Your opinions needed please

April 3, 2006

Hi All

I hope some of you may remember me and my son . We are from

Perth Western Australia and has bilateral implants. He is

now 12 yrs old. he had his first op in March 97 when he was 3 and

that implant is extremely successful. His second one was in March

2003 and after 3 years of persevering we have come to a time when we

are seriously considering not wearing the proccessor and letting

have a break. There are a few reasons for this, his age

(puberty) the possibility of another operation on his feet and 6

weeks of plaster casting and the fact that he is really resenting

that he is trying hard and getting nowhere. Even though there has

been a small amount of progress it seems he takes one step forward

and two steps back with this second implant.

My main question is does anybody know of anyone who has had a second

(or first)implant in an ear that has had no stimulation for many

years yet still gone on to have success? We are wondering what might

happen if stops using the second implant now but down the

track sometime decides to give it another go. We are thinking he may

have a more positive attitude if it is a decision he makes for

himself when he feels he is ready for the amount of work required and

understands that it is not going to be an instant fix. He was

expecting the second one to sound as good as the first at switch on

and was bitterly dissappointed.

I am hoping someone may have some feedback for us.

Thank you

Kathy mum to N22 Mar97 N24 Mar03

April 4, 2006

Hi Kathy,

Have you ruled out all possibilities that there may be a failure or problem

with the internal device?

There are a number of things that can happen, including the electrode moving

out of proper placement, electrodes failing, and the whole thing being

sporadic due to moisture.

If you browse the FDA database of reported failures in the USA, you'll find

that these things have happened with all 3 brands.

Get a cat scan to make sure the device is still placed properly in the

cochlea, keep a log of the problems, work with your audiologist to get the

right map, and do the appropriate diagnostics with a mfg rep if you haven't

already.

My daughter received her first implant in Sep 98 at 2.5 and got her second

this last December - she is now 10, and her audiogram last week placed the

new ear right through the middle of the speech banana.

In February it wasn't even close.

So yes, after 10yrs with no stimulation, an ear can succeed quite well with

an implant.

It may very well be something besides an atrophied cochlea.

Steve

Dad to Addy- Clarion 1.2 Sep 98, BiCi HR90k Dec 05

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From: " kathysk2001 " <kathysk2001@...>

Subject: Your opinions needed please