Re: coping w/out hearing aid

[Guest guest]

,

Given what you've described, I definitely think it's possible that your

brain wants more! That's what happened to me from 6-11 months post

activation. Due to the clarity of sound I was receiving through the CI, my

brain no longer paid attention to (or make sense of) what it was hearing on

my HA side. That's the only explanation I can think of since I did not lose

any hearing pre or post implant. I bet the same thing is happening to you!

I hope my questions/comments/concerns have not discouraged you or others on

the list from seeking a second CI. I had residual hearing in my nonimplanted

ear and am having some difficulty making the adjustment from 11 months of

using a CI and HA together to using the CI alone. It has only been a week

(as of tomorrow), so I'm sure things will continue to improve between now

and my activation date! One improvement I noticed today was a more natural

sounding quality to my voice. Following my surgery last Wednesday, I had

difficulty hearing my own voice, but now it's coming through loud and clear.

<smile>

Many of the messages I've received on the various forums have indicated that

my discrimination will only get better once the second CI is activated, so

that's encouraging!

, have you talked to your audi and asked him/her why you feel as though

your " losing " the ear on your nonimplanted side? I seem to be reading more

and more cases where people who use a HA on their nonimplanted side report a

sensation of poorer hearing after several months of CI use. Of course, this

isn't the case for everyone. I know there are many happy CI/HA users out

there who love and definitely benefit from using both!

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activation date: 3/1/06

Deafblind/Postlingual

Severe-profound hearing loss since 1995

[Guest guest]

>, have you talked to your audi and asked him/her why you feel as

though your " losing " the ear on your nonimplanted side?

,

I have never worn a hearing aid in my nonimplanted ear. Well, given a

couple of trials growing up, I did. But it just never sounded good so

I gave up on it. I did wear it for 6 months prior to being implanted

and for about 1 and half months after being activated. Then I realized

I couldn't even tell I had a hearing aid on in the other ear so one

day I took it off and that was that. For 44 years, I wore my aid in my

right ear which is now implanted. Even though I am doing well and

making good progress with my CI, I did tell my audi I just feel like

I'm missing something now in the unimplanted ear. We didn't theorize

why that might be, but thinks going bilateral would be great for me.

Freedom 9/21/05 HOOKED!!

[Guest guest]

Hi Dolly,

I'm really glad you mentioned contacting list members privately or on list

asking them to elaborate on how they may have handled a particular

situation. Sometimes we may not always get a clear picture of what is/has

happened and may not realize that a person's difficulties may have been

resolved or due to a temporary setback.

I think you make perfect sense, so keep talking! (You're the first talking

dolphin I know! <smile>) As for cooking you a steak dinner, let me

offer you a piece of advice. He likes to hear the words " Yes dear, " so be

sure to include them in your request. LOL!

Glad you found my posts today helpful! I want to be honest about the way I

feel. While I always try to remain positive, there are times (like today)

where the frustration level was just too high to pretend otherwise.

I'm feeling much better now. After receiving some *great* feedback from the

list, I'm encouraged about what lies ahead!

Left ear - Nucleus 24 Contour Advance with 3G

Implanted: 12/22/04 Activated: 1/18/05

Right ear - Nucleus Freedom

Implanted: 2/1/06 Activation date: 3/1/06

Deafblind/Postlingual

Severe-profound hearing loss since 1995

[Guest guest]

, I believed your input is very valuable.

To me you showed what can happened to some people. I would rather know about

all these things that can happened, be prepared, and down the road I could say

" Hey, had this problem, I will email her and find out how she handled (or

solved) it, what advice she can give me to get through it " .

Or, I think had that kind of trouble, so I will asks him how he solved

it and then maybe he will cook me a steak dinner to cheer me up (ducking as

throw a pie at me, hopefully it is lemon, while my long fins will try to

catch it goes over my blowhole, for dessert).

If any one of us did get discouraged from reading your emails today, then we

were not really prepare to have CI in the first place. To me it is better to

be educate on what good or bad that can happen rather then " Why didn't anyone

says something about this type of problem " .

If I am talking silly please let me know folks and I will zips my beaks.

Dolly Dolphin