all back at 20 db. I'm hearing so much more than I ever

did in my life and you will be going through the same thing.

Some of the things I'm able to do now and wasn't able to before the

implant were: Listen and understand the talk shows on the radio in

my car, hear new sounds in songs I knew by heart and finding out

there were other sounds in it too. This makes music better for me. I

can talk on the phone to people now. I can hear the clock ticking,

the car signaller ticking, the crickets outside at night. (they are

so loud) I can hear my dog in the house with his dog tags rattling

downstairs. This list can go on forever.

Don't worry too much. I was exactly the same as you when I started

off. I was nervous and had many questions. Everyone here has gone

through the same thing you did. You will get so much help here. Good

luck to you.

Tad

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/23/2004 5:31:27 PM Pacific Daylight Time,

satodd59@... writes:

For those of you who work, how many

days did you take off from work after the surgery?

it vary.........i was back on my normal self the next day,,, even drove my

car less than 24 hours after surgery,,, everyone is different,, only YOU know

what you can do.

Lee

[Guest guest]

Hello Hal,

It's great to have you on and it's one of the best places

you'll find to get information from those who have traveled the path

before you.

The reason the scans are done is to make sure there are no

abnormalities in the ear that would prevent you from having the

surgery; it's painless and doesn't take much time.

Once you have all the scans you will meet to decide which will be

the best ear to be implanted (this is a decision you and your

surgeon or ci team will decide) Some don't have a ci team and they

work with the surgeon and the audiologist.

Although no one can predict whether you will have immediate success

when you are activated (this is approx. 4 weeks after surgery) If

you have some hearing left,there's a possibility you would be able

to understand speech right off the bat as I was, others take some

time, but most are able to work during that learning process.

I hope you are one of those fortunate who has no dizziness and have

a very short recovery period.

If you go to the left and check our links section you may find some

very useful information. Our files section also contains some useful

materials for you to browse if you have time.<smiles>

Please feel free to ask us any questions you may have and know that

we will be here for you whenever needed.

Where are you going to be implanted?(as in what area are you from)

wishing you all the best.

Warm Regards,

Silly MI

In , " halmcclendon " <chmwash@h...> wrote:

> Hello, My name is Hal & I've been accepted for a ci, I go in for

the

> scans next week. I'm looking for feedback on what to expect I wear

> ha's in both ears now and can not hear too good with them anymore.

I

> have a management position at work. I am the sole provider for my

> son and fiance. I can not afford to miss much work and loose my

> hearing for 3-5 months during the learning process. Hope that

gievs

> you all alittle bit of info. Whats next to expect during the scans-

> surgery-recovery??

> Thanks Hal

[Guest guest]

This is the first time I've heard of people taking two weeks off work

after surgery. Most of the people I asked when I was doing research

only took two to three days off. For those of you who work, how many

days did you take off from work after the surgery? I'm having my

surgery in two weeks and only planned to take a few days off work.

However, I did apply for short term disability just in case.

Regards,

Sam

[Guest guest]

Hi Sam,

We try to advise that people take 2 weeks so we feel that they will

be totally back to normal but many people who have the implant don't

take two weeks. Some go back in as few as 2 to 3 days. As easy as

the surgery has become, I see no problem with a few days for

recouperation so please try not to worry about it. I'm sure you'll

know how you feel and if you think you need more time you can take

that short term disability. Most doctors recommend 6 weeks after any

surgery but the last I heard from a CI surgeon was a week to 10

days.

Did you ask your doctor?

Alice

> This is the first time I've heard of people taking two weeks off

work

> after surgery. Most of the people I asked when I was doing

research

> only took two to three days off. For those of you who work, how

many

> days did you take off from work after the surgery? I'm having my

> surgery in two weeks and only planned to take a few days off

work.

> However, I did apply for short term disability just in case.

>

> Regards,

> Sam

>

>

[Guest guest]

Sam:

I'm one of those who took just two days off from " work " both times I had my

implants. I felt great and even went on my treadmill the day after surgery!

But really a lot of people out there experience nausea, dizziness, vertigo,

and balance problems. My wife was one - she went back to work two weeks

after her surgery and she was still doggone sick! It actually took her

abbot six months to get over her balance problems.

Jeff

Re: new here, and nervous

>

> This is the first time I've heard of people taking two weeks off work

> after surgery. Most of the people I asked when I was doing research

> only took two to three days off. For those of you who work, how many

> days did you take off from work after the surgery? I'm having my

> surgery in two weeks and only planned to take a few days off work.

> However, I did apply for short term disability just in case.

>

> Regards,

> Sam

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

I really needed to be in bed for about 4 days after my surgery. It took 10

days for me to feel like myself again but the first 4 days I couldn't do too

much.

N24C

9/28/00

In a message dated 9/23/2004 8:31:24 PM Eastern Standard Time,

satodd59@... writes:

This is the first time I've heard of people taking two weeks off work

after surgery. Most of the people I asked when I was doing research

only took two to three days off. For those of you who work, how many

days did you take off from work after the surgery? I'm having my

surgery in two weeks and only planned to take a few days off work.

However, I did apply for short term disability just in case.

Regards,

Sam

[Guest guest]

Hi Alice (and everyone who answered my question),

I asked the audiologist who said that most people are fully functional

after 2 to 3 days. He said that most people wait until after the

staples are removed 10 days after the surgery. He said it is up to me

when to go back to work.

Regards,

Sam

11 days and counting to implantation