Re: Digest Number 4972

[Guest guest]

Hi Ed:

Hope you are still reading on this site, I tried to reply to you separately but

address posted below is no longer active (!)

I am now 59 yrs old, and work in healthcare field.

I have progressive sensorineural hearing loss (plus perhaps some other factors

that affected my hearing in childhood). My right ear became totally deaf at

some point, probably in my 30s. I had bad tinnitus on that side since age 10.

Was implanted with AB in 2003, the tinnitus lasted for a bit post op (even

intensified briefly for a couple days), then went totally away! What a great

" side effect. " At that time, surgery was more involved than it is now, and I

had some dizziness for about 3 wks. I was activated at 1mo and comprehended

90% in quiet 3 wks post activation so back to work I went. The post activation

process was absolutely wonderful, I savored every moment because hearing

anything at all on that side was absolutely wonderful. Comprehension improved

rapidly over time, but hearing in noise was an ongoing problem, less than with

hearing aids but still crummy (assistive listening devices helped a lot in

meetings, restaurants etc) Overall the CI was a miracle and saved my career,

sanity & personal life. The majority of post lingually deafened patients hear

much better (not perfectly or normally, but significantly better)

Since I wanted MORE of that (especially to be able to hear better in noise and

to hear coworkers speaking from the other non CI side), I got second AB CI in

Jan of this year. This time surgery was a snap (especially since I asked for

reduced anesthesia meds to help me with faster recovery and to reduce nausea).

There was some pain but no biggie. I was back to work 5 days later, activated 2

wks later. I started comprehending some words pretty soon, and am improving

significantly over time. It is not as fast this time because I am very busy and

do not take as much time to practice with new CI alone as I did the first

time--this seems to be a common situation for those of us with CI number 2,

someone else told me last wk that she isn't willing to lower her hearing (reduce

her hearing comfort level) during the day. But we both acknowledge that if we

had to get by on the new CI alone, we would improve even more. It is a

testimony to how well we have done with our first CIs as we are active and often

too busy (in a normal way) to stop for practice!

I have been extremely happy with my AB CIs. Despite my regular above the water

(!) active outdoor lifestyle, involving exposure to high humidity, rain, lots of

sweat, my CI has never been affected. It even kept working last year when I was

in the tropics, the only problem I had was when streaming sweat once blocked

the t mic (along with a bit of dust that was in tmic). My hearing aids stopped

working all the time in high humidity so this has been terrific.

Each CI brand has attractive features and the decision is a difficult & personal

one. I wish you the best on this journey, & we all look fwd to hearing how it

goes for you. Write again if you have any other questions.

Deborah

________________________________

From: " " < >

Sent: Mon, August 23, 2010 11:08:04 AM

Subject: Digest Number 4972

Miracles Happen - Hearing Is Restored

Messages In This Digest (1 Message)

1.1.

Re: Hello From: Kinsella View All Topics | Create New Topic

Message

1.1.

Re: Hello

Posted by: " Kinsella " jmkinsella55@... jmkinsella55

Mon Aug 23, 2010 8:05 am (PDT)

Glad to be of some help Ed. Best of luck to you as you make your decision

toward which product to go with, and the surgery. I hope you will stay in touch

with us and let us know how it goes. We always welcome news on how

people surgery went, how their activation progess is going, etc.

You are right, all three will do the job, but each of them have their own

features that will meet an individual's needs. My sister has the Med-El...she

wanted that one because she didn't want to have to fiddle with changing

programs, and she wanted something with a smaller processor to fit behind her

small ears. So each of us have our own needs and expectations, and the beauty

is that there are three different companies we can choose from to meet our

needs.

I'm intrigued by your work history. If you are willing to share, I would enjoy

hearing from you. You can email me directly at jmkinsella55.

Otherwise, best of luck to you!

____________ _________ _________ __

From: edwardharan <edwardharan>

groups (DOT) com

Sent: Sat, August 21, 2010 10:43:05 PM

Subject: Re: Hello

...

Thanks for the post! That is great information. Being a former big 4 partner, I

completely understand where you were regarding work and I'm at that point

myself. I'm partners in a boutique IT consulting firm and it's really hurting me

not to be able to hear.

Reading what you experienced is giving me some comfort around what will happen

after the implant and over what time frame. My " hope " is that my implanted ear

will pick up the hearing quickly.

I've been leaning toward AB for the technology and software along with

clearvoice however, I do quite a bit of boating and water activity so that's a

consideration.

From what I'm reading, they all are very similar. It seems to come down to the

features.

Thanks again!!!

> >

> > > I have had MM for the past 20 years and I'm completely deaf in the left

>ear.

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> > >Recently, as in a year ago, it went bi-latteral and rapidly took over my

>right

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> > >ear. HA's don't work well if at all due to distortion.

> > >

> > > Anyway, the CI route seems to be the best option for me for the left ear

>and

>

>

> > >I'm on here to read and learn.

> >

> > > Ed

> >

> >

> >

> >

> >

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> >