So weird little revelation... as some of you may know, or not know, when you go for a cochlear implant, you are pretty much guaranteed to lose your residual hearing. Whatever you have left, you have to be pretty comfortable saying good bye to it before your surgery. That is why, before my surgery, I was so worried. The hearing aid has been my constant companion for going on 23 years now.
However, nowadays, it's possible, albeit very slim, that your hearing could be possibly preserved. Like I said very slim possibility. I tried it immediately yesterday after the bandage came off, I did not hear anything with the hearing aid. I was okay with that. I had this revelation 7 years ago with my other ear. Good bye hearing aid. However, I know a little bit more now, than I did then... (I would like to hope so, since I did just graduate with a doctorate in audiology). I know now that my middle ear is filled with blood, always happens after CI surgery. Filling the middle ear with fluid, is much like an ear infection. It will diminish what sounds you can hear, and if there is a lot of fluid, you will hear minimally at best... Fluid should resolve though, the blood in my middle ear should go away. So why not keep trying the hearing aid daily, just for shits and giggles?!
Today, I put it on after my very nice Eucalyptus bath that my mother got for me from Bath and Body Works. I smell quite nice now, but I digress. I could actually hear sound from the hearing aid! I could hear the start up tones and really low frequency tonal information. It felt like I had water in my ear. Again, who knows what the hearing will be like in that ear? I turned the aid off and left the mold in just to see if I was hearing occlusion, and I definitely wasn't. I was hearing amplification from the hearing aid. What does this mean? Nothing. I still will obviously use my new nucleus 5 implant. But it was a nice surprise to hear something today. Maybe I have more residual hearing that I will discover once all the remaining fluid resolves, maybe I won't.
Saturday, April 3, 2010
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3 comments:
I like your blog! The pictures look fantastic. I'm envious you got some sweet pics. :)
I got that horrible ringing during my 2nd CI surgery too. And lucky you for not having any dizziness! I lost my balance for a good few days. haha.
Glad to hear you're doing so well! When is activation day?
-Jess
This is definitely great news, Mark. My friend is about to get a CI soon, and I think your blog will help him get through all the jitters. I'd love to share this post with him.
I'm sorry if I never sent a response! I hope you are all doing well :)
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