Tuesday, March 18, 2008

Thoughts...

Lots of thoughts going through my mind tonight. Some are even a bit confusing for me. I came across a new hearing aid from Phonak, and from looking at the details and of what the hearing aid offers, it sounds like a great hearing aid. Sounds like it'd work better than my current one.

Now here's the debate. Should I just hold off on the cochlear implant process for a while, and get the hearing aid, or just forget about the hearing aid and keep working towards the implant goal? Hm. Maybe I should just try out the new hearing aid for a bit, see how it works. I don't know. I sent the implant audiologist in Denver an email with my thoughts, to see what she says. I don't want to give up on the implant, I really don't. In my mind, I do feel like the implant would be the best option for me. But, when will I actually get the implant? And when I look at the details of the new hearing aid, well, it just makes my brain think and ponder and wonder "should I do this or that?"

If I could implant my left ear, great, I'd go for it, no question about it. But with there being ossification in my left cochlea though, we don't even know if it's even an option. Only way to find out is to get the CAT scans done and visit with the doctor. Then we could go from there I suppose.

Just today, or perhaps yesterday, I was reading someone's journal entry. This person just recently got his cochlear implant, and it was just activated a few days ago. He wrote that he was able to hear someone snapping their fingers clear across the house. That's amazing! To be able to hear such little things like that with ease, only after a few days of having the implant activated.

I know, everyone's implant process is different. It's hard to say for sure when one can really start to hear this and that after their implant has been activated. How long would it be before I can understand speech again? How about the phone, will I ever be able to hear on it? Will I ever be able to hear and understand voices without relying so much on visual support?

Gee, thanks a lot brain, for giving me all these thoughts. Yes, the cochlear implant is a really huge decision to make, a life-changing one. I realize that.

I guess, really, the best thing I can do is to at least get the CAT scans done, and visit with the doctor. Then go from there. See how ossified the left cochlea is. Is it fully 100% ossified, or partially? No one knows right now, and we won't ever know, until I get the CAT scans done.

I know, I've been blogging quite a bit lately. I really didn't expect to come across a new hearing aid on the internet tonight, and get so into it that I start having all these thoughts.

2 comments:

Amy said...

I would think you should go get CT scan first and goes from there, keep going with CI process and try out new hearing aid on trial while waiting? that way you dont miss anything out and dont have to wait longer if it didnt work well enough?

CDM said...

If there's a possibility I can get the left ear implanted, I'll keep going. But I don't want the right ear implanted, unless the hearing in that ear worsens later on.