Implant Brand Questions

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone. I have a question.....I don't post on here much, so I will tell

our situtation very briefly. We adopted a 9 month old (now 12 months) from

Guatemala. When we got her home we found out she was deaf in both ears. We are

seeing drs and have gotten an implant date. There is a clinical trial going on

for bilaterals in young children that our dr. said we could be part of. So, we

have our initial meeting with our CI team on Jan 28th. They are fast tracking

us through, so we have to decide things quickly, and be ready. Our surgery is

Feb 26th. So, by asking this question, I know I will open a can of worms, but

with having 4 other children I am going to depend on ya'll for some help.

Question is.....what are the different brands that are out there for CI's. What

are the pros and cons? What do you like and dislike as parents of young

children?

I know our drs. are going to tell us a lot about the different brands, but I

want some head knowledge going in our meeting. I want some real life

experience, and not just what the makers of the product say. So......with that

said, any input and thoughts that you would like to share with me would be SO

appreciated.

Thanks

Amy M

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[Guest guest]

Hi Amy:

First, all my best to you and your new daughter.

To answer your questions,

there are three major companies that manufacture cochlear implants:

Cochlear America, Advanced Bionics and MedEl. You can research each

of them on the internet. Also, Alice, of the website, www..com

has info on each company and website links here:

http://www..com/implant.html

She also has more info here, on the resource page:

http://www..com/resources.html

As for my personal opinion, I went with Cochlear America (also

referred as " Cochlear " ). I made the decision based on the fact that

the company is backward compatible. That is very important. Here is

a quote from an article that explains what that means: " As we develop

new external devices, they have to be backward-compatible with the

old ones. And we've done that. We've never walked away from any

recipients. Those early recipients have had maybe four upgrades now. "

and the link to the article:

http://www.businessweek.com/technology/content/dec2005/tc20051207_7376

32.htm?chan=db

Another reason I chose Cochlear was that the product is water

resistant (I live in Florida - rainy and sweaty here). I have not

had any problems.

The customer service is great. These devices are like mini computers

and they do break. All I need to do is call Cochlear customer

service and a replacement part shows up in less than 2 days.

I am so happy with my choice! My life has improved greatly. Feel

free to email me if you have more questions.

Rhona

cause of hearing loss unknown

Cochlear Awareness Network Advocate

4/3/07 Surgery, left ear Nucleus Freedom

5/8/07 Activated

Univ of Miami

Dr. Balkany

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>

>

> Hi everyone. I have a question.....I don't post on here much, so I

will tell our situtation very briefly. We adopted a 9 month old (now

12 months) from Guatemala. When we got her home we found out she was

deaf in both ears. We are seeing drs and have gotten an implant

date. There is a clinical trial going on for bilaterals in young

children that our dr. said we could be part of. So, we have our

initial meeting with our CI team on Jan 28th. They are fast tracking

us through, so we have to decide things quickly, and be ready. Our

surgery is Feb 26th. So, by asking this question, I know I will open

a can of worms, but with having 4 other children I am going to depend

on ya'll for some help. Question is.....what are the different

brands that are out there for CI's. What are the pros and cons?

What do you like and dislike as parents of young children?

> I know our drs. are going to tell us a lot about the different

brands, but I want some head knowledge going in our meeting. I want

some real life experience, and not just what the makers of the

product say. So......with that said, any input and thoughts that you

would like to share with me would be SO appreciated.

>

> Thanks

> Amy M

>

>

> ---------------------------------

> Never miss a thing. Make your homepage.

>

>