Here are exciting developments eleven months after activation of my cochlear implant.

A New Hearing Aid

Advanced Bionics (AB) and Phonak are both subsidiaries of Sonova, a company based in Switzerland that specializes in hearing and wireless communication solutions.  In 2016 Phonak created a hearing aid that pairs with my cochlear implant (CI) by Advanced Bionics (AB).  Once paired, the devices can communicate with each other,  improving the hearing quality. 

Having just one-half of this equation, the CI, I recently purchased the compatible Phonak Naida™ hearing aid.  Unfortunately, the hearing aid is purchased through my audiologist close-by, while the CI, which has to be programmed to pair with the hearing aid, can only be programmed by the Kaiser audiologist downtown.  An appointment with the Kaiser audiologist takes about a month. As of this writing, the pairing between the two devices will not happen until mid-summer 2017.  I have travel plans that are incompatible with the Kaiser audiologist’s schedule.

The new Naida Link hearing aid that pairs with the Cochlear Implant by Advanced Bionics

Better Hearing!

Despite the delay in pairing the CI with the new aid,  I am enjoying better hearing with the new hearing aid.  My previous aid was five years old.  Technology does improve.  However, the BIG incredible revelation during the testing is how well my left ear can hear with the CI.  The image below shows the hearing range of my left ear before the CI and the range WITH the CI.  What this shows is the ability for the left ear to comprehend almost ALL the components of speech.  With the CI, my hearing in the left ear jumped from a severe to profound loss to a mild to moderate one.

Looking at the chart on the right, the line graphed with “X” is hearing loss prior to the CI. The line graphed with the “S” is the range of hearing thanks to the CI.

FANTASTIC!!!!

Speech Comprehension Still a Challenge

There is still the challenge of understanding speech.  Above is a photo of my audiologist hiding her lips while reading words that I repeat back.   Amazingly enough,  I was able to discern the word “soap.”   The “s” and “p” sounds are soft, high-frequency sounds and difficult to hear.  I could NOT, however, figure out the word “merge.” That word has no high-frequency components and thus should not be a problem to hear – even without hearing assistance.  So what’s up with that?

My audiologist explained that “soap” is a much more common word. My brain has “heard” that many times now during the last eleven months.  “Merge” however, is not a common word, thus the brain’s difficulty in deciphering the sound.

The audiologist lovingly chastised me that if I don’t wear my CI all the time, and practice listening, I’m not going to be able to enjoy speech comprehension to the degree that is possible.

She recommended getting a book on tape, in plain English (no accents), and have a printed copy next to me.  While listening to the tape, if something is said I don’t understand, pause the recording and look to see what the word is.  That way, the brain gets trained on what the sounds are of specific words.

So, I’ve got the audiobook of Tai Pan, and am awaiting a hard copy of the book from my local library to begin the training.  The documented fact that the left ear is capable of understanding speech has inspired me to make the extra effort.

In conclusion, I am pretty darn excited.  I will share updates on my progress with the listening exercise, speech comprehension, and the CI paired with the hearing aid when that exciting day arrives.

 

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