Decisions, Decisions

Making the decision to get a cochlear implant is not something that can be done hastily, nor should it be.  A person with normal hearing might think if someone struggles so much to hear, it should be a no-brainer to want to get a cochlear implant.  But the whole should I/shouldn't I dilemma is a mixed bag of emotions.  

First, I'll state the obvious -- no one wants a doctor to cut into their scalp and insert something that looks like a flattened squid and then stick the little squid's tentacles (electrodes) into their cochlea.  No surgery of any kind should be entered into unless the benefit will outweigh the risk. 

The Slim Straight that I will have implanted

People with hearing loss are very protective of their ears, hanging on to every last bit of hearing they have left.  In the past, the process of inserting the electrodes into a patient's cochlea stripped it of all the hair cells, leaving the person completely deaf.  Now it is possible, in some cases, for the surgeon to retain the patient's hearing in the low frequencies. This is encouraging to me and I am cautiously optimistic about my outcome.  

Some people with hearing loss do quite well with hearing aids and/or speech reading so they don’t feel compelled to get implanted.  Getting implanted is an all-or-nothing commitment.  Once you get one, you can’t go back to wearing a hearing aid.  One thing implants and hearing aids have in common is they don’t restore or cure hearing.  

A lot of people don't like change.  Hearing with a cochlear implant is very different than hearing naturally through your ear, even if you wear a hearing aid.  It requires a lot of patience and hard work because in order to get the most out of it, you need to commit to daily aural rehabilitation.  Many recipients say voices sound robotic or like Darth Vader at first, but with practice they start to sound like you remember them. 

Electing to get a cochlear implant is only the first of many decisions I am making in my journey toward improved hearing and understanding.  There are three companies that make cochlear implants and each one comes out with a newer and better processor every few years.  I am going with Cochlear America and their newest processor the Nucleus 6.  Cochlear has FDA approval for wireless accessories that will work with my processor and allow me to hear over the phone and the TV better.  

And speaking of the accessories, I get to pick five of them as a bundled package that is all thrown in to the cost that insurance covers.   There are many things to choose from such as the kind of remote, plastic covers to bling-out the processor, type of battery, water-proof case so you can wear it in the pool, cables, blah, blah, blah...the list goes on.  And not only do I choose the types of accessories, but the different colors! The picture below shows some of the fun colors the covers come in. (Sorry, I can't get the picture rotated -- let me know if you know how to do this).

It is hard to decide what I will need since I’ve never had a cochlear implant, but there are more than five things I'd like to have.  I know it's not even Halloween yet, but maybe I better start writing my letter to Santa.