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Post by spiceman on Aug 25, 2016 23:14:30 GMT -5
FYI only what is a cochlear implant? It can give sound to a person that hears no sound. If you fail a hearing test, then you may qualify. Well, I have a cochlear implant and was a volunteer for 5 plus years. I love it. The best thing going today. My ENT said to me." That of you wait for tomorrow, it my never come. So, 14 years after my implant, there is nothing better. So, tomorrow never got any better. Meet some RTH people at a rock show and I was able to hear most of the conversation. With only 24 frequents they all sounded the same to me. Ha ( sorry guys)
So, what's the implant do? It bypasses the damaged part of the hear. Inside the ear is a carpet of hair cells and each cell emits a frequency, so normal hearing has millions of frequencies. The implant has 24. (When you have everything and lose it, what you get back you grateful.)
Ok, when I turned 40 I lost all my hearing. When I got the implant, I was very happy. So, I was a volunteer advocate for 5 plus years. My goal: if I could help one person hear again....then I won.
RTH is full of good people and I just want everyone here to know that there is something out there that can give people sound, that hear no sound.
website: cochlearsamerica.com A place to help find a doctor in your area. and much more information. check it out.
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Post by Jugglerguy on Aug 25, 2016 23:44:55 GMT -5
I had a student in my eighth grade math class a couple years ago with cochlear implants. She didn't hear until she was five years old. Super nice kid with good friends. She was difficult to understand, and she still had trouble hearing, but as you said, it was much, much better than what she had before. Thanks for sharing your story.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 25, 2016 23:58:48 GMT -5
And thank you, too I'm the other way around, from your student. I talk so well many people don't think I'm deaf.
Also, I make it work for me. I take it off at night and hear nothing. Kids could have a party in my room and I hear nothing. My dogs can bark all night and I still sleep like a baby.
I've said it before and will say it again....that the worse thing you have and make the best of it.
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gemfeller
Cave Dweller
Member since June 2011
Posts: 3,792
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Post by gemfeller on Aug 26, 2016 11:36:08 GMT -5
Spiceman, how bad does one's hearing have to be to qualify for the implants? I basically lost most of my hearing several years ago due to extremely loud gunfire at the rifle range. I have a dilemma. I can hear distorted sounds with my (extremely!) expensive hearing aids but have so much nerve damage I have a lot of difficulty understanding words. I get by (barely) with a combination of hearing aids and lip reading. I find myself withdrawing more and more from personal contacts and social situations because holding conversations is a painful ordeal. So is trying to use the phone. I have a caption phone but the voice recognition software isn't ready for prime time -- much of it is gibberish, just like the closed captions on TV.
Despite all that my doc tells me my hearing isn't bad enough for implants. Frankly, my life has turned into a living hell in some respects. It sounds crazy --I'm deaf but sounds that are normal to most people are excruciatingly loud and painful for me when I have my hearing aids in. I can't go to restaurants (painful background noise), can't order take-out at drive-ins (can't hear what's being said on the speakers), can't even have a lengthy conversation with my wife. Frankly I live for the moment when I can take the hearing aids off and enjoy beautiful silence. Meanwhile I feel more and more isolated.
Any suggestions?
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2016 13:44:11 GMT -5
Any suggestions?
If you want cochlear implants:
Make an audiologist appt, tell them you have lost all hearing and then when they test, do not react to any sounds that you maybe can hear.
In a word, fail the test, on purpose.
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Post by radio on Aug 26, 2016 15:41:40 GMT -5
Glad you found a solution that worked for you. Now if they could just find something to fix Tinnitus I would be all in!
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Post by txrockhunter on Aug 26, 2016 15:49:41 GMT -5
Hey, Dale.....this topic is near and dear to my heart!
My 13 year old son Cooper is hearing impaired (legally deaf) and wears aids. He's got a condition called Enlarged Vestibular Aqueducts (EVA), a progressive disorder that will eventually leave him deaf. He passed the hearing test at birth, but at 2 1/2 we discovered he wasn't hearing. It took a CT scan to reveal the EVA. At that point we got him hearing aids and put him through intense speech therapy. In ideal conditions with aids, he hears about 60% of spoken words, but has become proficient at reading lips. I am sure you have similar experiences! Even though he has maxed out his hearing aids, he is currently not a candidate for Cochlear Implants.
He was mainstreamed through school and has learned to overcome obstacles that most of us will never face. I truly believe that it's those obstacles that have shaped the young man that he is becoming! Like you, he has chosen to accept his challenge and use his hearing as fuel, not a crutch. He has been swimming competitively for the past 5 years , without hearing a word that his coach says, or ever hearing a starting signal, or being able to hear his name called at finals (can't have aids in the water). In spite of all the challenges, he has qualified and won at the State Championships, Qualified for the USA Deaf Swim Team and swam at the World Championships, and has a goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 4 years.
I think we are shaped by how we handle the difficult situations we face. It's hard to watch our kids struggle. But, I think they will be unprepared to deal with the world unless they learn how to handle it.
Sorry for the rambling and hijacking the thread! I just wanted to add to your initial point......There are solutions for the hearing impaired. If you are able to give someone new hope or help them get started, that would be a success! If there is anyone that needs information on EVA or kids with a hearing impairment, I am available as well.
Thanks for opening yourself up and being honest!
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Post by rockpickerforever on Aug 26, 2016 16:08:54 GMT -5
Dale, glad that your implants have been so beneficial to you. Amazing what technology can do for us these days.
We can either let the hand that we are dealt beat us down, or we can be strong in spite of it. txrockhunter , kudos to your son for overcoming obstacles and going for the gold! Challenges shape each and every one of us.
In that vein, I'd like to post a YouTube video I just received. It is wonderfully done, and has an inspiring message.
We're The Superhumans | Rio Paralympics 2016 Trailer
Sorry, no captions for the hearing impaired, but I'm sure you'll all get the message! I hope you think this was appropriate here, I don't mean to derail your thread either, Dale!
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Post by mohs on Aug 26, 2016 17:05:33 GMT -5
With faith and hope care & support We all over come
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Deleted
Deleted Member
Member since January 1970
Posts: 0
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Post by Deleted on Aug 26, 2016 17:16:58 GMT -5
Thanks to Dale, Jeremy's son and all the rest of you. This little bit of inspiration is perfectly timed for the start of my new position and I have no good way to express my gratitude. So here. Thank you. All of you.
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Post by Garage Rocker on Aug 26, 2016 20:56:40 GMT -5
Thanks for the post, spiceman. I know we've talked previously on this subject, but I appreciate the timing on your post. We are coming up on my son's annual appointment and my wife and I are always apprehensive as it gets close. He doesn't seem to have a care or worry. Kids are resilient, as jeremy 's inspirational post points out. You guys are a couple of the good ones. Thanks!
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dottyt
spending too much on rocks
Member since July 2016
Posts: 305
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Post by dottyt on Aug 26, 2016 23:00:12 GMT -5
Interesting (at least to me) tidbit: Rush Limbaugh is totally deaf and has cochlear implants.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:07:14 GMT -5
Spiceman, how bad does one's hearing have to be to qualify for the implants? I basically lost most of my hearing several years ago due to extremely loud gunfire at the rifle range. I have a dilemma. I can hear distorted sounds with my (extremely!) expensive hearing aids but have so much nerve damage I have a lot of difficulty understanding words. I get by (barely) with a combination of hearing aids and lip reading. I find myself withdrawing more and more from personal contacts and social situations because holding conversations is a painful ordeal. So is trying to use the phone. I have a caption phone but the voice recognition software isn't ready for prime time -- much of it is gibberish, just like the closed captions on TV.
Despite all that my doc tells me my hearing isn't bad enough for implants. Frankly, my life has turned into a living hell in some respects. It sounds crazy --I'm deaf but sounds that are normal to most people are excruciatingly loud and painful for me when I have my hearing aids in. I can't go to restaurants (painful background noise), can't order take-out at drive-ins (can't hear what's being said on the speakers), can't even have a lengthy conversation with my wife. Frankly I live for the moment when I can take the hearing aids off and enjoy beautiful silence. Meanwhile I feel more and more isolated.
Any suggestions?
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:16:57 GMT -5
I understand everything your saying. I had 0 percent hearing in left ear and 4 percent in the left ear. The implant is in the left ear because I have a VP shunt on the right side
To qualify, if that's the right term, the web could help. I don't use the phone at all, the TV I read that. But everyday I learn more about sounds. Voices all sound the same but better than nothing. The doc did say that I will have to hear all over again. But, I can
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:17:52 GMT -5
Interesting (at least to me) tidbit: Rush Limbaugh is totally deaf and has cochlear implants.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:22:53 GMT -5
Yes he does but I don't know what type. Cochlear, Medel can't remember the other name. But Cochlear is who developed the implant.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:34:00 GMT -5
Any suggestions? If you want cochlear implants: Make an audiologist appt, tell them you have lost all hearing and then when they test, do not react to any sounds that you maybe can hear. In a word, fail the test, on purpose. Well, the test I had was a sentence test. 10 words per sentence and 10 sentences. Easier to figure percent that way. I remember thtest like it was yesterday ... First sentence, ."The boy walked out the front door to get the milk." I felt very stupid. All I could say was "A boy did something" After the implant I got 94 percent. Yahoo I was very happy.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:36:35 GMT -5
Glad you found a solution that worked for you. Now if they could just find something to fix Tinnitus I would be all in! I understand, I don't have t but people with Implants have motive it.
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:43:14 GMT -5
Hey, Dale.....this topic is near and dear to my heart! My 13 year old son Cooper is hearing impaired (legally deaf) and wears aids. He's got a condition called Enlarged Vestibular Aqueducts (EVA), a progressive disorder that will eventually leave him deaf. He passed the hearing test at birth, but at 2 1/2 we discovered he wasn't hearing. It took a CT scan to reveal the EVA. At that point we got him hearing aids and put him through intense speech therapy. In ideal conditions with aids, he hears about 60% of spoken words, but has become proficient at reading lips. I am sure you have similar experiences! Even though he has maxed out his hearing aids, he is currently not a candidate for Cochlear Implants. He was mainstreamed through school and has learned to overcome obstacles that most of us will never face. I truly believe that it's those obstacles that have shaped the young man that he is becoming! Like you, he has chosen to accept his challenge and use his hearing as fuel, not a crutch. He has been swimming competitively for the past 5 years , without hearing a word that his coach says, or ever hearing a starting signal, or being able to hear his name called at finals (can't have aids in the water). In spite of all the challenges, he has qualified and won at the State Championships, Qualified for the USA Deaf Swim Team and swam at the World Championships, and has a goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 4 years. I think we are shaped by how we handle the difficult situations we face. It's hard to watch our kids struggle. But, I think they will be unprepared to deal with the world unless they learn how to handle it. Sorry for the rambling and hijacking the thread! I just wanted to add to your initial point......There are solutions for the hearing impaired. If you are able to give someone new hope or help them get started, that would be a success! If there is anyone that needs information on EVA or kids with a hearing impairment, I am available as well. Thanks for opening yourself up and being honest!
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Post by spiceman on Aug 28, 2016 20:43:30 GMT -5
Hey, Dale.....this topic is near and dear to my heart! My 13 year old son Cooper is hearing impaired (legally deaf) and wears aids. He's got a condition called Enlarged Vestibular Aqueducts (EVA), a progressive disorder that will eventually leave him deaf. He passed the hearing test at birth, but at 2 1/2 we discovered he wasn't hearing. It took a CT scan to reveal the EVA. At that point we got him hearing aids and put him through intense speech therapy. In ideal conditions with aids, he hears about 60% of spoken words, but has become proficient at reading lips. I am sure you have similar experiences! Even though he has maxed out his hearing aids, he is currently not a candidate for Cochlear Implants. He was mainstreamed through school and has learned to overcome obstacles that most of us will never face. I truly believe that it's those obstacles that have shaped the young man that he is becoming! Like you, he has chosen to accept his challenge and use his hearing as fuel, not a crutch. He has been swimming competitively for the past 5 years , without hearing a word that his coach says, or ever hearing a starting signal, or being able to hear his name called at finals (can't have aids in the water). In spite of all the challenges, he has qualified and won at the State Championships, Qualified for the USA Deaf Swim Team and swam at the World Championships, and has a goal of qualifying for the Olympic Trials in 4 years. I think we are shaped by how we handle the difficult situations we face. It's hard to watch our kids struggle. But, I think they will be unprepared to deal with the world unless they learn how to handle it. Sorry for the rambling and hijacking the thread! I just wanted to add to your initial point......There are solutions for the hearing impaired. If you are able to give someone new hope or help them get started, that would be a success! If there is anyone that needs information on EVA or kids with a hearing impairment, I am available as well. Thanks for opening yourself up and being honest!
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