3 Reasons why one should be careful with what they say Online..............

I can now see a 4th reason for being careful about what you post Online.......:doh:

Me too, but I'm betting your thoughts on that fourth reason have changed. ;)

And I had missed your earlier post about the initial positive results you're seeing (er...hearing) with the implant. That's great news! I'm a pretty firm believer in "what comes around goes around", and I suspect your excellent results are some type of cosmic payback for your good deeds. :)
 
Me too, but I'm betting your thoughts on that fourth reason have changed. ;)

And I had missed your earlier post about the initial positive results you're seeing (er...hearing) with the implant. That's great news! I'm a pretty firm believer in "what comes around goes around", and I suspect your excellent results are some type of cosmic payback for your good deeds. :)

What Vaughn says Ken....:thumb:
 
I can tell you from someone who was only deaf for 17 months that until you are deaf you probably won't appreciate what true loneliness is. Yesterday after only 6 weeks post activation and getting the 2nd mapping of my Ci I went to a busy restaurant with my wife. I listened, followed and conversed with her without constant request for repeated conversation. Last night I listened to a couple Beatles CDs and a Hugo Montenegro CD while online chatting with a bunch of deaf CI implantees.

Today when my MIL called Sharon told her "Mom...at dinner last night we had the best conversation we've had in a long time." The noisy environment is the most difficult situation in which to hear. I struggled a little but not much. It was an enjoyable evening.

Dr. Limb is an extremely talented, educated and respected surgeon and musician. And yet.....among CI implantees there are those who will argue that he's not completely correct with his discussion as to the quality of the sound and music CI implantees can enjoy. These same folks believe it's better right now than he recognizes and that all implants are not created equal just based on the basic methodology chosen by the companies to employ in the design of their internal implants.

I'll give you some advice.....protect your hearing.....
 
Sounds like a wonderful evening with you wife Ken. Sometimes us folks that have good hearing don't always appreciate those times. ;)

I can understand both sides, I'm sure that they've come a great distance on improving the quality of the devices and they will go even further. When CD's first came out, true audiophiles didn't like them as they only converted up so may bytes of data and lost a lot of details. Same with the implants, They only stimulate so many areas electrically and haven't quite gotten fine tuned to the way the person used to hear. I'm sure this will advance even more over time, but given that every person is constructed differently, there's not a guarantee that they will ever hear exactly like everyone else. Nothing wrong with this, I think it's absolutely amazing that we can give someone such a great freedom back to them. :)
 
Darren.....

It's not only the stimulation of a number of areas but also the manner in which they are stimulated. Some manufactures only allow you to stimulate one electrode at a time called sequential stimulation. Other manufacturers allow you to stimulate more than one electrode simultaneously. The simulataneous stimulation allows for what is called current steering and thus the nerve areas between electrodes can be stimulated giving more virtual frequencies than sequential stimulation.

I hope I didn't come across as not being grateful for the restoration any part of my hearing. Believe me, there are few if any persons more grateful than I. And yes.....it's amazing that we can restore any part of a sense!
 
I hope I didn't come across as not being grateful for the restoration any part of my hearing. Believe me, there are few if any persons more grateful than I. And yes.....it's amazing that we can restore any part of a sense!

Not at all. :wave: Before this post I hadn't heard of the implants, have found it completely fascinating and appreciate you sharing. :)
 
I only have 20% of my hearing left. I can't use the CI due to my job. I would keep knocking it off, so I got hearing aids from the VA. I was impressed I was expecting those old big ones. What I got was top of the line digital hearing aids. I can really understand what he went through with being in social environments. Having my wife automatically repeat what someone said so I can hear it. I never really knew how deaf I was until I got hearing aids. I just hope it doesn't get any worse. Music is very important to me also hearing my wife's voice.
 
Chuck,

I can sympathize with you. It's those little things....like hearing your wife's voice....or rather not being able to hear your wife's voice......having her to repeat herself or what other's said that make you feel the isolation.

Chuck...we spent Christmas in Houston with our youngest son, his wife and their twin 21 month old daughters. The youngest son is a 12 year US Navy veteran, 4th year dental student on a Navy scholarship. His wife is a pharmacist who works at MD Anderson Cancer Center. The son and wife haven't spent but a couple nights away from those babies since they were born. One night, we babysat the twins while the "kids" went out for the evening. We were playing with the twins on a love seat when little Haiden walked across the love seat with a clean cloth diaper in her hand...held it up in front of her face.. "Paw-Paw.....boo!" She wanted to play Peek-A-Boo with me ....and through the magic of a CI and HA I heard her and we did play Peek-A-Boo.

I wear a phonak Naida V UP hearing aid on my right ear. It's the most powerful digital HA made or was when I got it last year. Before I got my CI, I often turned the HA off during noisey situations as it becomes too much a mental struggle to hear in noisey situations. With the CI, I am gradually becoming able to hear in those situations. Two can be better than 1 in this case. I was told by an ENT 12 years ago that a HA wouldn't help my right ear due to the type of hearing loss and the type of residual hearing I have in my right ear. Then last year when I woke up with a dead left ear, my CI ENT/surgeon said....it won't be much but I'll prescribe a HA for your right ear so you'll at least have some hearing.

I've come to appreciate the unrecognized capabilities of the human brain. With either device by itself.....CI on my left ear...or HA on my right ear....I can get by but boy it's ugly. Each ear has it's own type of distortion and yet when I wear both, the brain takes the best of each and gives me some pretty good sound and it's getting better with each mapping of my recently implanted CI.

I was forced to retire as a result of my deafness. Frankly, it was my call and in reality it just relieved my manager of having to force the situation. When my left ear died overnight, it just became highly unsafe for me to continue working. It was unsafe for me and my customers equipment. I could no longer hear a 2,000 lb. frame spinning at .333 seconds per revolution....I couldn't hear fans running and know that something was energized....I couldn't hear cryogenic pumps running and know there was power to it.....just so many things that made it unsafe for me and the equipment. I haven't worn jewely of any kind for safety reasons since the mid-1960s when I started working on electronics. It is just too unsafe. Now I wear a titanium medical alert "dog tag" 24x7. "Ken Fitzgerald - Cochlear Implant - No MRI - No Mono-polar cathery." If they want to do an MRI on me for diagnostic purposes, first they have to surgically remove the rare earth magnet that holds the implanted subcutaneous antenna coil to the external antenna coil. If they do surgery and want to cauterize the wound, they have to use bi-polar cautery not mono-polar cautery. Luckily for me, I was old enough, had enough time with the company and was financially able to retire.

Now because of the HA and the CI, I had to retire. Can't wear either in the presence of x-ray and thus could no longer work on x-ray equipments or CT scanners. Can't wear either in the presence of the magnet used on MR scanners and without them I am deaf, becoming unsafe again.

I haven't mastered using the telephone yet. That should come with time and practice.

We bought a fairly expensive system. During the day when we are home, I can wear a remote on my belt and the system monitors the door bell, the telephone and the smoke detectors. If any of those get activated, say the telephone rings, the remote vibrates and there is an indicator light showing which device is trying to get my attention...telephone...smoke detector....door bell. At night I place that remote in a charger by the bed. There is a 6" "coil" that I placed between mattress and box springs and with the remote in the charger should any system alarm (telephone ring, doorbell, smoke detector alarm) the coil causes the bed to shake.

The wife was a little upset there was no place to put quarters and use it at her leisure. I told her to just call herself with her cell phone.

In the end...I'm still deaf...at night when I take off my hardware....I'm still deaf. I wear a hearing aid, a cochlear implant, dentures and eye glasses. I told my wife my greatest fear is seeing the headlines in the local paper "Old guy dies in house fire after going back in for his eyes, ears and teeth."

Protect your hearing, your eyes.....be safe.
 
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