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  • Antares

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    Dec 29, 2015
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    Seabrook, TX
    I am rated 70% disabled by the VA for my hearing. I am considering a Hybrid Cochlear Implant and was wondering if any of you have a cochlear implant or someone close to you has one. I lost almost all my hearing on Guam working on equipment in a small room with squirrel cage blowers to keep it cool for 12 hrs 6 days a week. I can't understand most people, like most people I do a lot of guessing what they say and occasionally I get it right, I can't understand my grand kids, or people on the phone. I see the Dr. next Tuesday I already had the appropriate tests, scans, MRI etc. I refuse to go to VA for the procedure in Houston. I hear Medicare coupled with my private insurance should cover it.

    I am basically interested in finding out if they work well for you, I think until my brain kicks in everything will sound like a chipmunk movie.

    Please don't think I am looking for sympathy I have been like this since the late 70's and now they came out with a new thing Hybrid Cochlear implants that you keep what you can hear, and the implants will only make the high frequencies heard.

    As a suggestion anyone that was in the service and has lost their hearing please get it evaluated by the VA at least they do well giving hearing aids if needed.
    DK Firearms
     

    Dawico

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    Oct 15, 2009
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    Lampasas, Texas
    I don't know anything about them but wish you the best of luck.

    My dad recently got a good set of hearing aids and it makes a huge difference. Nothing fancy like you are talking about though.
     

    Glenn B

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    Sep 5, 2019
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    Texarkana - Across The Border
    The only person I have ever heard of getting cochlear implants was Rush Limbaugh. Do not know if they were hybrids or not but he praises them highly. It was thought he would be deaf but they did the trick for him.
     

    benenglish

    Just Another Boomer
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    7   0   0
    Nov 22, 2011
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    My sister had a doctor once (briefly, for reasons that will become clear) who had a cochlear implant. Whenever we asked too many questions or he just got tired of actually paying attention to patients, he'd flick it with his finger so that it fell off the side of his head. It was his way of telling everyone, without having to say a word, "I'm not listening to you anymore."

    He was a dick. Sis found a replacement for him as soon as she got out of that hospitalization.
     

    Texasjack

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    1   1   0
    Jan 3, 2010
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    My dad has a cochlear implant. He's 89 and probably got it when he was about 80 (through the VA). Since he got it, the outside of the body unit has been changed several times - and each time with upgrades to the hardware and software. My father was peeling an apple one day and he stopped to ask my mother if peeling an apple made a noise. He had never heard that before. Now, with voices the performance is just so-so. He can understand what someone says if he's watching their lips as they talk. One of the problems with an implant is that, unlike natural ears, it's not directional. You hear everything around you, so it's hard to isolate a voice in a room full of noise. I can't talk to him on the phone, but we can talk via Skype.

    With my dad, he was pretty much completely deaf by the time he went to the implant. Hearing aids hadn't helped much in years. When little kids get implants, their brains adjust and they can have pretty normal hearing. At my dad's age, it was somewhat of an experiment and while it was a huge help, it's not perfect.

    Rush Limbaugh is probably the most famous cochlear implant patient. He manages to run a radio show with it, though I'm sure that he's using text screens to help with what callers are saying. It's definitely some very cool technology and the systems are constantly being improved with better electronics and better software to handle different frequencies and intensities. I wish you the best in your endeavor.
     
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