Cochlear Implant 1 Month Follow-Up Appt.

My journey through a cochlear implant surgery for my asymmetric hearing loss. I am only getting one cochlear implant for my left side. I have had hearing loss since my childhood, and I could not hear on my left side for about 10 years. This video will show my 1 month follow-up appointment with the audiologist. The audiologist will perform some hearing tests and then make some changes to the charge of the implant. The increase in charge increases the range of sounds that I am able to hear. We have discussions about magnet strength, hearing loud sounds with the implant, and how the sound quality is beginning to improve.

[@medel]

Great progress, Vanessa! Thank you for sharing your hearing journey, all our best wishes!
MED-EL HQ

[@NessasLifescape]

Thank you!

[@jeanvaljean461]

I really appreciate your videos on your implant. My activation is in 2 days and it’s very helpful to see someone’s journey.

[@NessasLifescape]

I'm so glad that the videos have been helpful. I watched people's youtube videos before I got my cochlear implant as well so it inspired me to relay my own experience. I also haven't found many youtube videos about cochlear implants with single sided deafness so I wanted to talk about that as well. I'm excited for you! I hope your activation day goes well! It will get better with time and practice! Do you have single sided deafness?

[@nursemayra3897]

Thank you for your videos. My husband is thinking of getting it. He’s been having hearing loss for over a decade since he was a teenager now he’s 35 and it’s gotten worst. We are nervous about the whole process.

[@janb9078]

Thank you for posting these videos! It is super useful to see your progress .... I also have SSD and am in the process of being evaluated for a CI. Seeing you work helps me to set my expectations. It's great to see your hard-won progress. Would you consider posting another video -- looks like it would be > 6 months out. How have you progressed? How has your life changed? What have the challenges been? Thanks so much!

[@NessasLifescape]

I’m so glad the videos have been helpful! I do plan to make more videos. I just got really busy with work in the past couple months and that has made video edit/making super difficult. We are hoping to make more videos as soon as we can.

[@lindayoder8003]

I am in process of qualifying for a CI ,waiting for MRI and CAT scan , I am very anxious so actually seeing a real patient has helped me. Thank you to this young lady. My loss is bilateral sensononeuronal and a hearing aide no longer is helpful. I have so many questions I would like to ask a real patient but don’t know how to get them answered. Can you direct me to help??

[@NessasLifescape]

So I called the Medel cochlear implant phone number that comes up on a google search. I looked it up again and it appears to be [phone]. I talked to someone and they gave me a phone number of a representative of Medel in my area. I then had a zoom meeting with that representative. She then helped me get in contact with two people that had the Medel cochlear Implant. It’s was really helpful to talk to someone that had experienced it already. I would recommend calling Medel to find out who your local representative would be so they can help you find people with hearing loss as well. You can also ask me questions as well. I’m happy to help.

[@sicpowell7]

Your videos are very informative. I also will be getting an implant on my left ear. I've also spoken with Alexanna from Med-El. Recently, Cochlear America's has gained FDA approval for SSD patient Implantation. I can't decide between the two...I'm sure you had this debate as well. I honestly dont know if a perimodiolar array is better than a lateral wall array and if more electrodes is better than a longer array. My audiologist seems to think alot of these factors play a miniscule part in actual sound quality. You seem well researched in this whole process so I would appreciate your insight into what made you choose Med El... I'm extremely curious to know what the combination of CI and acoustic sound is like? I'm sure it's hard to explain but I would really appreciate any help. Thanks.