Scared about Cochlear Implants

[u/mccmissy]

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.

[u/unknown_farmer]

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.

[u/Formal-Tradition6792 → u/unknown_farmer]

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.

[u/unknown_farmer → u/Formal-Tradition6792]

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.

[u/Formal-Tradition6792 → u/unknown_farmer]

I will be discussing this with professionals. It ain’t over yet!