I went to Raleigh Wednesday. I talked to the audiologist about the ABI. It was almost as if she was trying to discourage me, or maybe warn me for the worse case sinario.
She talked about how long batteries last, how to take it apart, the differetn parts of it and of course I have to touch everything. She said it is nothing like normal hearing. There is a cochlear implant simulator online, but she doesn’t know if there is a simulation for the ABI. But she said instead of hearing “knock knock knock” I’ll hear “beep beep beep” she also said when I get it turned on it might sound sort of like static or white noise until the brain gets used to it or something like that. She told me that when it gets turned on I probably will have some tingling, twitching, different things on my face and in my arm. She said the majority of ABI users have this some is worse when they get it turned on but they bring the levels down to make it tollarable but it’ll still be there.
She gave me another hearing test, and sound has to be at 36DB before my ear even detects it. My speech recognition was 70% at 70DB so we are looking into getting a hearing aid.
I was supposed to see Dr. McElveen after her, but he was still in surgery so I left some questions with his nurse. Maybe I’ll hear back from him next week.
That is all for now. It was a super long day and I was tired when we finally got home. Everyone take care.
Holly
by Yvonne Foong, on 11.10.08 @ 4:22 am
If they just let you decide on the ABI, the state will save a lot of money than having you attend one hearing test and consultation after another.
by hollyalonzo, on 11.10.08 @ 8:11 am
Yes, you would think this anyway. Lol. Does your ABI sound like that? Did you have the twitching or tingling in your face or arm? It’s hard to know what to expect from the ABI since everyone is different. Will I just get the beeps and tones? Or muffled sound.
Holly