I've written plenty of posts on the benefits (and drawbacks) of being bilateral, so I'll try not to get too repetitive.
Bilateral=good
Regrets=none
When I was deciding on whether or not to go bilateral, the rumors about the Nucleus 5 had just started circulating. As much as I wanted the "latest and greatest" there was no telling when it would come out. It could be weeks, could be years, and my audiologist couldn't squeeze anything out of the Cochlear rep. So, I (obviously) decided to go ahead with the surgery, as the timing was best for me. I had a full summer planned, and there was no way that I was interrupting my plans with surgery, and I sure as heck wasn't going to do it right after I started high school!
So, as you probably all know, the Nucleus 5 came out a month ago. As cool as it looks...
And as tiny/thin as it is...![]()
And as amazing as the remote may seem...![]()
(Not to mention the bilateral accesories, AutoPhone, and improved mics...)
I'm still happy that I had the surgery when I did. I should be able to upgrade fairly soon, but had I waited, that would have been 6 less months that I would have heard from that ear. It's made life a lot easier. Without my new implant, I would not be able to use the FM (although I still do get some static, at least it works!) I was worried about music, going into my second surgery. There's still a lot of ongoing research abot the benefits of having two CIs vs. 1+a hearing aid when listening to music. I was listening to music days after my new ear was activated, and I, personally, have found that it sounds much better with my 2 implants. It sounds great when I have it on my everyday ADRO, but even better when I have both processors set on the music program. I cannot even imagine going back to wearing one. When my batteries die on either ear, I wonder how I was ever able to do it with just one! While hearing in noise and in the classroom is still a challenge, it's a lot easier than it was before.
It was so worth it.
I've been thinking about going bilateral, but it's a little too soon after surgery. How does it compare? Is speech easier to understand with 2 implants versus just one?
ReplyDeleteNabeel-
ReplyDeleteDefinitely much better. Listening doesn't require as much energy-instead of actively listening, I can actually overhear things without trying (not always, but it happens). My own speech actually improved after getting my second implant, so that's got to say something about how much better it is. Also, almost everyone has a dominant ear (even people with normal hearing) and it's not neccesarily the one you got implanted first. I find that I hear better on my newer side than my old side, so it's possible you could have better understanding with the second-implanted side alone.
Hope that helps :) Let me know if you have any other questions.
Yeah, I'm definitely getting serious about implanting the second ear. My only hesitation is that it's so soon after the first implant, and I'm still getting up on the up of the learning curve now. Should I wait until I almost max my learning curve with the first implant, or will a second implant speed up my speech learning capabilities? Something for me to think about.
ReplyDeleteby the way, I just wrote a blog post saying that I'm considering a 2nd CI. If you want, you can add to the discussion... I know I said no "fishing" for comments, but this time I'm going to make an exception for myself ;)
ReplyDeleteWill do Nabeel, will do ;)
ReplyDelete