Sunday, May 13, 2012

Cochlear Implant Selections and Q&A Prep

Last week, we selected Seth's cochlear implant devices. 

We have chosen to go with Advanced Bionics .... that kinda makes me giggle .. my bionic boy!!!!!

They have what we believe to be a really great implant and kid friendly processor. 

The implant is called the HiRes90K™. 



We selected the Neptune™ processor.  We liked this device because it is waterproof, has a good impact resistance rating and has many wearing option.  The controls are removable, so there is no way for the setting to be changed without it happening purposefully. 



We were able to select many wearing options.  We selected the arm band, a lanyard, and a harness.  It also comes with a pouch to put the processor in.  The pouch can be used in conjunction with all three wearing options selected above.  There is also a clip, that can easily clip to the back of his shirt.





We got to pick fun colors in some of the equipment, such as  ... Ocean Blue and Sand Castle.  Other not so fun colors included; Black, White and Dark Sienna Metallic.


Once he is implanted and his mapping is being done, we are going to go with the ClearVoice™ sound processing choice.  Which helps you hear speech better.  We want to focus on Seth understanding speech. 



There is also an option for a FM Device that would take my voice "directly" to Seth's ear.  It is normally used by a public school teacher in a classroom.  We will be looking at this option down the road as Seth progresses with the implant.

AB’s iConnectTM accessory provides a cable-free connection to the FM systems most commonly used in schools, such as Phonak's Dynamic FM.   Designed to easily snap into place, it won’t fall off the ear or interfere with head movements.

With the iConnect, your child can listen comfortably and naturally, concentrating on the important lessons being taught in the classroom instead of fussing with cables or wires or continually repositioning their equipment.

Q & A Time ....

Do you have questions about Seth's upcoming cochlear implant?  If so, please leave a comment and I will address them (to the best of my non-bionic ability -hehe) in a future post

1 comment:

  1. I do have questions, feel free not to answer any of them. I'm extremely interested because for a while we thought our daughter would be deaf and the idea of an implant scared me to death(turns out,she did fine with tubes and hearing aids. First, how is Seth's hearing now, at what point do you make the decision to go with an implant rather than hearing aids. How invasive will the procedure be, what about recovery? Will the implant last his entire life, can it be upgraded without replacement? How will it affect any hearing that he has now, like when you wear glasses your natural eyesight gets a little worse as you depend on the lenses. Thanks for answering any of these questions, I'm really interested in learning more.

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. Sorry! I removed the word verification feature and immediately got spammed. So, alas, it is back!