Here I sit with my hubby and hearing dog Cherelle waiting for an extremely important appointment with the surgeon who will be putting in my cochlear implant (CI) at some point in the near future.
I am at Oregon Health Science University also known as OHSU after having just completed a MRI on my head.
Next will come the serious talk about what will be in store for me when I have the surgery on my left ear. Just to be clear. What will not be happening is "normal hearing". I will not be free from needing to wear an external device using batteries and without the device activated I will be as deaf as before. Technically more deaf because what little hearing I have left in my left ear will be destroyed from the surgery. What I hope to gain is more hearing with the CI than what I currently have with my hearing aid. And with speech therapy and hard work the odds are good that I will have improved abilities to understand speech better in that ear.
No guarantees but at least improved odds. Something I am willing to gamble on.
For more information about Cochlear Implants go to: http://www.asha.org/public/hearing/Cochlear-Implant/
Or: http://www.ohsu.edu/xd/health/services/ent/services/hearing-cochlear/cochlear-implant-systems.cfm?WT_rank=3
Warmest Regards to all
With tail wags from Cherelle AKA Cher
Stay tuned..........
