Things are slow around here and will continue to be slow while the surgery is in appeal. It's difficult to remain hyped when this process could drag out into months or even result in not happening at all...at least not through this method. So I have to kind of slow down and put my mind elsewhere, obviously this is easier said than done as every waking moment is pretty much a reminder that something needs to be done.
Maybe there is a blessing hidden in this delay somehow. If it winds up really stretching out...I would hope there is an improvement in the technology by that point that I would then get. Though there is a couple of years go to. The only upgrade on the horizon is the 121 Channel Strategy. That is something that is possible now though. The benefit there would be not having to deal with trading in the Auria BTE for the new one needed to work with it.
The downtime has me looking at whether it's really neccessary to implant my right ear. My doctor believes that I will not benefit from implantation in my left ear. It has been "dead" since birth. My right ear has been hearing all along one way or another. The reasoning is that an ear that has had no stimulation will not benefit from an implant. Yet, I recently read the results of research into this that now have me questioning it. I'd post it here, but I do not have it handy. Basically the gist of it was that no real difference was found in success rates when implanting one ear that has never had hearing versus an ear that has. Now my right ear's hearing level is not good..but it's something. Where there is no speech discrimination and it fluctuates with tinnitus....it's still useable. I respond to the doorbell and other types of alerts. It does still help with speech reading. If it would just stabilize and the tinnitus would quit...I'd want to use it in conjunction with an implant in the left ear. It would put me at ease. At it is at this point, everything hinges on successful implantation of my right ear. If there was failure..I would be devastated and worse off than I was before. I had accepted my doctor's word..given that he is tops in his field....but now I'm seeing people who did otherwise and it seems to be working for them. So I'm questioning it. If my left ear can be implanted just as successfully as my right..then there is no need to go and destroy my right ear leaving me totally dependent on it. I should say my doctor has never given me a medical reason backing him up..such as perhaps the hearing nerve in my left ear would have atrophied. That is the only reason I can think of. I am now thinking he is really leaning on my right ear because it's the easier route to success.
I started looking at this again because there is a lot of discussion regarding bilateral implantation on the discussion boards. I've been dismissing it as something out of the realm of possibility until now, since I've been made to understand that I have only one ear possible for implantation. So basically it was that whatever implant I get in my right ear is the end of it.....No future technology consideration. If I got my left ear implanted, then considering a bilateral implant for my right ear down the road when the technology makes a leap would be something to look forward to. Of course, I would hope that implanting my left ear would bring about successful results that would make up for the loss in my right ear and then some. The idea of hearing bilaterally and being able to use my aided ear to fill out the sound stimulation by giving me the lower frequencies is much more attractive than going the route of everything to gain and everything to lose. I don't like to gamble, I've just been led to believe that was the only option.
Two roads ahead, but which to take?
If you can't see it's your mistake.
On Through The Night - Def Leppard
Maybe there is a blessing hidden in this delay somehow. If it winds up really stretching out...I would hope there is an improvement in the technology by that point that I would then get. Though there is a couple of years go to. The only upgrade on the horizon is the 121 Channel Strategy. That is something that is possible now though. The benefit there would be not having to deal with trading in the Auria BTE for the new one needed to work with it.
The downtime has me looking at whether it's really neccessary to implant my right ear. My doctor believes that I will not benefit from implantation in my left ear. It has been "dead" since birth. My right ear has been hearing all along one way or another. The reasoning is that an ear that has had no stimulation will not benefit from an implant. Yet, I recently read the results of research into this that now have me questioning it. I'd post it here, but I do not have it handy. Basically the gist of it was that no real difference was found in success rates when implanting one ear that has never had hearing versus an ear that has. Now my right ear's hearing level is not good..but it's something. Where there is no speech discrimination and it fluctuates with tinnitus....it's still useable. I respond to the doorbell and other types of alerts. It does still help with speech reading. If it would just stabilize and the tinnitus would quit...I'd want to use it in conjunction with an implant in the left ear. It would put me at ease. At it is at this point, everything hinges on successful implantation of my right ear. If there was failure..I would be devastated and worse off than I was before. I had accepted my doctor's word..given that he is tops in his field....but now I'm seeing people who did otherwise and it seems to be working for them. So I'm questioning it. If my left ear can be implanted just as successfully as my right..then there is no need to go and destroy my right ear leaving me totally dependent on it. I should say my doctor has never given me a medical reason backing him up..such as perhaps the hearing nerve in my left ear would have atrophied. That is the only reason I can think of. I am now thinking he is really leaning on my right ear because it's the easier route to success.
I started looking at this again because there is a lot of discussion regarding bilateral implantation on the discussion boards. I've been dismissing it as something out of the realm of possibility until now, since I've been made to understand that I have only one ear possible for implantation. So basically it was that whatever implant I get in my right ear is the end of it.....No future technology consideration. If I got my left ear implanted, then considering a bilateral implant for my right ear down the road when the technology makes a leap would be something to look forward to. Of course, I would hope that implanting my left ear would bring about successful results that would make up for the loss in my right ear and then some. The idea of hearing bilaterally and being able to use my aided ear to fill out the sound stimulation by giving me the lower frequencies is much more attractive than going the route of everything to gain and everything to lose. I don't like to gamble, I've just been led to believe that was the only option.
Two roads ahead, but which to take?
If you can't see it's your mistake.
On Through The Night - Def Leppard
posted by David R at 12:22 PM
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