Hi...This is my story

[Guest guest]

Alice asked me to share my story of going bilateral.

I hang out at the Nucleus Forum and the EZBoard (chat room for New

England CI'ers) and serve as an officer of the Minute Man Cochlear Club

in the Boston area. We are the largest CI club in USA (233 members) and

host the bi-annual retreat in Sturbridge, MA...thanks to Larry Orloff,

the founder of this club and has worked hard as former Cochlear Implant

International Club magazine editor.

I was born profoundly deaf right after WW II and was brought up as an

oralist. I was mainstreamed at the age of 12 and went to RIT, studying

Biology and Social Work, and learned the sign language there. I

currently work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, raising cold water

fish for restoration in the New England watershed. I learned of the CI

technology in the late 80's and I was still doing fine with both of my

HAs. I would be giving tours of my workplace with visiting public,

standing close to them and lipreading them. It wasn't a noisy place, so

I was doing all right then. I also manned a booth at local sportsman

show, answering public's questions about our fishery program.

I got remarried to a childhood friend, who had a N22 implanted in '91,

and I was not interested in what she had. I got transferred to another

fishery station the following year, where it was much noisier. I hadn't

realize that I was losing more of my hearing...it had dropped to 110-115

DBL loss. I started having problems understanding the visiting public's

questions, so I tried the new digital HAs and they only gave me

headaches from feedbacks...no auditory benefits. My morale at work was

suffering from miscommunication with co-workers and my work performance

rating dropped. That was no longer acceptable, so I decided to go for

the N24C.

I had my first CI surgery at Umass Medical Center in Worcester, MA on

May,2002. My initial mapping was overwhelming as I was hearing some of

the high frequencies that I had never heard in my life. I had tears of

joy in my eyes when I realized I was hearing new sounds that was loud

and clear. When I stepped outside, I could hear the birds singing, but

not the the nearby busy traffic. I could no longer hear the low

frequencies which I was accustomed to hearing with my old HAs. It took

me quite a few months before I could get some of the low frequencies

back with my new CI. I would play familiar musical tapes over and over

again until I could recognize and imprint in my head the missing low

frequencies. That technique helped me find that bass sounds I had always

enjoyed as a kid. It took me at least 3 months before I was able to

follow most of the conversations at work with lipreading.

I continued to give tours of the fish hatchery to the public and I could

hear the voices of the children, but I could not comprehend them over

the loud splashing sounds of the heavy water flow into the fish pools. I

had to rely on the teachers to mouth the questions for me. I was also

missing out on localizing the sounds as I have always worn HA in both

ears since the age of 8. I had heard of the bilateral study that was

being done at the NYU hospital and then decided to look going bilateral

for myself.

My CI surgeon enthusiastically wrote a good letter to the Blue Cross

insurance co., emphasising the quality of life I would be leading as a

bilaterally implanted. He also pointed out that I would be gainfully

employed and not be placed on welfare if I was able to fullfill my job

requirement, including give tours to the visiting public and be aware of

safety hazards around the job site. In my own letter to the BC insurance

co., I emphasised that I be able to localize the warning alarm of the

large fish distribution truck backing up, be able to understand the

visiting public's questions in the noisy environment and hear the

dialogue of coworkers out in the fish pools. I was quickly approved for

my second CI.

I received my second CI exactly one year after my first CI surgery. When

I stepped out of the audiologist's office, I replayed the same scene

from the previous year's fist hook-up, and this time I could hear both

the bird singing and the traffic noise. As I drive home, I randomly

played with the electric windows of my car and gleefully was able to

localize the sounds with both of my CI on.

The bilateral sounds are richer and more complete. Withis five minutes,

I knew I had made the right decision and hoped all other CI users could

be in my shoes with this marvelous experience. The audiologist gave me

the Ling test right after the second mapping and I got every sound

correct, something I just couldn't do last year. I have been buying CD

and play them, hard-wired to my body worn processor. I wear my BTE to

work.

My speech has cleared up considerably when I could hear myself speaking.

I am able to turn down the volume of TV considerably, to my wife and

son's joy. I am able to hear the beep of the oven timer from upstairs. I

am able to detect the direction of airplanes flying overhead. I usaully

am able to understand the visiting school children's questions

unassisted during the tour of the fish hatchery. I am working more

efficiently with my co-workers.

Jarlath Crowe, Bi-N24C, 5/'02 & '03

Born Profoundly Deaf

[Guest guest]

Jarlath-- Welcome to . You will find tremendous support here!!! And

there are quite a few bilaterals here.

Snoopy ( I think you can guess who it is)

[Guest guest]

Jarlath,

I just want to thank you for sharing your wonderful story on the list. We are

so glad to have you here. You give inspiration to so many who question the

success of the device and/or bilaterals. You sincerely have a success story to

tell.

Thanks. Now, what is this EZ Board chat for New England CI'ers. Am I

disqualified because I moved?

Once a Rhode Islander - Always one you know!

<smile>

Alice

----- Original Message -----

From: Jarlath Crowe

Alice asked me to share my story of going bilateral.

I hang out at the Nucleus Forum and the EZBoard (chat room for New

England CI'ers) and serve as an officer of the Minute Man Cochlear Club

in the Boston area.

[Guest guest]

Jarlath,

It's good to have you here on and to have you share your

experiences with the group here.

I'm sure several people will be able to identify with your

hesitation at getting your ci and you are certainly an inspiration

to us.

So glad to have you here and I hope you enjoy your time here.

Thanks for joining us.

Have a great weekend.

Silly MI

In , " Jarlath Crowe " <jarlath.w.crowe@v...>

wrote:

> Alice asked me to share my story of going bilateral.

>

> I hang out at the Nucleus Forum and the EZBoard (chat room for New

> England CI'ers) and serve as an officer of the Minute Man Cochlear

Club

> in the Boston area. We are the largest CI club in USA (233

members) and

> host the bi-annual retreat in Sturbridge, MA...thanks to Larry

Orloff,

> the founder of this club and has worked hard as former Cochlear

Implant

> International Club magazine editor.

>

> I was born profoundly deaf right after WW II and was brought up as

an

> oralist. I was mainstreamed at the age of 12 and went to RIT,

studying

> Biology and Social Work, and learned the sign language there. I

> currently work for the US Fish and Wildlife Service, raising cold

water

> fish for restoration in the New England watershed. I learned of

the CI

> technology in the late 80's and I was still doing fine with both

of my

> HAs. I would be giving tours of my workplace with visiting public,

> standing close to them and lipreading them. It wasn't a noisy

place, so

> I was doing all right then. I also manned a booth at local

sportsman

> show, answering public's questions about our fishery program.

>

> I got remarried to a childhood friend, who had a N22 implanted

in '91,

> and I was not interested in what she had. I got transferred to

another

> fishery station the following year, where it was much noisier. I

hadn't

> realize that I was losing more of my hearing...it had dropped to

110-115

> DBL loss. I started having problems understanding the visiting

public's

> questions, so I tried the new digital HAs and they only gave me

> headaches from feedbacks...no auditory benefits. My morale at work

was

> suffering from miscommunication with co-workers and my work

performance

> rating dropped. That was no longer acceptable, so I decided to go

for

> the N24C.

>

> I had my first CI surgery at Umass Medical Center in Worcester, MA

on

> May,2002. My initial mapping was overwhelming as I was hearing

some of

> the high frequencies that I had never heard in my life. I had

tears of

> joy in my eyes when I realized I was hearing new sounds that was

loud

> and clear. When I stepped outside, I could hear the birds singing,

but

> not the the nearby busy traffic. I could no longer hear the low

> frequencies which I was accustomed to hearing with my old HAs. It

took

> me quite a few months before I could get some of the low

frequencies

> back with my new CI. I would play familiar musical tapes over and

over

> again until I could recognize and imprint in my head the missing

low

> frequencies. That technique helped me find that bass sounds I had

always

> enjoyed as a kid. It took me at least 3 months before I was able to

> follow most of the conversations at work with lipreading.

>

> I continued to give tours of the fish hatchery to the public and I

could

> hear the voices of the children, but I could not comprehend them

over

> the loud splashing sounds of the heavy water flow into the fish

pools. I

> had to rely on the teachers to mouth the questions for me. I was

also

> missing out on localizing the sounds as I have always worn HA in

both

> ears since the age of 8. I had heard of the bilateral study that

was

> being done at the NYU hospital and then decided to look going

bilateral

> for myself.

>

> My CI surgeon enthusiastically wrote a good letter to the Blue

Cross

> insurance co., emphasising the quality of life I would be leading

as a

> bilaterally implanted. He also pointed out that I would be

gainfully

> employed and not be placed on welfare if I was able to fullfill my

job

> requirement, including give tours to the visiting public and be

aware of

> safety hazards around the job site. In my own letter to the BC

insurance

> co., I emphasised that I be able to localize the warning alarm of

the

> large fish distribution truck backing up, be able to understand the

> visiting public's questions in the noisy environment and hear the

> dialogue of coworkers out in the fish pools. I was quickly

approved for

> my second CI.

>

> I received my second CI exactly one year after my first CI

surgery. When

> I stepped out of the audiologist's office, I replayed the same

scene

> from the previous year's fist hook-up, and this time I could hear

both

> the bird singing and the traffic noise. As I drive home, I randomly

> played with the electric windows of my car and gleefully was able

to

> localize the sounds with both of my CI on.

>

> The bilateral sounds are richer and more complete. Withis five

minutes,

> I knew I had made the right decision and hoped all other CI users

could

> be in my shoes with this marvelous experience. The audiologist

gave me

> the Ling test right after the second mapping and I got every sound

> correct, something I just couldn't do last year. I have been

buying CD

> and play them, hard-wired to my body worn processor. I wear my BTE

to

> work.

>

> My speech has cleared up considerably when I could hear myself

speaking.

> I am able to turn down the volume of TV considerably, to my wife

and

> son's joy. I am able to hear the beep of the oven timer from

upstairs. I

> am able to detect the direction of airplanes flying overhead. I

usaully

> am able to understand the visiting school children's questions

> unassisted during the tour of the fish hatchery. I am working more

> efficiently with my co-workers.

>

> Jarlath Crowe, Bi-N24C, 5/'02 & '03

> Born Profoundly Deaf