Let me start by saying that cochlear implants have been around for as long as I was hard of hearing. However, we were told because I benefited from the amplification of a hearing aid, I was not a candidate for a cochlear implant. I was also told that I had 'nerve' damage and would never qualify for a cochlear implant. This of course was over 28 years ago... And now the candidacy for cochlear implants have changed dramatically over the course of years with advanced technology available. If I was now the 4 year old toddler who lost her hearing in today's world, I probably would have been a candidate no questions asked right away. Well maybe not because I did have better than 40% speech comprehension with my hearing aids in both ears. So when people have asked me why I haven't gone to get a cochlear implant, I've always just said 'I am not a candidate for it'. At least to my knowledge anyway... until last month when my local audiologist (I've been with her since I was 4 years old, so I trust her completely) told me I really should look into the cochlear implants. With the hearing in my left ear starting to decrease and my right ear already being 'shot', I agreed with her and had her send in the referral to the specialist in my area. I figured it doesn't hurt to find out if I'm even a candidate and go from there. Besides, I don't want to wait until my world is silent before I did something about it. I want to be able to communicate with my family and friends. I cannot imagine having a complete silent world around, especially with my kids! Let's just say, my local audiologist has recommended that I go find out if I was a candidate since my right ear stopped benefitting from a hearing aid about 9 years ago. And every year, she'd suggest it again. I just always shrugged it off as I thought I was hearing 'well enough' and I honestly didn't think it was worth my time to drive an hour away just to find out I was NOT a candidate.
I have already started on my journey before starting this blog. I had the first cochlear implant audiologist evaluation last week. I was SHOCKED to learn that day that I was a candidate! I never expected them to even tell me I was a candidate at all, I figured I'd have to find a way to communicate with my world by sign in the very near future. The fact the audiologist told me I was a candidate threw me off. I thought the results the audiologist got, would then be transferred to the surgeon who would then determine if I was a candidate. Ok, this opened up a whole new perspective to me and I felt a lot of a overwhelming urge to yell out 'Oh my gosh, are you serious?!' I had heard of cochlear implants, heard that many people do well with them, but had done no research for myself as I had just 'assumed' I was not a candidate, so why bother researching right?
So after the testing, the audiologist showed me the devices they work with for cochlear implantation. I saw what the piece is that would actually be implanted under my skin on my head, just behind my ear. Then the external portion that would be the processor and the 'cap' I'd have to place over where the implant was put and they connect by magnet. We did some Q&As, I brought my mom into the room with me to go over everything as well. I understood everything just fine, but having mom there just made it easier for the audiologist to explain things better than I probably could have explained it. And let's just say I felt a little more at ease by the time we left that maybe this won't be so bad after all. This is NOT a decision to be taken lightly. There are risks involved. There is a lot to think about and consider. But yet, I needed more information yet, I was still very hesitant on this whole cochlear implant idea. How is it possible that this will help me hear better?
The processor I was drawn to immediately JUST came on the market to the US this month. It is very versatile and the first waterproof processor out there. I would not have anything hanging over my ear like a hearing aid with other models. This one has wires (like that of using an iPod) that I can take under my clothes and clip the processor to my pants, bra, whatever. Advanced Bionics Neptune, very impressive unit they have come up with. (If you hadn't picked up on my title of becoming bionic and the name of the manufacturer...Just thought I'd put a lil laugh in here.) And after researching the other options, I'm pretty confident with my choice. I also joined a forum, the Hearing Journey with other people on there that have had cochlear implants, some are still waiting for surgery, or are in the beginning stages like me. They are a wonderful group and have been very encouraging and have given me wonderful advice. It definitely helps to talk with people that have gone through the same thing. I even found someone on there that had the surgery done by the same surgeon I will be having as well as the same audiologist. So there was a big plus right there. He had nothing but positive to say about the clinic.
I will lose ANY residual hearing I have left at all in my right ear by having the implant done (it doesn't benefit from a hearing aid for me to process speech, so its pointless, however, I do hear some 'tones' from it still; I would lose those tones and be completely deaf to that ear). It takes approximately 4 weeks after the implant before activation of your processor. I could NOT imagine a silent world for 4 weeks!! This is the reason I have chosen to do my 'weak' ear. This allows me to still be able to hear with my good ear after surgery with my hearing aid. And even after activiation, there is NO guarantee you will understand speech right away. You may hear sounds, and sounds you don't understand, it takes times for your brain and the sounds to work together to 'understand' them.
So the next steps are to meet the specialist that would be doing my surgery for the cochlear implant. He will most likely send me off for a CT/MRI scan to be done, they need to be able to see the shape of my middle ear to make sure that implantation is even possible in my ear. From there, would be getting medical pre-op clearance from my primary care physician and waiting on authorization from my insurnace company to have the procedure done. There may be more things involved, but I won't know that for sure until after I meet the surgeon. As it seems all clinics have their own choice of things to be done for the cochlear implant.
This whole cochlear implant stuff really is a VERY frightening thing to me, but at the same time I think 'what if I can hear so much better than I have before?!'... The fear, I think is mainly a lot of the 'unknown', what is my outcome going to be, how long will it take for me to recover, hear and understand speech, etc. The success rate for cochlear implants is over 90%. What does that 90% entail? What do they consider success? On another note, to be honest, I think its more frightening the fact I'm losing hearing in my 'good' ear and my only thought at first was 'I'm gonna have to learn sign'. which really thats not so bad, but thinking of my world being silent and not hearing my kids is scary! Plus, who am I going to sign with? That would mean my kids and family/friends would need to learn sign too for me to communicate with them. That's not exactly 'convenient'. If it weren't for the strong suggestion from my audiologist that I should find out if I'm even a candidate, I'd probably not even be talking about this. And well, here I am... I have my visit with the surgeon day after Valentines Day.
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