room with Allison and an intern. We talked about the implants, and I
gave her some information. Then we did the hearing test. Beeps, tones,
repeat words and sentences, three or four times. Without hearing aids,
right ear with hearing aid, left ear with hearing, both ears aided...
Turns out, audiologically I am a candidate.
She showed me what the internal and external components looked like of
the Cochlear device. She also told me that their center is more biased
towards Cochlear over AB and MedEl. They prefer Cochlear as they have
the best reliabilty with their devices. MedEl and AB both have had their
devices pulled off the market a few times due to reliability issues.
Turns out there are 2 manufactures in charge of the internal device for
AB, and the 1 that does the covering of the internal device doesn't
always seal the "package", so fluid gets inside and ruins the device
after a couple of years or so. I didn't know that abou AB, so I
definitely learned something new.
Then Mom and Rob comes into the room. More talking and discussing.
Allison says I should have Shane bring up the bass levels on my hearing
aid to hear more of the lower frequencies. Also get a CT scan done, so
they can see what the cochleas look like. There is a major concern with
my lft ear. I've had abolsutely no responses at all, and they are
concered of the ossification. So I may have to do the right ear, and
I've realized that in the last few years. But, I am willing to take that
risk and lose whatever I have left in my right ear to get the implant,
if it will help me to hear better. And Allison thinks that the implant
would benefit me greatly. She also said that if there is no ossification
in the left ear and I choose to have the left implanted, that it could
take up to 2 years before I may even understand any speech and such. But
there's a good chance of ossification in the left ear, we just don't
know how much. So I may just do the right ear. Lots of things to
consider.
She also mentioned that I'm the only one they're working with that has
no insurance. She gave us a number to call, and said to try SSI again
and such. So when we get home, we'll see what we can do about the
insurance. $105,000ish is what the entire thing costs. I'll definitely
talk to Huma Resource about the insurance some more, for sure.
Now, my mom is really scared. She's scared that I may stat the process,
then quit at some point. Yes, I may be really strongwilled, but I am
very determined to do this and to make the implant work for me. I know
it takes time and effort, but I feel like I can go through with this. I
don't see myself giving up, I really don't. But then again, there is
never knowing what will happen in the next month or week even. There's
never knowing what I'm going to do and what my mind decides, usually. I
know, my mom is being a mom, but sometimes I feellike she doesn't truly
think I can do this. She assures me that she is 100% behind me on this,
whatever I decide, but she is still scared of the outcome. Will I give
up after a few weeks or will I keep working away? That's what worries
her. We already have had a small fight over this.
Well, now I've got this book of materials to sift through and share with
my mom. Do a lot of thinking and considering... And get my hearing aid
bass levelsback up, CT scan done and a meeting with the surgeon to
discuss the C scan results. Great, lets find out how much a CT scan
costs.
No comments:
Post a Comment