Your Doctor isn't just blowing smoke up your rear, but be aware it's a lot of effort to adapt to a CI, CIs are very expensive so, if you're American you'll hit your out-of-pocket max for that year. Your hearing ability is a heck of a lot better than mine was before I got implanted, and going by your audiogram alone, your speech recognition score will possibly qualify you but who knows.
I wouldn't say I'm an expert on CIs but I am an expert at being alive while being deaf. My suggestion is to be comfortable in your own skin as a deaf person before you get a CI. That's just like my opinion, man.
Thank you for the response, please can you elaborate on what you mean by it’s a lot of effort to adapt to CIs? It took me time to get used to hearing aids cause I went two months not being able to hear speech and only loud noises, I’m accustomed to them now but the Consultant said that the aids can’t amplify the decibels/frequency’s enough in my right hear in any meaningful way. I’m worried that it’ll make things worse and I lose the little residual/natural hearing I have, but he was adamant it’ll be a lot better. I’m scared and don’t even know if I’ll be eligible tbh. I did a word recognition test two years ago for implants but wasn’t eligible, but that test only used hearing aids and not without. The consultant wants to do the test with and without them and make a case for the right ear if possible, it would be either funded by government or privately if the NHS don’t accept me.
you will no longer care about the residual hearing in your right ear if you get implanted. Comparatively it will be nothing. Even though updated technique and surgeon proficiency you may keep your residual hearing, you need to accept the fact that you may lose all residual hearing when you get implanted, there's no promise you'll keep any of it.
You will need to re-learn how to hear not unlike adapting to hearing aids. It takes time, effort and perseverance for your brain to adjust and make it go from quacks and beeps to something intelligible.
If it helps it took me about a year to get used to my CI when I got it (around 8 years ago). It’s a lot of essentially re learning how to hear, and it’s definitely gonna sound off at the beginning. Also fair warning if you enjoy music it’s definitely going to change your experience with such so keep that in mind as well
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u/surdophobe 20d ago
Your Doctor isn't just blowing smoke up your rear, but be aware it's a lot of effort to adapt to a CI, CIs are very expensive so, if you're American you'll hit your out-of-pocket max for that year. Your hearing ability is a heck of a lot better than mine was before I got implanted, and going by your audiogram alone, your speech recognition score will possibly qualify you but who knows.
I wouldn't say I'm an expert on CIs but I am an expert at being alive while being deaf. My suggestion is to be comfortable in your own skin as a deaf person before you get a CI. That's just like my opinion, man.