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Cochlear Implant Story Part 3
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Cochlear Implant Story Part 3 |
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Jaime Fradera Senior Member
since 2000-11-25
Posts 843Where no tyranny is tolerable |
We began by talking about which implant system would be best. The choice was between one made by a company called Clarion and another called Nucleus. We decided to go with the Clarion because it was the most “blind-friendly” and had tactile information on the buttons and switches. Next, a decision had to be made about which ear to implant. (they only do one ear at a time.) This was more complicated. The advantage of doing the right ear lay in the fact that the auditory nerve pathway was already in use, so the chances of a successful implantation were quite high and my speech perception through the implant could be improved. The disadvantage lay in the fact that when an ear is implanted all residual hearing in that ear is lost and one must learn to hear again through the implant which, as will be shown below, does not actually replace natural hearing. Because of this I was nervous about how music would sound like after trading residual natural hearing for implant hearing. I made a case for doing the left ear. The advantage of doing the left ear lay in the fact that it wasn’t functioning at all and would thus involve less of a trade-off. My expectation of hearing in the left ear was also quite low and I would be delighted with any sound perception gained through the implant, however rudimentary. It would avoid tampering with my existing music perception, and if the implant worked, might open the possibility of hearing, after a fashion, out of both ears again. The drawback was that after more than twenty years of no hearing, there was no guaranty that the nerve pathway would still be available or that the implant would even work until after surgery and activation. In other words, doing the left ear involved many unknowns, but I decided to do it anyway. All smart people agree with me, and since the implant surgeon finally came around to my side, that meant I was even smarter than he was! The date for surgery was set. I was told not to eat or drink anything for twelve hours the night before. My friend Kacy, whom I call Midnitesun, came with me to the hospital. We made elaborate plans that were supposed to cover every imaginable situation that might arise. We made up print/Braille flash cards that hospital employees could use to convey short messages. We demonstrated use of the teletouch, which has a typewriter keyboard. I took every opportunity to explain that I was deaf, use a listening tool called a phonic ear, and that in the recovery room people would need to operate it in order for me to hear. This is very easy to do and I demonstrated it. If using the phonic ear was not practical, the flash cards or the teletouch could be used as the situation dictated. Of course, when the time came, nobody who needed to knew or had been told anything. The surgery went according to plan, except that the doctor installed a Nucleus-24 system rather than a Clarion because the area in which he could operate was restricted. I was taken to the recovery area, and noone there knew that I was blind and deaf or why they could not get any response. I was not quite awake and could not help them. Who had the teletouch and where were the flash cards? Nerves were frayed. I was their last patient after a long day. The phonic ear was apparently brought, but nobody knew what it was, or anything. The unit was handled and dropped several times until the batteries fell out and a nurse tried to put them in backwards. Then the audio cable fell out, and although they ordinarily don’t call in relatives until a patient is awake and responding, somebody decided to go get Kacy in the waiting-room. This may have taken longer than it should have because I kept asking for Midnitesun. Now we finally have a starting point. I am taken to an assigned room and the teletouch materializes. A male nurse comes in, shouts to me and is not heard. A cold object is thrust in my face. I take it from him, recognize the thermometer, and know he is there to take vitals. They give me oxygen, keep telling me to breathe. The tubes keep falling out of my nose. My mind clearing, I reach up to feel how the tubes are attached. Turns out to be by a tiny piece of worn-out tape. Realizing that the tubes are supposed to stay in my nose, I take the responsibility of doing that. By now it was well into the night, so they kept me over. In the morning the dressing was removed and they sent me home with painkillers, antibiotics, instructions, Midnitesun, and a piece of metal in my head I will probably wear for the rest of my life. Continue |
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Midnitesun
since 2001-05-18
Posts 28647Gaia |
Yes, it was quite an experience, one neither of us will ever forget. You really had to exercise your higher-than-usual patience level! And I was VERY frustrated they had no one on the hospital staff who could hand sign! Smiling here now, but it was quite an ordeal. OK, so now, how well is that gizmo working today, a year later? Waiting here, for part 4 of this story. talk later, Kacy |
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Sunshine
Administrator
Member Empyrean
since 1999-06-25
Posts 63354Listening to every heart |
Thank you Jaime, for a very indepth look into the problems one faces of things that so many of us take for granted. As I suffer a bit from tinnitus, I certainly appreciate your fine grasp and understanding of what is happening to you, and for you.  Good reporting! |
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