[NFB-DB] cochlear implant experiences

Mon Nov 4 23:48:14 UTC 2019

There are different types of processors, the processor I have works similar
to the behind the ear hearing aid I used to have for that ear and still
wear on the other ear. It has an ear hook that goes around the ear which is
connected to a device that sits behind the ear which contains the
microphones. It is slightly bigger than my hearing aid, but that is mainly
due to the battery which is rechargeable so I will take the convenience
over the slight increase in size. It doesn't bother me at all. Oh I forgot
this piece behind my ear is connected to a coil that is connected to the
magnet that attracts to the magnet inside my head. It doesn't bother me at
all though. It did a little bit when I was first activated but not much. I
got used to it quickly.

On Mon, Nov 4, 2019 at 4:19 PM jmail201586--- via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
wrote:

>                               Hi Everyone,
>
> So may I ask, how exactly does the implant work? I’m asking this question
> because me myself, am hard of hearing (this is how my doctors/audiologists
> terms it) and I’ve chosen not to have the implant performed.
>
> Is the implant noticeable. Do you wrap the device around the ear?
>
> Thank you.
>
>
>
> *From:* NFB-DB <nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf Of *Chris Westbrook
> via NFB-DB
> *Sent:* Monday, November 4, 2019 10:02 AM
> *To:* NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> *Cc:* Chris Westbrook <westbchris at gmail.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [NFB-DB] cochlear implant experiences
>
>
>
> I have no vision. I chose cochlear because of their compatibility with
> iphone. I was told that all three major brands are good and it was just a
> matter of picking one. The center I  went to had experience with all three
> but that may not always be the case.
>
>
>
> On Mon, Nov 4, 2019 at 9:56 AM Marsha via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
> Gene and Chris,
>
>
>
> Both of you do not have any vision? Correct.
>
>
>
> Thank you for sparking this very interesting discussion.
>
>
>
> Thank you,
>
>
>
> *From:* NFB-DB <nfb-db-bounces at nfbnet.org> *On Behalf Of *Gene Richburg
> via NFB-DB
> *Sent:* Sunday, November 3, 2019 9:24 PM
> *To:* NFB Deaf-Blind Division Mailing List <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> *Cc:* Gene Richburg <gene5402 at austin.rr.com>
> *Subject:* Re: [NFB-DB] cochlear implant experiences
>
>
>
> Hi guys;
>
>
>
> I have had my ci for probably about 4 and a half years now.
>
> At first, when I would hear voices through it, some voices would sound
> like a man and a women mixed together sort of, and the sound was like I had
> a really bad ear infection.
>
> Also, the sound was so new, that it sounded like my head was this really
> big medal ball, and when my audi was giving me simple words like hotdog,
> ice cream, bluebird, words like that, it almost sounded like she had a
> little of a reverb, and like she was singing the words, even though she
> wasn't really!when I was over at my mom's house, and I was back in the
> bedroom, the ac was kind of loud because the ac was just outside the room,
> so it got the most air flow in the house, so the vent was only open just
> enough for sufficient air to come through, so, I wanted to see what it
> would sound like if I took my ci off with the ac on, so I did, and it left
> a very metallic sound, very much like a digital sound effect trailing off
> behind it.
>
> Samantha on my iphone sounded like she was talking much higher and quite
> monotoned at first untill I got more adjusted to the implant, she sounds
> normal now.
>
> Basically, it sounds very distorted at first, kind of like a radio off the
> station, but that should clear up after some time, the more you wear it,
> and use it, the quicker you ajust.
>
> There is a grocery store in Texas called H E B and if you go into huge
> ones like they have here in
>
> Austin, it is really noisy, and even though I still have a ha, I found I
> was unable to hear people that didn't know me, so, I had a friend of mine
> go with me, and man, was it loud, but I said, there's no point in putting
> off the oppertunity to get adjusted as quickly as possible, so I just wore
> the ci, and just lived with it.
>
> When you have one of these, you or some else that has it might notice, in
> the way of music, that notes sound very distorted and soft almost like
> there out of your range to hear them.I have advanced bionics, which was
> recommended to me since it supports virtuil frequencies, it only has 16
> electrodes, unlike cochlear Americas, but, to my knowledge, ab is the only
> one that supports this virtual frequency technology, basically, what
> they're doing, is much like what ha manufactures do, but in the case of the
> ci's, it's a little different.
>
> So when you have a loss that's so severe, that ha's are not able to
> accomidate the frequencies you need, they use this virtual frequency
> cloning technology.
>
> What this does, is takes frequencies that you're not able to hear, and
> clones them to frequencies that you can here.
>
> So, the a b ci's do something similar to that, they take frequencies that
> they don't physically support, and copy them to ones they do support, so
> the result is more of a range of hearing, but you don't have to use that
> feature if you don't want to.
>
>
>
> It also has something called clear voice, this feature I should say tries
> to provide releaf from unwanted noises, but in doing so, it makes speech
> you're trying to hear kind of scratchy and muted, and my audiologist told
> me that I'm not the only one that says that, she has 4 other deaf-blind
> patients who also say the same thing.
>
>
>
> I do have unpredictable sound localization issues, as my ears are not
> balanced, and I'm actually in the process of having to get my other ear
> implanted, as my hearing has gotten to the point that the most powerful ha
> is only 5 percent stronger than the one I have now, and I've had two
> audiologists tell me that they really think I should consider it, so I'm
> trying to work through the twc system to get it, but I don't know when it's
> gonna get aproved, as they have a lot more loops and hoops to jump through
> to get it approved.
>
>
>
> I hope this has been helpfull, just everyone keep in mind, that everyone
> has different experiences, so you might experience some or all of the
> things I have should you decide to have this done.
>
>
>
> Gene
>
>
>
> On 11/3/2019 6:49 PM, Chris Westbrook via NFB-DB wrote:
>
> I can imagine that would be a real mourning process. I have had hearing
> and vision loss all my life, I could have gotten a cochlear implant a long
> time ago but was too scared. Lol. So I dont know what normal sounds like. I
> will say music sounds really bad through the implant, but that might get
> better still, I have been focusing more on practicing speech recognition
> than music. So interesting that people can have such different experiences.
>
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 7:26 PM Showe Trela via NFB-DB <nfb-db at nfbnet.org>
> wrote:
>
> Hello. I had a CI put in about a year and a half ago and I personally am
> glad I have it, but don't use it as much as I should. I got randomly sick a
> couple of years ago and lost all my hearing in my right ear. I am still
> going through a terible mourning process so I think that is why I hate my
> CI so much. It didn't hurt at all for me. I find the app pretty accessible.
> I hate how it sounds because I still have normal hearing in my left ear and
> my CI gives me a headache and I have to slow down voiceover to understand
> my phone. Never had to do that before... I still have lots of trouble
> localizing sound even when I wear the darn thing. Like I said. I am still
> mourning my hearing loss. Blindness is nothing to me because I've been
> blind all my life but losing my hearing was hard...
>
>
>
> Showe
>
> Sent from my iPhone
>
>
>
> On Nov 3, 2019, at 12:21 PM, kara bohnenstiel via NFB-DB <
> nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> 
>
> As the mother of a 14 year old who is totally blind and on Nov 21 will
> receive the surgery-- I would love to hear anyone's experience... Here's
> one question: firstly, did you wake up in a lot of pain from the surgery?
> Glad to hear you are glad you did it, Chris!
>
>
>
> Best,
>
> Kara
>
>
>
> On Sun, Nov 3, 2019 at 1:58 PM Chris Westbrook via NFB-DB <
> nfb-db at nfbnet.org> wrote:
>
> I thought it would be neat to start a thread on cochlear implants. I have
> been "activated" for almost three months now and am glad I did it, but it
> has been a challenging journey. Just curious what others' experiences have
> ben. I am considering writing an article for the braille monitor on my
> experiences, as I feel that the broader blind community needs to be more
> educated about the experiences of some of us. I am also willing ot answer
> any questions anyone may have. Look forward to responses. Thanks and have a
> great day.
>
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