Results

I QUALIFY! So my hearing is even worse than I realized. To qualify for an implant, you have to get below a 50% on sentence recognition in your "best aided" situation. As I'm used to lip reading and getting the majority of a conversation if the enviroment is set up right, I was not confident I would pass the test (or fail it, depending on how you look at it). I was very wrong. Without background noise, with my hearing aids, facing the speaker (where the sound was coming from), I understood 32%. With background noise, I understood 18% of the sentences. These tests were done without me being able to lip read, which means I totally qualify. I had no idea just how much I relied on lip reading.

I also had to have an MRI to determine if my physiology is compatible with an implant. It is. The MRI is not a very pleasant experience. One I will never have to repeat if I get an implant. A lot of my questions were answered today. The surgery is not as invasive as I originally thought. They make an incision behind your ear and place the internal device between your skin and skull. The implant team is all in agreement that I am an excellent candidate.

So now, the insurance game begins. Surgery costs $70,000. Insurance at this point, will pay half. So the expert will appeal my insurance to see if they will cover the entire amount. I'm hopeful!

Tomorrow

The day is finally upon me. I'm getting an MRI in the morning (which, honestly, freaks me out a little), have a 2 hour audi eval and then meet with the surgeon. The thing I want to know most is if I qualify. And of course, if I do, then I will have a whole set of questions. I've been feeling more curiousity than anything else. But now I feel a little nervous. Nervous if I do qualify. And nervous if I don't. If I do, I then have to think about actually going through with it. If I don't, then how am I going to remain in the hearing world? I'm already using so many accomodations. But maybe there are more out there I could be taking advantage of.

I'm so happy the eval is finally here. Now I'll know!