Alexander is a bimodal user.
He wears an implant on one ear and a hearing aid on the other. He has always responded to noise with his hearing aids, but it was never good enough noise to grasp speech and language. He needed an implant for that. When going into his surgery last December he was approved for two implants but it still did not mean that 2 implants would be best for him. So we went with one giving him the chance to hear with both hearing devices with the hope that they would compliment each other to understand language and environmental noises around him.
He embraced both devices at first, but over the past 3 months I have noticed that he prefers his implant over his hearing aid. When he wears his aid he ignores the noise around him, it is only when I connect his CI that he will respond to simple questions such as, “what does an airplane say?”
He doesn’t refuse to wear his aid, so I know he doesn’t hate the noise, but is it as beneficial as I originally thought it was?
After another booth test it is conclusive that he consistently responds to noise at 35-40 dbi at 250 and 500 (low tones), then it is pretty much downhill after that.
He is a candidate for a 2nd CI. I am told that he will eventually get one on his left ear anyway. Is now the right time to go for it? Or do I wait and let him enjoy noises from both worlds a little longer?
2 comments:
As a former bimodal and now bilateral CI user, I say go for the second one now! Having two implants is much better than having an implant and a hearing aid, and it makes tougher hearing situations easier. The closer together in time he gets his implants, the less he will have to adjust when he gets the second implant. If you wait years, it's more likely his first ear will always be his dominant side.
If you do, however, decide to wait, make sure he is always wearing his hearing aid! It will allow him to have the best outcome if and when he goes bilateral.
Good luck with your decision! Check out my blog for more information about my Bi-CI journey!
I had the same dilemma...but after experiencing life with two, I would never want anything different for Logan.
reading this helped me,
http://logansnewworld.blogspot.com/2008/11/is-bilateral-really-better.html
Good Luck!
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