Apparently there are Myths and Lies about Cochlear Implants spreading. The article attempts to stop misinformation using strong tones.
My thoughts:
Lie #1: It doesn’t give the whole story. The doctor did drill a hole to insert the implant. The implant is right beneath the skin behind my ear. No hole, just a small bump. But, there is indeed no hole where this bump is located.
Lie #2: It was *my* decision to have the implant done. I did my research. Yes, I talked to my family, too, because their support makes all the difference. In the end, no one made this decision by me, myself, and I. This lie didn’t bother to address parents of young children who are born deaf. Of course, the parents made the decision to have the implant. The earlier, the better. If the parents wait until the child is 18 to make his own decision, the child will have missed the best window for learning to hear better and that window is opened before 18 months of age.
Lie #3: In agreement with this one. Y’all saw it took time for me to recover and recovered I did.
Lie #4: Thanks for the laugh. We are CI, you will be assimilated, resistance is futile. All your deaf are belong to us.
Lie #5: I explained this in a previous post that a person is more than welcome to use ASL. ASL is not going away especially since not everyone can be helped with a CI or even have one. Again, why do we not hear about #147;Blind Culture?”
Lie #6: True! They cost a lot of money and the health insurance companies pay for them. My company did NOT pay in full. We argued with them until we were blue in the face. It cost $200 for outpatient surgery. If I had stayed over night, it would’ve cost a percent of the surgery. Yes, we are on a major health plan.
Lie #7: I am a prelingual deaf adult (deaf before I learned speech) and I believe it’s working for me. Still early, but it will pay off.
Lie #8: This was the myth that took me a long time to verify. Back in 1984, when we first looked into CI and it was only one channel, it definitely wasn’t a good replacement for my hearing aids. Already, I’ve been able to hear a few things from a distance that I couldn’t hear with my hearing aids. The rest will come with time as I adapt.
Lie #9: I’m not a member of the so-called deaf community. However, if I had friends who were deaf, I certainly would not abandon them. Sheesh.
Lie #10: This is overboard. We all have the right to talk about anything we choose.

Just discovered another sound I had never heard before, the computer’s fan. I heard a constant stream of a high-pitched noise and asked Paul about it. First, he said it was the ice maker. I didn’t think it was that because it didn’t sound like ice crashing. As soon as the sound stopped, I told Paul it stopped.
He said it was the computer fan coming on and shutting off. Wow. Two things within a couple of hours. I guess it pays to be in a quiet room when a new sound appears. When you have three kids, it drowns out any possibility of hearing new sounds since they know how to get all the attention including with their voices.

In the discussion lists for cochlear implants, people write about what’s called a “CI moment.” This is a description of a new experience in hearing with the CI.
I just had a major CI moment. I kept hearing soft rhythmic beeps. I asked Paul what it was, but he said he didn’t hear anything. I moved on and went back to what I was doing. No, I still hear the sounds and asked Paul again.
“Can you hear this?” he asked.
“Yes.”
“OK, how about this?” he asked.
“No,” I replied.
“You’re hearing the music from my earphones.”
Picture Meryl’s mouth dropping in shock. It is soft, but amazing nonetheless. Paul is about seven feet away from me and he says the music is not loud.
Wow.
The music? Metallica’s One.
After recovering from shock, I freak out. I listen to music at work with my headphones and hearing aids. The music is turned up loud so I can hear it. If I’m hearing this music that’s not turned up loud, then how much of the music do my co-workers hear coming from my ear phones!? It’s embarrassing based on the music I play.

One thing I’ve always hated about hearing aids was the frequent battery changes. That doesn’t stop with the CI. Right now, I am using two rechargeable double-AA batteries in the processor. I have to change them every day as they last about 12 hours. The disposable ones last about three days, but I hate to pile up on trash.
With hearing aids, I had to use two 675 batteries. With the CI, when I go behind-the-ear, I’ll be using THREE of them.
I keep getting tangled with the cord. Either the baby grabs it or I forget that it’s not a mile long. Surprised the CI makers haven’t come up with wireless CI. Then again, I might pick up conversations in the neighborhood. I wouldn’t want anyone to steal the bandwidth or sound, in this case. 🙂

Yesterday was the second mapping day. MAPping (Yes, MAP is all uppercase, but no one can explain it. Strange.) is the process for creating the listening program for the speech processor. The processor stores the information unique to my needs to allow me to hear.
The audiologist does the MAPping by connecting the speech processor to the computer and getting feedback from me. An optimal MAP is by determining the softest level I can hear, the most comfortable loud sound I can hear, and the pitch range for each electrode. The MAP is updated and adjusted easily as I get used to hearing sounds.
I sat there with my eyes closed because after listening to these beeps or sounds, I start thinking that I’m imagining them. That was always a problem when taking hearing tests. The audiologist (Cheryl, this time) and I walked through each electrode, which carries a different frequency or pitch, and I let her know when it gets uncomfortable. I also let her know when I heard sound.
I have four new programs on the speech processor and whew boy, they’re loud. I had to adjust the sensitivity and volume, but I think I heard a few things I didn’t normally hear with my hearing aids when in a different room from the sound.
When I got home and went to my room to do things, Paul came in and had me jumping out of my seat. The loudness of the sounds caught me off guard. As usual, I need to adapt to the new programming and do auditory exercises.

Today I went back to Southwestern for physical therapy and a mapping session. The physical therapy was for the vestibular problems I’ve been having since the surgery (wooziness, lightheadedness, eye pain). The vertigo (room spinning) ended within a few days after surgery. It’s the other stuff I’ve been having causing my inability to walk in a straight line. The exercises weren’t fun, but they should help and I have to do them daily. They straighten out the screwy wires between the inner ear and the brain.
For instance, I stand about three feet from the wall with words on it. I have to move my head back and forth while focusing on a word. Whoo boy. Then, repeat and move head up and down. Walk and turn head side to side while walking. These may sound easy, but they’re not when you’re in my shoes. Heck, some probably would bother a person who is never dizzy.
I knew I was out of shape when I had to lift one foot Flamingo-style and couldn’t keep my balance. I used to do this easily for over a minute before this mess started and I could not last a few seconds without holding onto something. No fair that I act like a drunk without drinking the good stuff. Seriously, please don’t drive after drinking alcohol no matter how clearheaded you feel.
I had a bad night again last night, but it wasn’t CI-related. I guess I deserved it for trying to treat myself to a frappe. It was the first and only cup of coffee I’ve had in over a month! I miss my coffee! Anyway, the problem is GERD-related and I’m trying to get an appointment with my gastro. Don’t you love trying to get on a specialist’s schedule? We can’t even get my daughter to see a skin doctor for several months.

Phonak and Cochlear To Develop Hearing Systems to address an unmet medical need, where current external hearing aids, cochlear implants, and middle ear implants (MEIs) cannot provide effective benefits to patients.
A new Internet tool is available to parents to help them monitor their babies’ progress in early speech development. Vocal Development has been designed to share information about early speech development and to provide examples of the speech sounds that children produce before they say words. Even if a child is hearing, it’s still a good resource as it explains what to expect from an auditory standpoint.
It’s similar to writing stages, which progress from early scribbling to controlled scribbling. Babies also often accomplish tasks in order. For instance, rolling over is usually before crawling which comes before walking. It is possible to reverse a task (like my husband who learned to walk before crawling thanks to his older brothers who would not let him crawl.).