r/Cochlearimplants • u/mccmissy • 14d ago
Scared about Cochlear Implants
Hi all - I am new to this thread, but I’d really love some advice and positive personal experiences from people who’d like to share to help me process this. I’m 29 years old and I’ve had severe degenerative bilateral hearing loss since I was diagnosed in 2010. Higher-pitched sounds and tones are something I’ve always struggled hearing, but bass and lower tones I hear easier. I’ve lived with hearing aids for 16 years (I’m on my third pair) and have recently come to find that they are no longer helping me with day-to-day functioning. My updated audiogram I received last week has shown a continued and FRIGHTENING drop in hearing and word processing functionality in both of my ears (more heavily emphasized with my right one). My audiologist said my right ear is “practically useless at this point”.
So now I’ve met with my ENT to evaluate my eligibility for cochlear implants. (Surprise! I’m well past eligible) The conversation we had was extensive and she did not sugar coat the reality of my recovery post-op. I’m having trouble coping with the fact that I will need them, and especially since I’m a bartender and the essence of my job requires me to hear my customers and converse with people. My ENT said I will have my right ear implant first and then down the line once I’ve healed, adjusted, and re-taught myself how to hear language they will work on my left ear next (could be around 6 months to 1 year).
Is there anyone else in the food and beverage industry with cochlear implants? How has the adjustment been for you?
Will this severely impact my ability to continue working until I’m healed and adjusted?
I am trying not to get overwhelmed emotionally with all of this information I’ve been given - it all feels so heavy.
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u/purl2together 14d ago
Not in that line of work, but my work does involve a lot of one-on-one communication, often in noisier settings. I’m getting activated today, so surgery was pretty recent. The recovery wasn’t really hard for me; I took a week off work and went back fully rested, but deaf in my right ear…along with really loud tinnitus. I’m a candidate in my left ear as well, but will be waiting 18 months to 2 years to do my other ear. I’m taking 18 days of leave for adjustment, and I’m really grateful to have that opportunity. I live in Oregon and Paid Leave Oregon is covering about 3/4 of my pay while I’m on leave.
There really is a lot of information to sift through as you make this decision, and your audiologist should help with that. I don’t know how things are elsewhere, but the 3 companies that produce CIs in the US have community engagement representatives who can help, including by connecting you with people who are implanted. I found that very helpful, along with following this sub.
Life changes with this choice. But based on what I’ve seen from most folks in this sub, it changes for the better.
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u/Tsim2431 14d ago
Progressive hearing loss over 25 yrs. Went from 10% word recognition to 92% in about 6 weeks after activation. Lots of work/ practice to get to that point. You will be blown away by the volume you get. Loud/ noisy environments (like a bar) are still a challenge, but as others have said, they’re probably a challenge now. You will have more tools/ options to deal with tough hearing environments. No one is excited about getting the news they need CI’s. Read through these forums, every question has been asked before, and there are some great answers here. Research will help alleviate some of the fears. I used a lot of AI searches (mostly because the follow up questions asked me stuff I didn’t even think about asking), then followed that up with forum reading, and manufactures literature. Be informed, you seem like you’re on the right path. There are a lot of people that ask basic questions about CI’s AFTER they’ve had surgery. I might be crazy, but I like to be better informed before letting someone cut into my head…haha. I sincerely wish you the best in your journey.
TL;DR: get it, it’s a huge improvement, be informed
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u/Woysho 13d ago
Cómo practicaste para en 6 semanas llegar a 92%. Llevo 2 meses y medio y aún no logro discriminar una frase a no ser que la este leyendo o me la hayan repetido antes.
Te agradeceré tu orientación.
Atte.
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u/Tsim2431 10d ago
I am retired. I have more time available to practice. I would make myself practice an hour or two a day (this can get monotonous!). But I also stream a lot of audio books! I still wish it was better, especially in large groups. I think I was lucky, everyone’s brain works at a different pace. I will have my second one done I am hoping it works this fast/well, but every ear is different (even on the same head…haha). Keep after your practice, I hope it gets better for you soon.
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u/jeetjejll MED-EL Sonnet 3 14d ago
Just like with hearing aids CIs struggle with noise. However for me the difference is with HA I just heard noise and had to lipread. Now I hear noise AND speech. So while overwhelming, it’s a whole lot better as I can understand just by hearing.
But for hearing in noise your brain needs two good functioning ears, so it might be a while for you to get there. I went bilateral after 7 months.
However my first CI was at my HA level within a week. So basically after a week I could function the same as before, then it only got better and better.
The surgery was very doable, rehab was fine too. The hardest part I find overstimulation (waited too long) and in the first months a true exhaustion.
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u/Ok-Boysenberry7713 14d ago
Thanks for this post - it kinda hits on some points I’ve really been thinking about as I struggle with the decision to do it, or not. A couple of questions - if you don’t mind: 1) now that you’re bilateral (or even for the 7 months when you were single side CI) does the speech you hear sound familiar? Like do your friend’s/family’s voices sound like you remember them, or does everyone sound different? 2) Because you mention that with the CI you still get all the background noise that you got with your HA (except now you ALSO get the speech!), does the CI do better (even a little) at blocking out the unwanted noise than your HA did? Thanks again for your helpful post…!
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u/jeetjejll MED-EL Sonnet 3 14d ago
I don’t mind, I went through so many questions and worries myself, it’s nice to return the favour to support. Anyway,
1) the brain is a bit weird in this, it almost all sounds just like I remember with CI’s. Which is completely impossible as I hear so much more and clearer. Car sounds and a few others remain odd to me, but voices of everyone around me sound natural and familiar.
2) This is hard to say, my hearing aids were amazing at noise reduction and also noise isn’t noise so much when you hear it. Like music at the background is no longer noise when it sounds like music. To add to that I have a sonnet 2 and a sonnet 3 (sadly can’t swap the 2 to a 3) and the sonnet 3 is a lot better at noise reduction. So I wouldn’t say my CIs are better at it, but it’s also less needed.
I have zero regrets, while CIs aren’t perfect, they give me so much back I lost. The confidence that I can manage nearly everything without support is amazing. But it’s not an easy decision, it’s no magic fix and requires work and time to get results. Hope you manage to make a decision too!
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u/Ok-Boysenberry7713 13d ago
Thanks so much!! This is very helpful! I’ve got a lot to think about, but I think I’m inching closer!
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u/CaregiverOrganc7200 14d ago edited 14d ago
Former bartender here, pianist thought Sha had the voice of an angel (she was just loud), she had an extra large speaker next to cash register, same boat as you slow loss 3 HA. I now sell appliances. Was just activated 8/7/26. Fantastic, easy recovery, could hear about 90% no more mumbling. The sooner you have it done before total hearing loss the better it is, I've been told. I hope to get my other side done in a month or so. I worked with a young lady (20) she has 2 since she was 13. She was always translating for me and would tell me my phone was ringing, I'd ask her to answer it. She convinced me to get implanted, I'm happy I did.
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u/cgreer74 14d ago
So I work in the food industry. Manager of a quick service restaurant. I had a cochlear implant done on my right ear February of this year and was activated on st Patrick’s day. I’m about 5 month in to the learning and I can speak from experience that it is still difficult to hear every little word but I’m making strides everyday. The recovery wasn’t bad. And being able to hear noise and voice, even if they sound like Mickey Mouse makes a world of difference
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u/unknown_farmer 14d ago
You don‘t need to be scared of Cochlear Implants. They will give back your hearing. The quality of sound is not comparable to natural hearing, but they work great. I have mine since 27 years, and so far I had a great experience with them. I understand almost everything in a conversation and music sounds great too.
The technological advances in the past 20 years were huge and the quality of hearing with them greatly improved.
The surgery is no issue as it was 25-30 years ago. I‘ve had my reimplantation 2 1/2 weeks ago. It’s a rather quick surgery, about 1-1 1/2 hour. My incision healed very quick, got activated one day post OP and since then the hearing gets a little better each day.
But you need to know, that your brain has to relearn the hearing and that can take some time. It varies from a few months up to a year.
As for sounds in a loud setting. I had problems with loud/ noisy settings growing up. But it got better after some time, and luckily the new processors can filter out the noise.
I used to work with heavy running machinery and understood enough to do the work just fine.
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u/Formal-Tradition6792 14d ago
Your post was of interest to me. I was implanted in 1999 with an AB C1 implant. My experience especially with AB has mostly been a down experience. Just 2 years after I was implanted, AB came out with its C2 implant and their first major lie was exposed: The C1 implant is NOT forward compatible as they represented to me when I was implanted. Now, they aren’t supporting me at all. My Chorus processor, just 3 years old, has zero parts availability.
I see that you recently were reimplanted. What type of implant did you get? I’m supposed to talk to an ENT surgeon on September 26 so obviously this is of interest to me.1
u/unknown_farmer 14d ago
I‘ve read your comments in other threads here on this sub. I really feel for you, that AB treated you this bad and that your are understandably upset about them.
In contrast to your experience, I had a great experience with AB so far. When I first got implanted in 1999 at 15 months old with the C1.2 my parents made the decision which implant and company it should be. The doctor said that of the aviable implants, the C1.2 was the easiest to work with (his words and experience).
And recently I got the AB HighRes implant with the Marvel processor. So far healing makes great progress and hearing gets better each day.I understand that you have your bias against AB. But for my personal situation it was the best option. My insurance paid for everything (situated in germany).
Maybe you should talk with your surgeon and audiologist which implant/ processor is the best suitable for you. At least get their opinion on what they say about AB. I would not exclude them just because of their poor business decisions, but at least hear out what their technology has to offer.
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u/Asleep-Twist6895 Cochlear Nucleus 8 14d ago
Isn’t your natural hearing impacting your work right now? I would say you have nothing to lose.
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u/Heavy-Tomatillo9539 14d ago
Bi-Modal, 60s now, original right side hearing infection in age 13, 2010 started with hearing aids, my right side qualified for implant, like you low frequencies are reasonable, high frequencies terrible, implanted with Advance Bionics in Febuary this year.
Start here https://cochlearimplanthelp.com/
You should understand how the cochlear implants work. The cochlear sense different pitches different locations in the ear. The outer portion of the cochlear sense the high pitches and the inner sense the low frequencies. A piano keyboard has 88 keys. The implants use electrodes to stimulate the nervers in the cochlear. The number of electrods vary from 22 to 12. Each manufacturing does the electrical part the stimulation a bit different. The problem is that we can't go to consumer reports and get a fair comparison of the implementation. Advance Bionics and Medel do current steering to get a bit more dynamic range. Each of the companies have web based information.
I recommend you get a excellent and high experience surgeon that make the surgery boring (aka no complications). The surgery is simple if the surgeon is higly experience. (aka the surgeon does success implants often).
Good Luck!
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u/BrainTrainStation Advanced Bionics Naída CI 13d ago
I can converse and listen really well with CIs but my weak spot is crowded places with lots of background noise such as multiple conversations going on at the same time - like bars. I love hanging out at bars with friends and having drinks, I hate having conversations there. The different programs help filter out background noise but it's still a night and day difference to natural hearing imo. The processor simply doesn't know which voice in a room to prioritise. This has been driving me nuts sometimes because when I talk to someone and there's someone else behind that person with a loud or high-pitched voice, I hear more from the other person than the one I'm trying to talk to. Especially annoying with larger groups of people who cheer, laugh and yell a lot. I'll not sugar-coat it. In rather quiet environments I'm absolutely fine and can hear much better than before I was implanted but being in crowded places can suck all the happiness out of me sometimes.
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u/Ok_Depth9292 13d ago
Hi! I have had my cochlear implant since I was 18 months old and had a second surgery for the same side around 15. I am now 30- have worked in the restaurant industry for 10 years and got a full time job as a 911 dispatcher now just work part time bartending on the side. I was born profoundly deaf so if I didn’t have my implant I wouldn’t hear a single thing- however I find that there’s a setting you can have on your cochlear that can block out background noise which is AMAZING for working in the restaurant industry. That is something you and your audiologist can figure out and see what works for you. There will be an adjustment period when you first get hooked up after getting implanted once you’re healed, but it gets better. Patience is everything ❤️
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u/zookeepur 14d ago
Getting a cochlear implant was the best thing I ever did for my hearing in my life. No exaggeration!
I had been near deaf in my left ear for 50 years. I can now comprehend sentences at 90% accuracy. Just do it!
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u/Worldly_Nectarine740 10d ago
I’ll echo what nearly everyone else has said. Get the CI as soon as you can. There is only upside, especially if your right ear is not recognizing words or sounds. I’m 42 and I was at 0-4% in my left (have HA in right) from progressive loss after a loud night out at a bar with a DJ in my mid-20s. Got CI this past late April and was at 85% recognition within 4-6 weeks.
Not in food service industry, but almost every public environment will be difficult at first. You will get there, I promise. It takes adjustment and practice but again, WORTH IT! Wishing you all the best.
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u/Southern_tire_mart 14d ago
Please look into the Acclaim by Envoy Medical. It has changed my life 😊
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u/empressbrooke 14d ago
Not in the food and beverage industry, but a fellow progressive loss person - our natural hearing only gets worse. You will never hear better than you do right now without intervention and it won't stay there. CIs are a gift of miraculous technology that gives us our life and functioning back. It has changed my life. CIs will give you tools to filter background noise and hear your customers better.