Living with a Cochlear Implant

With the waves from Katrina still lapping at our hearts, it brings me to mind that we need to be prepared for emergencies.

My brother lost his home in New Orleans and my childhood home in Biloxi, MS is gone.  My brother is fine and had plenty of warning to evacuate.  I now live in CA near the San Andreas fault and I am always prepared for an emergency.  I was here for the "Lander's quakes" and know they can mean business! 

The Advanced Bionics cochlear implants use the wonderful rechargeable batteries as the primary power source.  In an emergency when there is no power, you will want to be sure you have a PowerPak for the Auria that will keep things going with an AA battery.  This PowerPak was originally designed for children and it helps to keep the BTE's on their tiny ears by having the power source off the ear.  The PowerPak is about the size of a tube of lipstick and clips to a collar, bra strap or pocket and comes with different length cords.  Mine has a 22" cord and I just tuck the battery part into my bra usually.  People that wear the body processor also have AA adapters they can use in place of their rechargeables.  There is also an adapter for the car to use with the battery charger if you wanted to do that.  The car does not have to be running to power the battery charger.  You can also use an AA battery pack to work with the battery charger if you want to make one up...directions for this are on the CI Central website ( currently undergoing an update, but the old link is still there) click on "Tips for Clarion users" and follow directions. 

Once the crisis is over, and the power back on...it will be business as usual and you would go back to your rechargeables.  Better to be prepared ahead of time!

Some systems use hearing aid batteries and although it might seem like it would be more convienient that way...it isn't necessarily so.  In an emergency situation, AA batteries would be pleniful and easy to come by, I am not so sure how it might go with hearing aid batteries.

All the CI companies were there after the hurricane to give aid to their users. Advanced Bionics immediately sent aid and if anyone had any power needs ( say they didn't prepare) AB was there with what they needed.  This says a lot about the integrity of the companies and the support they give for years after getting our implants. 

One great thing is that the Auria is very water resistant and has been independently tested and is the most reliable BTE today.  Less than 2% of Auria's have had issues due to mositure..nice to know! 

I went to Salt Lake City, last week to attend the ALDA con!  This is an organization for late deafened adults and they have a yearly convention in different cities.  I had a great time and got to see a lot of friends!   ALDA stands for Association of Late Deafened Adults, and you can do a search and join them if you want!  A great group that has local chapters all over the country.  Very supportive! 

I attended the Advance Bionics CI workshop given by a clinical specialist.  These workshops are basically for CI candidates that want more information.  I also attended the Cochlear Corporation workshop..see what the other guys were up to!   They all attended the AB workshop and were scribbling notes like crazy.....guess they were given a lot of information they didn't expect!

I pretty much knew what the AB clinical specialist was going to present...seeing that I am actually wearing the new goods!!   He had one thing to say that had me smiling!  Seems the 120 channel software that I am using is just "the tip of the iceberg" and there is a possibility that we might have thousands of channels to look forward to!!!  Woo Hoo!!!  Where do I sign up?  One day at a time of course...but this is very exciting...we are getting closer and closer to experiencing the best hearing possible with a CI...and then some!! 

Meanwhile...went out of town today and took all my driving CD's with me to keep me company for the two hour drive.   I think I will have to buy a new car with a 6 CD changer!   It's just so hard to decide what to listen to...did I want to drive with the Beatles?  I settled down with Bob Marley and Patty Page...and some instrumental "relaxing" music to get me through the LA area rush hour.  I used to NEVER drive down that way with no hearing.....just too stressful. 

Getting a CI takes some adjusting to...remember what I have now is the result of hard work and excellent technology....music didn't sound this good at first!   I wonder if the new people starting out with the virtual technology ( 120 channel software+) will hear music better from the get go?  Probably...makes sense they would!