Margo's activation to her second ear

[Guest guest]

Hi everyone-

This year has been quite the journey to achieve my lifelong dream to hear out of

two ears. My first ci was in 1989. Then I was re-implanted in 1998 due to

electrodes failing. Then in January of this year I started the process to have

the opposite ear implanted. There was a lot of waiting involved for the

required appointments, a long wait for insurance approval due to misplaced

surgery request, and finally had successful ci surgery on Nov. 5th. On Dec 11,

after 5 weeks of waiting and healing, I was activated to my second ear, making

me bilateral.

Now, like everyone else, it was important to keep my expectations low but my

hopes high. I knew going into this that my second ear would most likely present

challenges since it had been deaf for 54 out of my 56 years. Even though I

understood the concept of what my audiologist described as possibly " feeling "

rather than hearing sounds, it was hard to imagine. Naturally I hoped for more

than that. I tried to prepare family and friends for all of the possibilities

with this left ear. Many of them would say but your right ear does so well and

your brain understands what cochlear implant is, surely you will get more than

vibration/feeling.

I was excited to see my ci audiologist Dec. 11. It was quite something just to

hold the new speech processor in my hand. Then we started going through the

individual electrodes, where I could not " hear " them but rather could " feel "

them. It was such a weird sensation especially since I knew from my right ear

what I should be hearing. At times, the " buzzy " feeling would seem to spread to

my right ear as if the left ear was asking the right ear for help in

understanding what it was hearing! 4 basic maps were made with increasing

volume and I was to leave the sensitivity at 8. When listening with my new ear

alone, it was just a " buzzy " feeling but when combined with my right ci ear, my

right ear seemed to mask the buzzyness. Interesting. A little disappointed but

at the same thankful that all 22 electrodes were working, I had no facial

stimulation, and no discomfort. I could tell that my husband was quite

disappointed in how the activation had gone

and I had to reassure him that although I was a little disappointed, I was also

glad to just give that ear stimulation. The hardest part was that if I wanted

to increase the volume, I had to take the speech processor off in order to make

sure that I was pressing the little long enough to go from " S " to " V " . Each

time I would replace the speech processor, I would get a " buzzy " feeling and

then it would settle down as if the auditory nerve was going " what? " and then

ok. After activation my husband and I went to visit some of our adult children

and toddler grandson and baby granddaughter. I explained how I was " feeling "

sound to my children and told them not to lose hope with Mom's new ear as it is

only the beginning. My 4 year old grandson was just so glad to see Grandma and

to have me play and talk to him. Nothing like a grandchild to bring one joy!

Yesterday was day 2 of the activation and I went back to see my audiologist. I

explained how I was now on program 4, which delighted her as she didn't expect

me to do that so quickly. My new ci was tested and it showed that my electrodes

were responding better than they did the day before-real progress! 4 new maps

were made, again with increasing volume. Sensitivity was locked so I now don't

have to take off the speech processor to increase the volume and get " buzzed " ..

The whole mapping process went smoother as I knew how it was going to " feel " . I

told my ci audiologist that the left ear was acting as if it was pre-lingual, so

that in a way I have my old ear, which is post-lingual and my new ear, which is

acting pre-lingual in terms of " feeling " sounds. I told her that I'm way too

stubborn to let this " slow " ear discourage me. In fact, my plan is give this ear

plenty of stimulation each day. Stimulation is exercise for this long deafened

ear.

The hope is over time as I'm able to tolerate more sounds/vibrations that I

will get closer and closer to the speech range. It may take time but I have the

time to work with this new ear. I know that over time, say 6-9-12 months from

now, I will be able to marvel at all I've learned and experienced with my new

ear. It is important to be patient, persistent, to keep practicing even though

it is not a " functional hearing " ear at this point, and most important of all to

maintain a positive attitude. Attitude in life is important. My faith gives me

the strength and the courage with this new adventure in life. I see my

audiologist again in 10 days.

So, I may be slow like the tortoise in the " Tortoise and the Hare " story, but

I've started my journey into hearing bilateral. This new ear surely gives a new

meaning to the term " get buzzy " ! Life is always an adventure!

with " buzzy " double cochlear implant joy,

Margo Klug

N22-1989 right ear

re-implanted to N24-1998-right ear

Freedom-Nov. 2008

[Guest guest]

Margo,

Thanks for the info on the bilateral. I know what you mean about

feeling sound rather than hearing it. I was implanted in an ear that was

without sound or stimulation for 20 years, and at first I felt the

sounds. I figured it had plenty of time to rest up, and now was ready to

hear. And it's the only ear I hear with, since I'm NOT bilateral.

I'm sure you have the patience to get there, even if it takes longer

than most of us do. After all, your lazy ear has been resting most of

the time, so stimulation should be a whole new thing!

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