Re: hearing with CI (to Joe)

[Guest guest]

I'd like to respond to the comment about an ENT giving poor advice about a CI.

I'm still astonished about how ignorant people are about CI's - including some

medical professionals.

I had thought when I wrote my first book, " Hear Again - Back to Life with a

Cochlear Implant " , which was a chronicle of my first year with my CI (the book

was published in 2000) - that everyone would soon know what a miracle these

devices are.

I was wrong - the ignorance is still rampant! So now my second book has just

been published " Listening Closely: A Journey to Bilateral Hearing " - and since

it's with a mainstream publisher, I'm hoping our message about what these

devices can do will get " out there. "

Arlene Romoff

> PS: an ENT from a large practice in Texas told me that CI sound was fake, I

> couldn't use CI with hearing aid, that I didn't qualify for CI anyway, and

that

> I should just take disability. I am a health care provider myself, and in my

> opinion that was malpractice (or at least definite negligence) and resulted in

> my feeling increasing despondency which could have had a very negative outcome

> because I was at rock bottom. BUT thanks to HLAA information I figured I

should

> get a second opinion and I am now leading a wonderful hearing life thanks to

the

> CI.

>

>

[Guest guest]

My hearing aid provider told me with the CI I would hear but everything would

sound monotone. He was soooooooooo wrong! People sound just like I remember

them as as well as other sounds. Hearing with my CI is so much better than it

EVER was with my hearing aid. My hearing aid provider also said I would not

qualify for a CI as my hearing was not that bad yet. When I had to quit my job

because of my hearing that is when I took things into my own hands and found an

audiologist with the latest technology to test for hearing loss. When she got

done with the testing her question was " which ear do you want to have

implanted. " Both ears qualified for a CI. She looked at my hearing tests from

the previous five years and said I would have qualified then. The quality of my

life is so much better now thanks to my CI. I can use the phone again, hear &

understand most of what is being said on the TV/radio and best of all,

understand my grandkids. I still have trouble in noisy situations but I am so

thankful that I made the decision to have the CI.

Suzanne W - Nebraska

Freedom - R ear

Surgery 1/14/08 Activation 2/14/08

Alpha ENT Clinic Ft. , CO

Dr. W. Conlon

> > PS: an ENT from a large practice in Texas told me that CI sound was fake, I

> > couldn't use CI with hearing aid, that I didn't qualify for CI anyway, and

that

> > I should just take disability. I am a health care provider myself, and in

my

> > opinion that was malpractice (or at least definite negligence) and resulted

in

> > my feeling increasing despondency which could have had a very negative

outcome

> > because I was at rock bottom. BUT thanks to HLAA information I figured I

should

> > get a second opinion and I am now leading a wonderful hearing life thanks to

the

> > CI.

> >

> >