I have Meniere's disease, tinnitus in both ears, hearing has been bad for years but my left ear was still partially "good" for most of the last 15 years. I will be 57 in April.

Now that has deteriorated where both left/ right are in the 70-77db range. Combined speech recognition 30%, right alone 30%, left 65%.

Have tried hearing aids bilateral and single (left ear) and they do not help, they just increase distortion.

I am in a bind in that I am a middle school teacher and the lack of being able to hear has massively impacted my effectiveness. Can't go for disability since the hearing loss does not yet meet the threshold for SSDI. VA is no help since the Meniere's was a result of viral infection after I got out (actually right after I got out by a month).

Med folks are screening for CI. My research indicates that in itself requires time to adjust requiring therapy that averages a year or so.

Anyone have CI's?

Your input would help.

Pros/cons, experiences, etc.

My job seems ok till the end of the school year but I wonder if admin will still nominate to retain. Of course I know it would be best to stop teaching, it's not fair to the students, but can't see myself entering the job market as a late middle age partially deaf guy.

I assume you have read up on Rush and his hearing issues. A friend has had them for years. Her voice is a little off and she says the sounds are different. She teaches school and can hear on the phone. She rates them positively.

My ex used to do real time transcription for deaf and hard of hearing college students. Maybe 25% had implants. I was told multiple times that voices sound like stormtroopers and that it takes some getting used to because it is hard to determine where / who is speaking unless you are looking right at them. The upside is you can hear.

Rush Limbaugh used to speak very positively about them and basically admitted without them his radio career was over.

Jan 24th, about 3 weeks ago, I received the external sound processor units and the sound was turned on for my OSIA 2 Cochlear implant units. The difference between the prior hearing aids and these is like the difference between hearing in black and white and hearing in color. The processors are held on to my head by magnets which are drawn to the transducer units which are implanted under the skin on each side of my head.

The implanted transducer units require surgery and are implanted under the skin on each side of the head. Includes metal or something the external magnets can attach to. Then healing is given 4 weeks. Then external units are provided.

The transducers contain Piezo electric units which transmit directly to my inner ears (thereby bypassing the damaged middle ears) via bone conduction through screws on each side of my scull.

They look odd but at 74 I prefer to hear well.

In high school I had thought I had a music related career in the future but after surgery at 15 ( first mastoidectomy) my ability to detect pitch began to deteriorate and it was bye bye scholarships.

Over the next few years hearing continued to fail. I could hear enough to get along but with some difficulty. Late 20s first aids. Left a lot to to be desired for music but ok.

These units are quite the difference. Music has become full and rich as I can hear more frequency ranges. I am very pleased with my results.

I suggest getting as much info as possible before making your decision.

Feel free to ask questions and I’ll try to help.

From what Rush had also said about learning to use the implant is music enjoyment was tricky. If it was a song he''d heard before, his brain could fill in where the implant fell short, but songs he hadn't heard just sounded like noise.

Something else he had difficulties with that gets addressed in "Rehab" after the surgery is telling the differences between words that rhyme.

From the sounds of it, it seems like an absolute last resort, but if you're at that point, you'll still be able to live a normal life.

Edit: Didn't get in before the post above me, but these were Rush's experience almost 20 years ago compared with how far the technology has come now. Some of the newer ones have Bluetooth connections you can pair with your phone as well.

Thanks for the input. I'll hopefully be a candidate and probably have have it done. May be later on as I have to figure out work issues since it doesn't look like I can take significant time off for therapy.

I think that adjustments periods are mostly needed by folks who are close to completely deaf. I required none. There were some things that I had to adjust to. Strange shhh noise at the end of words. “That’s the sound of consonants I was told. Cellophane crinkling, birds singing, “high hat” etc. Being able to understand speech across the room.