As I get closer to the CI surgery and activation dates, I still have a lot of uncertainty about how things will turn out. I still have days now and then when I feel like I can hear well enough - I know it's still not great, but I seem to be able to hear better on some days and it sounds OK to me. No one can guarantee that I'll be able to hear better than I do now or that I won't have some kind of issue with tinnitus or dizziness. The odds, based on others' experiences, are certainly in my favor, but there's no guarantees of course. Even if, after getting the CI and spending the time training myself to hear again, I could only hear just as well as I did now, there are a few things I wouldn't miss:
There are some things that I will probably miss, such as:
Of course, I hope that I will not experience (and not miss at all) things like:
The odds are that I will not experience some of those things anymore - and that would be great - but those are in the hands of my surgeon, audiologist, and God.
15 days to surgery; 52 days to activation.
- Having a hearing aid earmold in my ear all of my waking hours. I've been doing this for 45 years - let's call it 400,000 hours - and it feels nice when I take my hearing aid off at the end of the day.
- Going to the audiologist every couple of months to have the tubing on my hearing aid replaced. If you have never worn a hearing aid - your natural body oils and exposure to the air causes the tubing to become hard and brittle over time, so you need to replace it every so often. I'm sure CI's have their own maintenance, but from what I've read, it's things that I can do at home.
- Disposable batteries. This really isn't a big deal, but it will be nice to have rechargeable ones instead.
- Needing to remove the device to go swimming (assuming I get ahold of the Aqua accessory, which allows the CI external components to be submerged in water).
There are some things that I will probably miss, such as:
- Being able to hear loud sounds without having any type of assistive equipment. I'll need to think about getting some visual / bed shaker smoke alarms, for example. I probably should be using them now, but I still have some loud noise hearing left without wearing an aid.
- Knowing that, even if I should happen to not have health insurance, I could still afford to get a new device. Hearing aids can be had for about a tenth the price of a new speech processor for a Cochlear Implant
Of course, I hope that I will not experience (and not miss at all) things like:
- Having to ask Josephine to repeat herself in about 90% of our conversations.
- Needing to use a special device (captioned telephone) to be able to carry on a telephone conversation.
- Not being able to follow a conversation in a noisy location.
- Telling people that I need to see their face in order to hear them.
The odds are that I will not experience some of those things anymore - and that would be great - but those are in the hands of my surgeon, audiologist, and God.
15 days to surgery; 52 days to activation.