Bad news...Neurotologist took me by the hand and looked directly at me knowing that is the only way that I could understand him well even with my two hearing aids and said "Judy, what I see is a rapid degradation in word recognition." He went on to explain that it wasn't age related (a small comfort) because it had not progressed gradually over many years but had instead degraded rapidly over just a few months. He said that it could be genetic, but cause at this point is unimportant; we need to, now, address the problem. I, of course, responded "Oh my God! Am I going deaf?" He didn't really answer that but told me that there are things that can be done.
He gave me a physiology lesson about the function of the cochlea which is the part of the inner ear that translates what is heard for the brain. The many tiny sensors/hairs on the cochlea were disappearing rapidly. He recommended cochlear implants to replace my natural cochlea. They would be implanted one at a time; the worst ear first. That would be my right ear which, just 1.5 years ago, had no loss at all and, just a few months ago, no cochlear loss. The time between implants would be dependent upon how quickly I adjust. The adjustment period could be 3 months to years dependent on age, length of time one has had hearing loss, general health, intelligence, and attitude. He sent me back to audiology for a Cochlear Implant Evaluation.
The FDA has specific guidelines that must be followed in determining C.I. qualification. The test involves the use of optimally adjusted hearing aids that fall within a required range. If the audiologist can't properly adjust the personal aids, he/she uses more powerful in-house aids. The patient is asked to repeat individual words, then complete sentences, presented by a recorded voice. The sentences used in my evaluation were such common phrases that, even if not heard well, could be easily guessed. The FDA bases one's qualification on sentence recognition rather than word recognition and I did not qualify because, as the audiologist said, even though I would have qualified if it were based on individual word recognition, I am a good guesser so the results of the sentence recognition test were borderline. I am to have a 2nd C.I.E. in October.
How Hearing with a Cochlear Implant System Works
A cochlear implant system consists of two main components. The external component, which is worn on the outer ear or discreetly on the body, and the internal component, the implant, which delivers sound to the hearing nerve.
Cochlear implants bypass the damaged part of the ear:
Cochlear implants bypass the damaged part of the ear:
- Sound is captured by a microphone on the sound processor.
- The sound processor converts the captured sound into detailed digital information.
- The magnetic headpiece transmits the digital signals to the internal implant under the skin.
- The implant turns the received digital information into electrical information that travels down the electrode array to the auditory nerve.
- The auditory nerve sends impulses to the brain, where they are interpreted as sound.
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