Cochlear Implant Activation

[Guest guest]

Hello Everyone,

Well.having been implanted on 28 October, I have now been hooked up and

switched on. My activation occurred on Thursday, 23 November. I had a

second mapping on 30 November, and will have my third mapping on 14/12.

The activation went pretty much as I expected. Having not heard through

my left ear for 38 years, my expectations were low. My audiologist

mapped (programmed) 19 of my 22 fully-inserted electrodes. The remaining

3 electrodes (the highest frequency ones) were mapped but not switched

on as it was not considered useful to do so. The dynamic range recorded

for these 3 electrodes (between the softest and loudest tomes I

indicated could hear / feel) was extremely small, and as such it was

decided I would not get much benefit from having them mapped and

switched on at this stage. We will map and activate these electrodes

later.

As each electrode's dynamic range was set by me with my audiologist I

marveled at being able to hear / feel " beeps " sent to the implant from

my audiologist's laptop. They were extremely faint at first, but rose in

intensity after the softest (higher frequency) tones I could hear were

" set " . I smiled. My wife, , smiled too as electrode was mapped.

Then..switch on..all 19 electrodes switch on as one. I felt the

electrical current suddenly stimulate my auditory nerve and what did I

happily hear.not beeps and squeals.but what I would describe as " very

soft ringing bells " . It was a happy moment.I had some small hearing

sensations in my left ear again! I had a big grin on my face. No tears,

just a warm buzz. It was a little painful at first, but we turned the

stimulation down a bit to a comfortable level. Volume was set at 4 for

my first mapping, and increased to 6 at my second mapping. I have one of

two programs set on my 3G speech processor.

At my second mapping, I was able to hear / feel softer and louder

" beeps " and thus increase the dynamic range on each electrode.

So..that's progress! And I'm happy with it! I've worn the implant (and

my hearing aid in my right ear) as much as I can post-activation. The

" bells " are a " background " sound to me at the moment, but not

interfering with my overall hearing too much. I do not consider the

" ringing bells " to be tinnitus, which I have never had. The " ringing "

sensation seems to come through only when sounds occur around me - it is

not a constant " ringing " . I am hoping that over time my brain will begin

to recognise these " soft bell " sensations for the sounds that they are,

and my overall hearing will improve in little leaps (is that baby

steps?). I am certainly not hearing clear environmental sounds and

speech with the implant alone at this early stage. In fact, the

faintness of the sensations I am hearing is such that when I have my

hearing aid " off " , I do not seem to be hearing any significant suite of

new sounds through my left implanted ear. But after 38 years of profound

deafness, I'm not surprised and am happy to take it slowly. It is very

early days as far as I am concerned and far from being discouraged, I am

confident that with patience and perseverance, my cochlear implanted

hearing will improve substantially over the months and years ahead. My

surgeon and audiologist are happy with my progress. And I am too.

I will keep you posted with my progress.

Cheers,

Dearness

N24C 28/10/04

Activation: 23/11/04

[Guest guest]

Wow, , what a happy hook up day you had! I'm so glad you shared it with

us! I remember having a lot of noise in my head, too, each time someone

talked or something was making noise the first month or so of my hook up. I

didn't even know how to describe all that noise in my head at the time; but I

like

your description of " very soft ringing bells " . You are so right in thinking

that your brain just needs time to figure out what all that noise is. With

time and more mappings, it should keep getting better for you.

Congratulations on a happy hook up day! Continued success to you!

Patti

Surgery Day 11/25/02 (What A Day!)

Hook Up Day BWP 1/2/03 (A Happy Day!)

3G 1/31/03 (An Even Happier Day!)

[Guest guest]

tim

This is really Terrific news.  I'm so happy to hear that you are hearing.

Keep us posted.

Have a great day!

Debbie Cole

[Guest guest]

Tim, rest assured that changing programs on the behind-the-ear model is not

cumbersome. (It's just a little lever with 3 positions, like my old

hearing aid had.) The advantage of the body-worn processor is that you

can look down and see the dial as you are changing the programs, whereas

with the behind-the-ear model, you are doing it by touch (like a hearing

aid). And with the body-worn processor, it is more discreet to jump

between programs for sampling purposes if the device is at your waist than

it is to put your hand up to your ear to change it. I had 1 processor with

a slightly-stiff program lever. It does loosen up with use. However, if

it is very rigid, then try your backup processor or ask for a replacement

because the lever should not be difficult to flip while it is on the ear.