Re: Activation on monday

[Guest guest]

Y

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Activation on monday

Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excitied and nervous at the

same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About a 70-80db

loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in the past

few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before their CI, what were

your first few days of hearing like? What could you actually hear and

understand? How fast did you learn?

Lawrence Levin

[Guest guest]

I was able to understand slow, clear speech better than before my implant

but all voices sounded like Duck. That passed and after a few months

I could recognize individual voices. My understanding continued to improve

for at least 2 years, surprising me.

I hadn't totally lost hearing before the implant but had nearly totally lost

speech understanding.

Virg

> Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excitied and nervous

> at the same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About

> a 70-80db loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

> My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in

> the past few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before

> their CI, what were your first few days of hearing like? What could you

> actually hear and understand? How fast did you learn?

> Lawrence Levin

[Guest guest]

I went deaf later in life, Lawrence. We usually get a better initial result,

than someone who was born deaf. I could hear words and speech and hold a

conversation, about 40 seconds after activation, so pretty much straight away. I

still wear a hearing aid in the non implanted side and although the hearing aid

on its own ids pretty useless, because I dont have enough usable hearing, when

worn WITH the CI processor, it makes a tremendous difference to the nice rounded

sound I get.

We are all different, but there isnt any reason to believe that you wont have a

similar outcome to my own. If you have a hearing aid in the other ear, in my

opinion KEEP wearing it, no matter what anyone tells you.

Ted F.

>

> Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excitied and nervous at

the same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About a 70-80db

loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

> My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in the

past few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before their CI, what

were your first few days of hearing like? What could you actually hear and

understand? How fast did you learn?

> Lawrence Levin

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Lawrance

I was borderline when they did my implant, and they told me that my hearing

after implantation would not be as good at first untill i adapted to the

implant, i did my right ear, which had a comprehension of 47% with hearing aid

and after 11 weeks post activation i

that ear was up to 62% So it was a bit of a step back at first, mainly for the

first month then it went forward with leaps and bounds, am due for my 24 week

evaluation next month and I know i know myself that it has already improved from

the last evaluation. Hope this helps

Neil

N5

From: Lawrence Levin <lawrencerlevin@...>

Subject: Activation on monday

" CI Hear " < >

Received: Wednesday, 9 February, 2011, 4:09 AM

 

Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excitied and nervous

at the same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About a

70-80db loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in the past

few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before their CI, what were

your first few days of hearing like? What could you actually hear and

understand? How fast did you learn?

Lawrence Levin

[Guest guest]

Lawrence - congratulations on your upcoming activation. I also have bi-lateral

Meniére's and had some hearing left but virtually no speech comprehension prior

to implantation. Five minutes after activation, my speech comprehension (in

quiet) was 95%. But everything sounded tinny and " false " . Voices were like

Mickey Mouse. On the car ride home, my Mom was in the backseat and I heard her

talking on the phone and saying " she can hear! " I wasn't looking at her. It

was an amazing day. Today, one year later, everything sounds completely normal

but it took time and practice listening before I could identify all that I was

hearing. Be patient and good luck!

Maggie

>

> Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excitied and nervous at

the same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About a 70-80db

loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

> My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in the

past few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before their CI, what

were your first few days of hearing like? What could you actually hear and

understand? How fast did you learn?

> Lawrence Levin

>

[Guest guest]

I was able to understand speech immediately during my activation. I think

they said I got about 70% of the sentences they will run you though in the

sound booth once they have all the settings in place. (it has been 3 years

the 14th) Everybody sounded like Duck and it felt like sound was

still coming in even though the person had stopped talking. Everyone sounded

the same for a week or so but it really didn't take long before people

sounded like I remembered them.

It takes a while for the brain to adjust to sorting out speech from noise

and can be a bit overwhelming at times. Take the processor off when you get

tired and give yourself a break. There are lots of coping tips that I'm

sure people will share with you here to help you get started on this

journey. One thing I did was to get unabridged books from the library and

the same book on CD/cassette and listen as I read word for word. That helped

a lot with recognizing speech. I got books I liked so I wouldn't be bored

and would take the time to do the exercise.

Wishing you all the best and looking forward to hearing how your activation

goes.

Suzanne W

NebraskaFreedom - R ear Surgery 1/14/08 Activation 2/14/08Alpha

ENT Clinic Ft. , CO Dr. W. Conlon

Only a few more days now and I get " turned on " . I am excited and nervous at

the same time. I never lost my hearing completely in either ear. About a

70-80db loss in both, the results of Meniere's.

My question relates to my expectations. For those who were activated in the

past few years and had NEVER completely lost their hearing before their CI,

what were your first few days of hearing like? What could you actually hear

and understand? How fast did you learn?

Lawrence Levin