Cochlear implant - anyone got one?
Discussion
I was on holiday and got chatting to an ex RAF tech, he lost his hearing but hid it as long as possible to keep the job, he said he should have got the implant sooner as he lost some of the tone in his voice (he spoke a bit like a deaf person....if that makes sense?) he was really pleased with it.
Hi, yes, my son was bilaterally implanted at five years old. He is ten now and doing fantastically well.
It was a very difficult decision for us to make but I am so glad we chose to go through with it.
Being deaf at such a young age, he hardly had any speech at all, now five years on, he has a far better vocabulary than I do. He is a very smart and intelligent little boy who is doing well in a mainstream school. Apart from the visual impact of the devices, you cannot tell that he was deaf.
The NHS were/are brilliant in their support. If something needs replacing or gets damaged, we have a new one in the post in the next day or two. I will never moan about paying tax!
As you can probably tell, I am a huge ambassador of the devices, the technology has allowed my son to lead a normal life, for which I will forever be grateful.
Any questions you have, I would be happy to answer.
It was a very difficult decision for us to make but I am so glad we chose to go through with it.
Being deaf at such a young age, he hardly had any speech at all, now five years on, he has a far better vocabulary than I do. He is a very smart and intelligent little boy who is doing well in a mainstream school. Apart from the visual impact of the devices, you cannot tell that he was deaf.
The NHS were/are brilliant in their support. If something needs replacing or gets damaged, we have a new one in the post in the next day or two. I will never moan about paying tax!
As you can probably tell, I am a huge ambassador of the devices, the technology has allowed my son to lead a normal life, for which I will forever be grateful.
Any questions you have, I would be happy to answer.
Edited by welshjon81 on Thursday 2nd January 11:27
I'd totally forgotten that I started this thread; January 2020 feels like a lifetime ago.
To answer your question, yes, I did get the cochlear implant. Surgery was carried out in August of 2020, with "switch on" being a month later.
I'm incredibly fortunate, because I got a brilliant result with the implant, and it has changed my life massively.
I can even hear my cat grooming herself from the other side of the room
...and for context, I was stone deaf at the point of starting this thread.
Feel free to ask me anything you like
To answer your question, yes, I did get the cochlear implant. Surgery was carried out in August of 2020, with "switch on" being a month later.
I'm incredibly fortunate, because I got a brilliant result with the implant, and it has changed my life massively.
I can even hear my cat grooming herself from the other side of the room
...and for context, I was stone deaf at the point of starting this thread.
Feel free to ask me anything you like
Congratulations and that's fantastic to hear. These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.
May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
TheJimi said:
I'd totally forgotten that I started this thread; January 2020 feels like a lifetime ago.
To answer your question, yes, I did get the cochlear implant. Surgery was carried out in August of 2020, with "switch on" being a month later.
I'm incredibly fortunate, because I got a brilliant result with the implant, and it has changed my life massively.
I can even hear my cat grooming herself from the other side of the room
...and for context, I was stone deaf at the point of starting this thread.
Feel free to ask me anything you like
To answer your question, yes, I did get the cochlear implant. Surgery was carried out in August of 2020, with "switch on" being a month later.
I'm incredibly fortunate, because I got a brilliant result with the implant, and it has changed my life massively.
I can even hear my cat grooming herself from the other side of the room
...and for context, I was stone deaf at the point of starting this thread.
Feel free to ask me anything you like
wax lyrical said:
May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
My wife has the Cochlear Nucleus 7. Do you know Hugh Cooper or Catherine George (maybe you are Hugh Cooper or Catherine George 
). The whole team at Cochlear were great, as were Dr Khahlil and the team at UCLH.wax lyrical said:
Congratulations and that's fantastic to hear. These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.
May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
I'm surprised at your first point. My understanding is that that the less time elapsed between going deaf and implantation (and the more auditory nerve stimulation) the better. These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
I know two other people who have the same kit as me - N7, and all three of us have fairly different outcomes.
All positive, and life changing, but definitely different results overall.
For those with the N7, what phone do you have? My wife had an iPhone 5S and the app worked great. Just got an iPhone 12 and about 4 times a day the app cannot detect the device. She has to disconnect the battery on the processor and reconnect it and then the app finds the device. A real pain.
That's interesting feedback. It's normally a lot more consistent and a 8 or 9 out of 10 result.
Sometimes it depends on the correct 'adjustment' of the processor or different brains take varied lengths of time to learn to interpret the signals from the implant correctly.
I know two other people who have the same kit as me - N7, and all three of us have fairly different outcomes.
All positive, and life changing, but definitely different results overall.
Sometimes it depends on the correct 'adjustment' of the processor or different brains take varied lengths of time to learn to interpret the signals from the implant correctly.
TheJimi said:
wax lyrical said:
Congratulations and that's fantastic to hear. These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.
May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
I'm surprised at your first point. My understanding is that that the less time elapsed between going deaf and implantation (and the more auditory nerve stimulation) the better. These days most patients would get a similar excellent result - from babies through to the elderly.May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
I know two other people who have the same kit as me - N7, and all three of us have fairly different outcomes.
All positive, and life changing, but definitely different results overall.
Sorry - I don't know them personally.
). The whole team at Cochlear were great, as were Dr Khahlil and the team at UCLH.
TwigtheWonderkid said:
wax lyrical said:
May I ask which brand of Cochlear implant you have? I work for Cochlear.
My wife has the Cochlear Nucleus 7. Do you know Hugh Cooper or Catherine George (maybe you are Hugh Cooper or Catherine George ). The whole team at Cochlear were great, as were Dr Khahlil and the team at UCLH.Gassing Station | Health Matters | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff