At the risk of showing my age......

[Ken Fitzgerald]

I can remember and still have a scientific slide rule in my desk. I used them when taking some engineering classes in the early '70s.

While I was stationed at NAS Kingsville, TX, Sears had an advertising mistake and I took advantage of it and bought my first HP scientific slide rule calculator. Even with the advertising mistake it was over $100 which was a chunk of change for an E-6 with a wife and 3 kids at the time. It would take some work to remember reverse polar notation....


Now most people don't know what a slide rule is for ........and calculators with a lot more capability are a lot cheaper!

And this deaf guy is sitting here listening to music CDs via a set of head phones and a cochlear implant. Is my hearing perfect? No! But every night when I remove my hardware prior to going to bed, I am reminded what my 17 months of being deaf was like.

We live in a wondrous time.

[Matt Meiser]

Definitely showing your age. :D I'm closing in fast on 20 years since graduating from engineering school and I've never touched a slide rule. The incoming freshman my senior year were required to purchase a laptop, one of the first such programs in the country.

But I do remember the excitement of my school activating the ethernet network in the dorms half way through my sophomore year which let me use the internet without a modem. On the disc included with the network card (which we had to buy from the bookstore if we wanted to connect to the school's network) was an odd program called Mosaic to access a new thing called the World Wide Web but most of us were still using Gopher.

And I've got an 11 year old daughter who's never had to wait for pictures to be developed, even at One Hour Photo, who has her own smartphone, and who's used to free Wifi at most restaurants and stores.

[John Coloccia]

Slide rules are still in use, actually. Pilots use a device called an "E6B". Without getting into the details, it's really nothing but a rotary slide rule. I still know of no quicker way to do very fast calculations of all sorts of useful things in flight.

I think there's an interesting thing that happened in the 80's.....you have the pre-computer generation, and the post computer generation....and I know we had computers in the 40's, but I mean widely available PCs. It completely changed the way people view the world. Maybe it's very similar to pre and post industrial revolution. Pre and post plastics....Bakelite changed the world. There are events like that which cover multiple generations, so you have 2 or 3 generations that all reminisce in unison about the way things were.

I've wondered about your hearing. I'm terrified of going deaf. I would be OK if I went blind...it would suck, but I would go on. I don't know what I'd do if I went deaf. It certainly is an exciting time to be alive, but I wonder if teenagers really have an appreciation for the exponential change that's happened in the last 70 years.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

While the thought of being deaf is terrifying......when you wake up deaf like I did nearly 3 years ago (July 8, 2010) you have 2 choices..... deal with it or let it deal with you. I chose to deal with it. I have little doubt you would deal with it too. I struggle on the telephone because telephone is audio is so poor and it can be at my end, your end or between us, whether it's telephone land lines or cell phones.

Face-to-face conversations I handle well. The probable cause of my deafness has been diagnosed as Meniere's disease though typically people go deaf gradually with Meniere's disease. It also can effect balance and seems to be cyclic. I have periods of time where I stagger like I am drunk though I haven't consumed a single beer that day or that early in the day. On those days, I stay out of my shop for obvious safety reasons.

For 17 months from the time I awoke deaf until my cochlear implant (CI) was activated, that was a struggle! I quickly without any conscious effort began reading lips but still had to resort to pen, paper or whiteboard. We quit going out for dinner with others as I couldn't hear what was going on.

The difference with a CI? Tonight we went to dinner in the same restaurant where 2 years ago we agreed we would quit going to dinner because of my deafness. Tonight we discussed the details of the upcoming honeymoon I am taking my wife of 45 years on. I met her on a blind date 12 days before leaving for Navy boot camp, 3 days later I asked her to marry me, 8 days later I signed over my checking and savings accounts. 2 days after I came home for Christmas from boot camp, we were married. We couldn't afford and didn't have a honeymoon. I made her earn it.:D And considering she's put up with me for 45 years, she is getting her deserved rewards......

[John Coloccia]

Not to derail the thread, but interesting that you mention reading lips. Have you ever heard of the McGurk effect?


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G-lN8vWm3m0

Sounds like you really did make her earn that honeymoon! Good things come to those who wait :)

[Brian Kent]

Ken, I am just so happy about your cochlear implant. I first heard about that technology when a 7 year old girl named Katie got one and could hear for the first time. A year later another little girl in our church got one. She was also 7 years old and named Katie. Katie #1 just graduated from High School and is doing excellently.

[Frank Trinkle]

Saw this incredible video a few weeks ago. It clearly shows what a difference hearing can make!

Deaf Child Hears Dad for the First Time - PRECIOUS Reaction!



http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mDk5OK0d05E

[Jim Matthews]

I use precisely this sort of example when I hear whinging about how the World has degenerated.

The real problem is misuse of such breakthrough technologies.
Laptops can access more information than the library at Alexandria,
but are mostly for playing Angry Birds or Cat videos...

[Gordon Eyre]

I still have my slide rule. Now whether I can still use it is a question unanswered.

[Michael Weber]

I'm getting a.CI July 18. Been thinking about the possibility (having witnessed technology advancement the last 30 years) that soon cochlear implant performance will be so advanced that bionic hearing ability will surpass natural hearing. Implantation and programming might be so simple that normal hearing people would get them to take advantage of the enhanced abilities (whatever those might be). Then infants implanted at birth? Crazy??? Going for a walk now

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Michael,

You know how I feel about CIs. I don't think we will have to worry about enhanced abilities in my lifetime.

[John Coloccia]

Being surrounded by that "CHIH CHIH CHIH CHIH CHIH" Six Million Dollar Man sound all day would drive me batty, anyhow.

[Mike Henderson]

When I went through engineering school, it was all slide rules. I got pretty good at it when I was in school, but now, I'd have to go back and figure out how to use it again. But I'd never do it because there's much better ways of doing calculations now, such as MathCAD and MATLAB. Or even a spreadsheet.

Mike

[Michael Weber]

Michael,

You know how I feel about CIs. I don't think we will have to worry about enhanced abilities in my lifetime.
Back from my walk and Ken I do know how you feel about CI's. I hope a year from I feel the same. With rapid advances in genetics, bionics, electronics and miniaturization, possibilities boggle my small mind.

[Matt Meiser]

But I'd never do it because there's much better ways of doing calculations now, such as MathCAD and MATLAB. Or even a spreadsheet

Wolfram's Mathematica was big where I went to school--wonder if they still use it or have moved on to something else?

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Michael,

I wish the very best for you!

I hope and pray you have as good a CI experience as I have had or even better.

[David G Baker]

I still have a slide rule somewhere in my upstairs office but haven't seen it in a long time. It still has the how to use it book with it in case I want to re-learn how to use it. I never really used it in the real world because calculators came along and replaced my need for it.
I have been an unconscious lip reader for years due to hearing damage while in the Army. I had to start wearing a hearing aid at work because I needed to hear communications from several different sources at the same time. When I retired from broadcasting I stopped wearing the hearing aid. 14 years later I found that my hearing was getting worse so I started wearing hearing aids in both ears but found that they were an inconvenience so I stopped wearing them. For the past few months I have found that I am becoming a pain while watching TV, I have to ask my SWMBO what was said by one of the actors on my favorite shows. Just ordered a fresh supply of batteries that will be here soon and will start wearing the aids full time. I am okay with my poor hearing but fear loss of sight. I am a very visual person. But like everything else in my life if it happens I will adjust.
Ken, Thank you so much for sharing your CI experiences, it gives hope to those that may have lost their gift of hearing.

[Gordon Eyre]

I still have a slide rule somewhere in my upstairs office but haven't seen it in a long time. It still has the how to use it book with it in case I want to re-learn how to use it. I never really used it in the real world because calculators came along and replaced my need for it.
I have been an unconscious lip reader for years due to hearing damage while in the Army. I had to start wearing a hearing aid at work because I needed to hear communications from several different sources at the same time. When I retired from broadcasting I stopped wearing the hearing aid. 14 years later I found that my hearing was getting worse so I started wearing hearing aids in both ears but found that they were an inconvenience so I stopped wearing them. For the past few months I have found that I am becoming a pain while watching TV, I have to ask my SWMBO what was said by one of the actors on my favorite shows. Just ordered a fresh supply of batteries that will be here soon and will start wearing the aids full time. I am okay with my poor hearing but fear loss of sight. I am a very visual person. But like everything else in my life if it happens I will adjust.
Ken, Thank you so much for sharing your CI experiences, it gives hope to those that may have lost their gift of hearing.

David you might want to consider using earphones for watching TV. The clarity is so much better with earphones and has been a boone to me. I can once again hear everything that is said on movies and TV shows.

[Michael Weber]

I still remember my smart friends in collage arguing over which material made the best slide rules. Bamboo vs ???. Didn't use one myself but I did have an addiator (sp) if anyone remembers those.

[Bob Turkovich]

I still remember my smart friends in collage arguing over which material made the best slide rules. Bamboo vs ???. Didn't use one myself but I did have an addiator (sp) if anyone remembers those.

Post Veraslog (Bamboo) vs. Pickett or K & E (aluminum). Big debate topic in Engineering school in the late 60's/early 70's. Ah, those were the days....:p

[Stephen Cherry]

This is a great multi topic thread. Two conversations at the same time.

I was forced to use a slide rule in high school chem class. Great way to understand multiplication by addition of logarithms (or something like that, I can't remember for sure.)

Later, I also paid big money for a hp calculator.

[Michael Weber]

Michael,

I wish the very best for you!

I hope and pray you have as good a CI experience as I have had or even better.

Thanks Ken. It's going to be a radical change but its all going to be good:)

[Larry Frank]

I still have my slide rule after graduating with an engineering degree in 1971. I was cleaning out some stuff and saw it and could not throw it out even though it is not of any use today. I spent a lot of time sweating over it back in the day.

Technology is amazing and I am thankful every day. I have had hip replacement and back surgery with implants in the back. The implants are not perfect but I can get out of bed every day and walk. And the technology is constantly improving. My original hip replacement wore out in 7 years and they replaced the ball and socket with new materials and it has lasted 10 years with absolutely no wear.

[Lee Schierer]

I still have my slide rule. Now whether I can still use it is a question unanswered.

I still have mine and I can still do some of the basic calculations on it. Mostly because I showed my kids how it worked.

[David G Baker]

Gordon E.
I have some very good head phones and I also have a wireless set up that will work on my TV but forgot about the wireless set up. Thanks for the idea. I was a sound man for a TV News station for a lot of years and my whole audio world came through a set of Sony MDR-V6 head phones and a shotgun Microphone. It was amazing how well I could hear when I was working in the field on a news story with that set up.

[Myk Rian]

I can remember and still have a scientific slide rule in my desk.
I have 2 of them. One, I bought. The other is a K&E that belonged to my Father. Still in its leather case.

[John Coloccia]

I don't mean to pry, Ken....ignore me if I'm getting too personal. Can you talk about about your experience with the implants? What's it like? There must have been some period where your brain was just being bombarded with random noise that made no sense. What's the process like for someone who had normal hearing that then had to transition to the implants.

Again, I think we'll all understand if you don't want to talk about it, but I'm really curious what it's like. What's music like? Does your wife's voice still sound like your wife? Does your own voice still sound like your own voice? I know our brains are incredibly adaptive.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

I actually don't mind talking about it.

Each CI recipient is somewhat individual as we don't all go deaf for the same reason or to the same level. Thus each CI recipients experience is somewhat different and individual.

My history...I began having severe vertigo attacks over 12 years ago. Eventually they became so severe and so often, I thought I would have to retire. Then my ENT suggested that I had "Meniere's-like symptoms". Meniere's disease is a disease that effects the inner ear. To my knowledge there is no definitive diagnostic test for Meniere's disease. It is diagnosed based on a patients symptoms and history. My ENT prescribed a diuretic (water pill) to reduce the amount of body fluids my body retains and this effects the fluids in the inner ear too. I still take the pills and they hold the vertigo attacks at bay.

Then one morning about 10 years ago, I awoke to find I had lost most of the hearing in my right ear. I saw my personal physician, saw an ENT, had MR scans etc. No known cause BUT the little residual hearing in that ear was and still is terribly distorted. At that time, since I still had normal hearing in my left ear and due to the severe distortion of the residual hearing in my right ear, the ENT didn't recommend or prescribe a hearing aid (HA). For over a decade when working or socializing, I put people to my left side so I might understand what they were saying.

July 8, 2010, I awoke to find myself deaf. My left ear had died. Here's my story at a site with no financial support from any business or group. We want to provide information for people who are trying to make a decision whether or not to have a CI and which one to select. http://cochlearimplanthelp.com/journey/needing-a-cochlear-implant/getting-a-cochlear-implant-feelings/kens-story/
The information is provided by recipients like myself or hearing professionals.

Both of my ears qualified for a CI. The surgeon encouraged me to implant my dead left ear as it had the most recently normally stimulated nerve and hearing function in the brain. I liked his reasoning and we did implant my left ear. I was one of the lucky few who have a "Rock Star" activation. They performed the surgery and I had to wait 5 weeks before they provided my sound processor (it looks like a HA with an antenna that magnetically attaches to a place on my scalp). They delay the activation to allow the cochlea to heal. I heard human voices as human voices at activation. It's highly unusual and terribly, extremely lucky. Because of my 40 years of electronics experience, I chose to wait 10 months from the time I qualified for a CI until I was implanted. The CI I chose had been under a self-imposed recall when 2 out of 26,000 failed. I am talking about the internal implant...not the sound processor worn like a HA. IMHO that implant has the most advanced CI technology and the most unused resources available for future upgrades by a simple downloading of software to the sound processor which in turn will down load the software to the internal implant. While I waited for the implant to be FDA approved again, the surgeon prescribed the most powerful HA made for my right ear in an effort to give me some relief from my deafness. I couldn't function with just the HA. I still had to read lips, use paper, pen and a whiteboard.

I have been diagnosed with Meniere's disease now by the surgeon (no longer Meniere's-like symptoms) and it will become active periodically. When it does my hearing becomes distorted and I have recurrent balance issues. In those times, I stay out of my shop. Sharp blades, bits etc....

I am bimodal. I have a CI on my left ear and a HA on my right ear. I function quite well with the CI alone. I can't function with just the HA. I tried unsuccessfully for 10 months. I wear the HA just because SOMETIMES it provides some high frequency sounds like sirens or birds chirping and I get some directionality as a result.

Most times I do well in face-to-face conversations even in extremely noisy environments like restaurants. While I learned to lip read without trying, I lost the ability since acquiring my CI. I don't need to lip read anymore.

Like a lot of CI recipients, I struggle on the telephone whether it's cabled or cell phone. The quality of audio on telephones is really poor.

I listen to music using a set of Boise QC-15 noise cancelling headphones. This past Tuesday I flew home from Norfolk. I had hoped to meet Keith Outten but couldn't work it into my schedule. I listened to 6 hours of MP3 music on my Android while flying. It's much more relaxing that listening to jet noise. Some music is fairly accurate...some is distorted.

Is it perfect? No. You can't replace 21,000 hairs lining the cochlea with 16 electrodes and realistically expect to have "normal" hearing. But each night when I remove my hardware I face deafness again and I am reminded just how lucky I am to have my CI. While the vast majority of CI recipients see a great improvement in life quality, not all of them do. I think it is important for those considering a CI to recognize this. The emotional fall from too great an expectation could be enormous!

I carry a card for the TSA stating that I have a CI, what the serial number is, what company provided it, my surgeon's name and telephone number. It also states that my equipment is not to be x-rayed as it could damage it.

The antenna/coil that transmits the RF signal through the scalp to the internal implant is held on by 2 rare-earth magnets. One is in the implant below the scalp. The other magnet is in the antenna itself.

I wear medical alert necklace that states my name...cochlear implant.....no MRI....no mono-polar cautery. There are 2 types of electro-cautery used in surgery. Bi-polar uses a set of tweezer-like tools and the current passé from on blade to the other. Mono-polar cautery uses a clip attached to the patient's body and the other lead is attached to the surgeons scalpel. Current flowes through the patients body and could damage a CI.


Before they could perform an MRI scan on me, they have to surgically remove the rare earth magnet from the internal implant.

In as much as x-ray will damage the microphones in my HA and my CI soundprocessor, I could no longer work on CT scanners or x-ray equipments. In as much as both the sound processor and hearing aid are magnetic and the internal rare-earth magnet in the implant, I could no longer work on MR scanners. Thus my retirement just over 2 years ago.

My wife travels much more than I do. We got home on Tuesday evening, a great-granddaughter was visiting from Phoenix. She stayed with us until yesterday afternoon. My wife drove Vancouver, WA for a grandson's birthday party today. I stayed home and helped our oldest son plumb in a bathroom in his home today.

I can't hear smoke detectors, door bells or telephones with my hardware off. We bought a system and I installed it. It monitors the door bell, telephone and smoke detector. There is a 4th channel and it will soon be connected to a burglar alarm system. Should any of these devices activate, it shakes the bed.

Another point you might find interesting from a technological standpoint. The internal implant is a computer....it has no batteries but rather strips off the RF carrier transmitted through the skin and makes a dc voltage to power the implant. They drill hole into the skull during surgery, make a small slit in the base of the cochlea and insert a cable made up of concentric cables which each terminate with an electrode. The electrode makes contact with the nerve. The modulation/sound produces stimulation to those electrodes. The tones one hears with normal hearing are "positional" related. High frequencies are heard near the base of cochlea. Low frequencies are sensed near the apex.

Sorry this post is so long...but regaining as much of my hearing as I have is a very dear subject to me. Is it perfect...NO!...BUT IT SURE BEATS BEING DEAF. I will never get over being grateful for the hearing I have regained. Never.

[John Coloccia]

Thanks for sharing, Ken. I'm amazed that the implants worked for you right off the bat. I was sure that your brain would have had to go through some sort of retraining in order to make sense of new stimuli coming in. As my tinnitus steadily seems to get worse and worse (as it does for many musicians because we're typically not responsible with such things until it's too late), I'm really starting to wonder if something like CI will someday progress to the point that it could bring relief and still resemble normal hearing enough to make the trade off worth it. Maybe 20 or 30 years from now...who knows?

I never knew that there was some sort of frequency dependance based on position. Honestly, hearing is one of the things I understand the LEAST as it's related to biology. I don't know why, but I never really thought to study how it physically works.

Very glad to hear it worked for you so well. I remember when you first posted about this a couple of years ago. I've been wondering how things eventually turned out for you and how you dealt with it.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

While I was a lucky one who heard human voices as human voices at activation, other sounds took a while to recognize. One has to identify and then the brain can recognize these sounds from "hearing memory". If fact, late deafened adults like myself generally have quicker results from implants. The theory is they/we have "hearing memory" to rely on where as those deaf from childhood, don't have as large or a recent hearing memory to utilize.

Imagine my surprise one day. This computer sits in our family room which is in the basement of our ranch style home. I was sitting here and I heard a faint "popping" noise. It was continued with a varying rhythm. I got up and search for the source. The utility room with water heater, furnace, washer and dryer is in the next room. I walked in there and began placing my hands lightly on the respective exhaust pipes trying to identify the source. It wasn't the W/H piezoelectric igniter which I had thought it was. Then it dawned on me.....I ran up the stairs and outside onto our carport. Sure enough! We were having a minor storm and the popping sound I heard in the basement was the sound of hail striking the exhaust vents for the furnace and the W/H where they exit the roof of the house...but again I was in the basement. The sound was mechanically transmitting down those pipes into the utility room.

My family members, especially my wife are as grateful, happy and amazed by my regained hearing as I am. My wife especially is grateful. We stopped going out for dinner with friends as a result of my deafness. Now we have returned to going out to restaurants and attending social gatherings again.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

John,

Here's a picture showing the positional relationship of the frequencies heard with the human cochlea.

265559

[Eric DeSilva]

I'm getting a.CI July 18. Been thinking about the possibility (having witnessed technology advancement the last 30 years) that soon cochlear implant performance will be so advanced that bionic hearing ability will surpass natural hearing.

I met a guy who was severely hearing impaired with an implant that could be controlled via bluetooth. He mentioned how he could turn on various modes that would filter/directionalize what he wanted to hear, which he claimed he routinely used in conferences and during meetings. Granted, he worked for one of the largest telecommunications companies in the world, and might have had access to some things that aren't off the shelf, but I was still surprised.

[Gordon Eyre]

Gordon E.
I have some very good head phones and I also have a wireless set up that will work on my TV but forgot about the wireless set up. Thanks for the idea. I was a sound man for a TV News station for a lot of years and my whole audio world came through a set of Sony MDR-V6 head phones and a shotgun Microphone. It was amazing how well I could hear when I was working in the field on a news story with that set up.

Interestingly enough David, the Sony MDR V6 is exactly what I use. I have two pair since my wife has also discovered how well she can hear all the nuances of a movie on TV or Netflix.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Eric,

Those and a lot of other features are available today from at least two of the FDA approved manufacturers. Bluetooth connections to devices etc., use of combination of microphones. I have 2 sound processors. They each store 3 different programs. Each has my "normal" program as program #1 and each has 2 programs that are different from any other as I experiment to find special programs that work best for me for listening to music, etc.

The thing is though Eric...I typically put my sound processor on in the morning and seldom have to adjust it. There is no need. The software takes care of everything automatically. Once in a great while I may have to reduce or increase volume but I can go days without having to do that.

A CI and it's sound processor have to be "tuned" or "mapped" as it is normally called. It's similar to adjusting the equalizer on a stereo system. There are parameters that can be turned off, on, or have levels that are adjustable. The different programs can have their own individually adjusted parameters.

Think about this. There is a sound processor that is completely waterproof. It's especially useful for children for things as common a young child taking a bath or shower or going swimming.

[Chris Walls]

Ken
Outstanding, what an age we live in ! My grandfather was deaf from an early age due to a steam engine explosion, when we were small he had a hearing aide he wore in his pocket and the earpiece with a wire. I remember him turning it off so as not to hear the noise of grandchildren. When your a farmer in Ontario , you could go without it all day because the tractor and the cows did not need to be heard. He ran a dairy barn for 63 years, and was mostly deaf the majority of that time. What an age we live in !!!
Chris

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Recently..in the last few weeks the FDA approved a similar device to be used to help blind people see. Last August a blind woman in Australia was implanted with a similar device by a different company. She could not see as we know it BUT......she could make out black and white outlines of objects that she couldn't see before.

We truly live in a wondrous age!

[Don Morris]

I remember walking on the campus of the U. of Ill. with a foot long slide ruler dangling from my belt. And that was earlier than the 70's, but I'm not telling how much earlier.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Don......I was born in Champaign.....but I don't remember the event.......LOL!

[Stephen Tashiro]

I can remember and still have a scientific slide rule in my desk.

You don't really show your age until you have a scientific slide rule and can't remember where you put it.

['Jacques Malan']

I own a slide rule, even though I am much too young, but I bought it in a pawn shop, and I have no idea how to use it.

As for hearing loss, I grew up with a father who have hearing issues, and it also had an impact on the people around him, and it was difficult.

[Michael Weber]

You don't really show your age until you have a scientific slide rule and can't remember where you put it.

LOL. good one

[Benoit Rochon]

Hi Ken,

reading this post makes me hopefull that all will be well for my niece. 2 years ago she was born deaf. It took the doctors over 14 months to realise it. The first doctor that did the "hearing" test said she was ok (he clapped his hand in front of her face and she blinked...), but my cousin was sure something was wrong, because she looked like she had no balance and wouldnt react to her name after a few months. Eventually she was diagnosed correctly.

They decided to go with the CI and was operated about 6 months ago. The progress is slow, but like the doctor said, she never heard before so every sound is new for the brain. Now she has one side done (paid by the province), and they will have the 2nd CI installed in a year or 2 (at their expanse, about 20 000$ here in QC).

The funny thing is, when my nice does something bad and my cousin and his wife are talking to her/grounding her, she just unplugs herserlf and turn around. lol

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Hi Benoit,

Your niece will probably do very well. Studies have shown the younger a child is implanted the better they learn to hear with their CI. I could post several links showing children having their CIs activated and it warms ones heart. It is an emotional event even when adults are activated.

And not wanting to hear her reprimand? Nothing wrong with that child! LOL!

[ray hampton]

Hi Ken,

reading this post makes me hopefull that all will be well for my niece. 2 years ago she was born deaf. It took the doctors over 14 months to realise it. The first doctor that did the "hearing" test said she was ok (he clapped his hand in front of her face and she blinked...), but my cousin was sure something was wrong, because she looked like she had no balance and wouldnt react to her name after a few months. Eventually she was diagnosed correctly.

They decided to go with the CI and was operated about 6 months ago. The progress is slow, but like the doctor said, she never heard before so every sound is new for the brain. Now she has one side done (paid by the province), and they will have the 2nd CI installed in a year or 2 (at their expanse, about 20 000$ here in QC).

The funny thing is, when my nice does something bad and my cousin and his wife are talking to her/grounding her, she just unplugs herserlf and turn around. lol

he clapped his hands in front of her eyes, of coarse she would blink, the best way to test someone hearing are with tuning forks behind the head, if you feel a breeze on your head then you will respond

[Rod Sheridan]

Ken, we do indeed live in a wonderous time, and I find that few people appreciate the technology that defines our existence.

As to the slide rule, yes I still have one, and I remember how to do some operations on it.

I also still have an RPN calculator (HP 11C) that sees daily use.................The good thing about it is that it never wanders, as non of the young guys at work can operate it.....LOL

[Benoit Rochon]

he clapped his hands in front of her eyes, of coarse she would blink, the best way to test someone hearing are with tuning forks behind the head, if you feel a breeze on your head then you will respond

I know. They had to changed doctor because he also misdiagnosed something else for over a year. They think of maybe suing him, but out here in Quebec it's not that easy to come back after a doctor.

[julian abram]

Ken, I realize this thread is kinda old but read it and wanted to tell you how much I appreciate what you have shared about your hearing loss and experience with CI. After 55 years of perfect hearing I experienced major hearing loss. I started having severe nauseating vertigo on a Sunday morning, by the end of the week I had lost all hearing in my right ear and had significant loss in my left. Emergency room Dr. diagnosed me with and an ear infection, gave me antibiotics, sent me home. A week later ENT diagnosed me with Sudden Sensorial Hearing Loss. I think this is the same thing Rush Limbaugh had. Anyhow, it's certainly been a life changer. I hear fairly well with one hearing aid if people are close to me and no background noise. Now at age 60, my remaining hearing has remained stable for 5 years. I'm hoping not to lose anymore but it's good to know CI is an option if needed. In most cases ENT's have no explanation for sudden hearing loss but I will always fear that I did this to myself with too much unprotected hearing while target shooting and operating machinery. I now appreciate so much what little hearing I have left, I can understand your experience at night when you take your "hardware" off and hear only the white noise. Fellows, protect your hearing!

[Michael Weber]

Julian, in general, the sooner you get an implant the easier and faster the recovery. If you truly qualify and you want to get a CI, you should start the process sooner rather than wait. The brain begins to loose it hearing memory and makes rehab an more difficult process. I'm not telling you to do it. It's a very personal decision with some downside results. I was implanted last July and still struggle to understand speech, but I began to lose my hearing as a child. It grew worse over the years and my brain totally forgot to how to process high frequencies. That makes my recovery more difficult. There is lots if information at a forum called HearingJourney.com Its sponsored by one of the cochlear implant companies but fairly generic in nature. Be aware, if you go there, that most of what people post is great news and easy activations and "WOW moments". There is not a lot of posting by people who are struggling with their implants. FYI, I believe that UAMS has a facility in Fayetteville that performs CI implants. Not 100 percent sure about that. Had mine done in Little Rock at UAMS.

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Mike,

First I want to say I am sorry to hear you are still struggling! I hope you continue to improve over time. You have seen me post at HJ when I caution everybody to not get their hopes too high! The potential emotional crash can be disastrous!

Julian,

My hearing loss was similar to yours. I lost most of the hearing in my right ear 12 years or so ago. The residual hearing in that ear is so distorted, the ENT at the time didn't recommend an HA. Then July 8, 2010 I awoke to find my left...my "good" ear had died while I was asleep. It took some time to get through convoluted testing and qualification for a CI. My surgeon prescribed a HA for my right ear as I chose to wait for a US manufacturer to regain FDA approval for their CI following a self-imposed recall. For 10 months I lived with just the HA and I couldn't function with it. I had to resort to a whiteboard or pen and paper.

I have taken a diuretic to prevent reoccurring vertigo attacks that started around the time of my right ear's hearing loss. I take those diuretics today. The theory is it reduces the fluid level in the inner ear. My surgeon has diagnosed me with Meniere's disease for which there is no definitive diagnostic exam but is diagnosed by the patients historic symptoms. Patients with Meniere's disease often have vertigo attacks and a loss of hearing though typically it's a gradual loss.

As Mike pointed out, late deafened adults appear to do better with adapting to using a CI. The theory is that the auditory nerve has been more recently stimulated and the brain is used to hearing and has a hearing memory to which it can reference.

Here's a link to a website that isn't sponsored by a given CI manufacturer http://cochlearimplanthelp.com/ . If you poke around there you will find my story there. I would not allow myself to be involved in a manufacturer's advertising. I believe the decision of which brand of CI is too important and too personal to be involved in that type of hype. I think it is important for each of us to make our own decision.

I would recommend concentrating one's research on the internal implant and it's capabilities. The externally worn sound processor (that looks like a HA) can be replaced or upgraded with a minor financial inconvenience. The internal implant's upgrade could be more difficult due to further surgery. Two of the 3 brands of internal implants have unused abilities that could be made available once the software is developed, FDA approved and simply loaded onto the sound processor which would then download it to the internal implant. Do your research if you decide to have a CI.

I was definitely one of the lucky ones. Keith Outten met me for the first time face-to-face a few weeks ago in his shop. He can attest I do quite well with face-to-face conversations. But I was a lucky one and have stated that numerous times.

All CI recipients travel on a journey to an individual generic destination of better hearing and we all progress at our own individual pace.

Mike has seen me post at HJ........Hope for the best......prepare for the worst.......and celebrate any improvement.