by Rebecca J on 2012-10-15
Hereʼs a handy little write up about cochlear implants. I figure that itʼs trustworthy because this is where my friend Janae went to medical school.
If you read the whole article, youʼll find a few things that are different from my experience. My surgeon used a minimally invasive technique, which left only a 1.5 inch scar behind my right ear and did not require any shaving of the skull bones. Ouch, right? Also, my implant will be activated two weeks after surgery (not a month), so Iʼll be hitting the ground running. Because Iʼm an adult patient, I did not have to meet with a social worker or a psychologist, which I would imagine is more routine with school-age children who need more support with the transition.
A couple of things about me that I should mention here. I was born deaf and fitted with hearing aids just after I turned 1. Through a series of happy circumstances, I was raised in an oral environment, meaning no American Sign Language exposure. (Maybe I can get my parents to do a guest post about that because that is really their story, not mine.) So, the fact that I quickly tapped into what little hearing I had left and because I was raised oral, the transition to a cochlear implant should be smoother for me, than it would be for someone who has never worn hearing aids and who has never learned how to speak. At least, thatʼs the theory. Weʼll find out next week if thatʼs really true.
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