Note: I wrote this post a couple of weeks ago...after surgery but before activation... I forgot to post it.

It took a while for me to decide to actually get a cochlear implant. I think I heard about them the first time in the early 90s, when I was living in Maryland and had a friend who had one. For some reason, I immediately discounted it as "not for me"... 

It wasn't until March of 2013 that I considered it. I went in for a hearing test & the audiologist talked to me a little about cochlear implants.  I was STILL thinking "nope, not for me, too close to my brain!"

The ENT at that office also spoke to me about it and said they would send a referral to a clinic that does cochlear implants. We went on June 11th, 2013 and I was impressed with all the information I got. All I needed at that clinic was to get an MRI to see whether or not there was any reason i couldn't have one.

My other concern was music, because the audiologist at the first clinic I went to basically told me to forget about music. Um. No. I love music too much for that. I did some research and found out that there is work being done to make cochlear implants work better with music and for some, it just does. I don't know what the factors are that make music good with a CI for one person and not another. I suspect it has something to do with hearing history and since I had piano lessons for a few years since age 7, followed by flute in high school & dabbling with music since then, that may be on my side. If not, they are working on programs to make music better for CI folks. However, there have been some people with a strong music background who have said that music didn't sound good to them.

What's interesting is that I was apparently born with Large Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome, which probably played a large part in my hearing loss. this is something I'll bring up with the doctor next time I see him. 

 I'm feeling pretty much back to normal, except my throat feels a little weird when I talk, possibly because of the lack of sound in the left ear & maybe from the breathing tube during surgery... the others think my voice is back to normal now. Whether or not I have any residual hearing in my left ear remains to be seen... I think it takes about a month before they know, I'm not sure. Either way, what's important is NOT the residual hearing, but the cochlear implant...