Thanks for following my journey. A week from today, I will be meeting with Dr. Beatty, who will be implanting my second cochlear implant next week Tuesday. I haven't had a chance to share information about my recent appointment at Mayo, it has been busy!
On May 10th, I met with my audiologist, Dr. Sladen who has been very positive about my second cochlear implant. He explained to me about the most recent internal cochlear implant made by Cochlear, the 422. The 422 internal implant has been successfully implanted for the past two years at Mayo Clinic. The 422 implant preserves the residual hearing due to the electrode being more thin, flexible and less invasive when it is inserted in the cochlea. It is recommended that I get this specific kind of implant because I continue to use a hearing aid and can hear some low frequencies on my left ear.
Next, I ordered my speech processor (outside equipment) and some accessories (batteries - standard and compact). I will be getting the Nucleus 5 speech processor, which my brother Scotty and friend Xavier both current use and reported that it sounds much better than the Nucleus Freedom processor, which I currently use on my right ear. Also, I would be eligible for a free upgrade of the Nucleus 6 which will be bimodal. Bimodal means that the amplification will have both a hearing aid for the low frequencies and a speech processor for the internal implant.
Dr. Sladen also asked if I had a medical bracelet for my cochlear implant. There was a situation where a cochlear implant user was in car accident and the paramedics mistaken the implant for parts of a car and have taken it out by accident. I thought I would share this information with others individuals with cochlear implants.
Lastly, my audiologist explained some of the benefits of having bilateral (both ears) implants. Some of the benefits are listening easier, be more relaxed when listening, will be able to localize where sound is coming from and hear better in situations with a lot of background noise. I am hoping I will have all of these benefits and more!
Thanks for reading!
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