I’m removing my post because apparently there is enough information out there. Thanks for those who wished me good luck.
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Good luck with your surgery.
Please do some reading in the CI forum. There is lots of great information answering many of your questions and more. Many of the CI members have already given lengthy posts. Each of us is different so answers can be all over the place but the big answer is almost all of us have had great results. Your odds of doing great are high.
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Yes I have read some of those posts. I guess I wanted some individual responses. Thanks. I’ll just remove my post.
Don’t remove your post. Others will probably comment. I just don’t have great typing skills.
I didn’t see your post, so I don’t know what your questions were. I’m sorry but with the time differences between the north and southern hemisphere your post has been removed before I got to the forum.
Good luck 
with your survey. This group is here to offer any help we can give you during rehab.
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Sheryl, I copied and pasted their original post. We have written so much it is just tuff to think about writing it all again
I am scheduled for surgery for a cochlear implant July 1. I wore hearing aids for 15 + years, and they didn’t help enough for the past few years. I am traveling to Seattle because there are only 2 CI surgeons here in New Mexico, and one is pretty new, and the other does not prioritize preserving residual hearing. I am aware that I may lose my hearing in the operative ear, but I want to at least try to keep what I have. I am nervous and hopeful, and I would like to know how all of you did with the surgery and rehab. How long did it take for you to hear words, and what did you do for your rehab. Thank you!
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Thanks Rick.
@ibawaya everyones hearing loss history is very different. As is how they respond after activation. I could understand words the day of activation. It took me a week to understand all that was being spoken.
Rehab I found a few of the apps like iangel sound very boring. I love reading so I joined my local library for their free audiobooks app. I did 2 hours of streaming books and reading along every day. I broke the 2 hours up so that it suited my daily schedule. At the end of 12 months my WRS was 94%.
Good luck to you on your hearing journey.
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Thank you for your response! I 've had many surgeries in my life and I’ve done well, but for some reason I am getting a bit anxious about this surgery and the rehab. I have been reading the CI Facebook Page and there are good and bad stories.
You are so kind. I really appreciate it. I am not a great typist either and it takes me a while to write my history, so I’ll look up stories from the past here.
Everyone learns in different ways. Reading, hands on, verbal, sight etc CI rehab is like that too.
My audiologist told me to read and do rehab apps. I do not like to read, never have. For me I watched old reruns on TV that I remembered by heart streaming to my processor with the TV closed captioning on. This proved for me to the perfect rehab.
Each of us are different but still the same.
I read a bunch of Facebook stuff too. My first thought is there are a bunch of idiots on there. I have pretty much given up on Facebook for that reason.
Hang in there and good luck.
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I don’t spend much time on FB, but the closed CI site can be pretty useful. I met some local people with CIs and they have helped me understand how it all works. Recently the Cochlear app was wonky and lots of people mentioned it so it was clearly a problem with the app.
Yes, I read some of that app stuff.
I have K2 and N7 processors, bilateral. No issues with the app. It has been very stable. I have come to believe those with app issues do not read the instructions.
My Cochlear equipment has been very reliable for the most part. Maintenance items wearing out over time.
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You are not alone about being anxious. I personally was a mess. I didn’t sleep the night before. I have a friend in the US who FB messaged me from midnight until 5 am. Thank heavens for the time difference.
Our hearing is vital to our lifestyle, and the stress of will it work for me is very real. For me it was huge, I had to retire because I couldn’t hear on the landline. I couldn’t hear conversations at family functions, so I sat by myself and read a book. I didn’t want this lifestyle for myself so I worked at rehab. My surgeon chose Cochlear for me. It streams direct to my ear. So I streamed audiobooks throughout the day. Streaming books/podcasts worked for me. You will quickly work out what form of rehab you like best and works for you.
All the best for your upcoming surgery. You will do well. Good luck.
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Thank you! I love to read so I plan to get audiobooks, and I’ll also use the tools my audiologist and others recommend, as well as watching tv, streaming and using captions.
Right now I am trying to decide about when to purchase a hearing aid to be bimodal. In the clinic, the ReSound hearing aid I want will cost $3000! I was hoping to escape the hearing aid racket that makes me so angry, but it looks I’ll shop for a better price if the audiologist will network it for me. The audiologist is encouraging me to stay bimodal for a while, though I am eligible to have CIs on both ears.
When I started the CI journey both ears were candidates. I made upy mind to do both ears at the same time but my surgeon talked me out of it. So what I did was get the right done first. At one week activation I took my left hearing aid off and never put it back on. I also didn’t want to blow money on a hearing aid that was short term. 3 months after the first implant I got the send implant. This worked out well for me.
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Speak to your nearest Costco store. They sell Resound TV streamers , minimic2 etc a lot cheaper than Cochlear. If you know what aid you want they might order it in for you, if it’s cost effective, so ask the price first. That said they might not be able to either. But it’s worth a phone call to check.
If you do qualify for both ears you could just use any aid you have. The only thing is it won’t stream.
Good luck on your new hearing journey.
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The audiologist with whom I am working seems to think I should live with the bimodal hearing aid for a while, because there are benefits to using my “natural” hearing with a hearing aid. I have never thought hearing aids provide natural sound, especially with music. My surgeon, who has 2 CIs himself, says the hearing with CIs is better than that of hearing aids. I have not worked with this audiologist, but I chose her for the CI because she has at least some experience with them. I assumed it would be good to get bilateral CIs.
I don’t think my Costco will do that, but it’s a great idea! I tend to be an out-of-the box person, so it might be worth a try. I had bought some Rexton hearing aids before I found out that I am eligible for the CI, and I returned them a couple of weeks ago. The Oticons are due for replacement, so I don’t want to use one as my only hearing aid for very long.
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I agree with this statement big time. When a person’s hearing becomes a candidate for CI the hearing aid is flat insufficient. The CI is superior. It took about 1.5 years to get localization with bilateral CI. Finding birds in the yard I could hear taught me this. CI brought an entire new world to me.
Looking at your audiogram you do still have some hearing, especially in the lower frequencies. Odds are you will lose that hearing from an implant. When I did go bilateral going completely deaf without the processors on was an eye opener. It was a spooky feeling for a few days but quickly went away.
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@ibawaya its the 1st July here today downunder, I’m just wishing you all the very best for tomorrow’s surgery. I hope your recovery is uneventful and goes to plan. on your new hearing journey.
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