Saturday, June 14, 2014

Bilateral hearing with different CIs


Whenever I come to the hospital, I still see my  poster on the hospital door, of my audiologist. :) It is always so nice to see, they are still supporting me. Thank you!!

I’ve been thinking about my deaf right ear and what to do, to improve life quality! Does anyone have experience with bilateral hearing, using cochlea implants from different manufacturers? I have a Nucleus 5 on my left ear and I want a Med El on my right ear. Can this work out? Would there not be much confusion with the sounds between my two ears? 

Some people report that they hear different with a Med El, than with a Nucleus. I have a strong desire to hear with BOTH ears, but it’s very difficult to make the right decision! :) 

Once I make my choice and get the implant, there is no other way I can exchange it by another. I hope I can collect a lot of information, so I can decide and perhaps go for a surgery. The second thing is, will the hospital pay for another surgery?? I have a good reason and the right to have two ears!! I wonder what will happen if I do not hear with an implant on my right ear… Will I have to give back the speech processor to the hospital? Can I not keep it to practice hearing, even with just a little bit of response/stimulation? As you know, I would be ready to completely take off my device on my left ear, just so I can train my right ear… and this is going to make a difference. At least, I’d be ready to give it a try! Thoughts, thoughts …. :)

Yours,
Poetry Girl!

Sunday, April 6, 2014

Listening to music is uncomfortable


It's been quite a while! I haven't had the time to dedicate to keep this blog active and fresh.. huh :(. Well life's moving pretty fast and it's been and up and down. I'm trying to catch up slowly and keep a routine, like blogging at least once a week, or every two for the beginning. 

So much has happened since last year but not much related to my hearing. In short, I'm doing well with my ear. No major problems with my device. Here and there I had problems with the coil that from time to time, my device stopped working for a second. I had this fixed and got a new coil. My life has improved a lot, regarding to my hearing. Yes, I am still misunderstanding words, but I got used to live with it. It's not so bad. It often feels like, that the most important things I miss to hear, and the things that are not of a matter, I hear. Crazy eh? :) 

My audio cable is not working anymore, and you know how much a new peace costs.. over 100,- EUR a new one!!! Huh, a lot of money. This is unfortunately not covered by the insurance and so I have to pay it myself.. I haven't decided to get a new one. Still looking for other options, e.g. ear plugs. I tried out these and I have to say, I miss the comfort of not having anything like this big on my ears. It's quite painful after some time, when you're in bed, listening to music. So, there is no listening to music and falling asleep in bed, unless I listen to it through the speakers and wake up everyone else. :P

It was so much easier when I plugged this audio cable just behind my speech processor and I could hear music directly in my head (ear). There was also this privacy that I have appreciated. No one could hear what I'm listening to, no matter the volume. 

I will see, but at the moment I cannot decide. It does cost a lot of money.


Bellman Alarm clock Last year I bought a new alarm clock from Bellman & Symfon. Here is a video, how this clock works. It's very useful to me, as a clock with light function only, cannot wake me up! I need something that shakes me out of my bed :)





It's very helpful and a good device to rely on it, but there are also cheaper clocks on Amazon to buy. 

This was a short update on the thing going on at the moment. I'll try to write in regular intervals, to get back on track.

Thanks for reading and please, 
stop by again =)


Sandra
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