Betty's Story - Good and bad experiences with CI Surgeons and Audiologists

Reading the posts (on CI Hear's Listserv) about surgeons and audiologist, I think its about time for me to tell you of my bad and good experience. I don't post much but it worries me to read posts where people are having doubts and problems. It pays to use your intuition as well as ask questions.

This is kind of long so opt out if you don't have the time. I had been implanted with the N22 and it worked very well for me for 13 years. I had a wonderful surgeon and audiologist for the N22. I had lost my hearing overnight 10 years before, totally, profoundly deaf in both ears, so the N22 was truly a miracle for me and the audiologist was very patient and took his job very seriously.

My daughters were transferred out of state and not wanting to be separated so completely from them, I sold my house and moved with them. I found a good audiologist, re mapped a couple of times and all was well then the daughters were transferred again in the same state, we had been warned about and expected this when they took the first transfer.

So I needed to find still another CI audiologist when suddenly I couldn't use the phone, hearing got continually worse, mild pain on the implanted side, odd full feeling in the ear.

I saw the new to me CI surgeon and his audiologist. The surgeon said a wire was out of place in the implant and actually took a photo inside the ear of the CI wire pushing against the skin so hard that it showed plainly in the photo. I still have the photo.

He said no more, wanted me to see if the audiologist could get a map I could use, he couldn't and neither could the Cochlear expert although she did fantastic in trying, something was still very wrong.

I talked to the surgeon about exploratory surgery to find out what was wrong or to re implant. He just pretty much shrugged it off. I was on Medicare with a Medicare BC insurance which I'm sure you know doesn't pay much. I felt the surgeon wasn't taking me seriously, that he thought maybe I just wanted to be re implanted but I plainly ask him if he could do just exploratory surgery to find the problem, he made me feel as if I were doing something wrong. I spent the next three months going to this surgeon and his audiologist and finally gave up.

I began to panic, I knew my other ear could never be implanted with a CI. I was going deaf again. Finally, I went to see a CI audiologist at a university clinic I had heard good things about, After several maps she was concerned enough to want me to see the CI surgeon at the university, I don't feel I should mention the Audiologist or Surgeons name on the internet without their permission but will gladly give it if they say its OK the next time I see them. This surgeon set the surgery appointment as soon as he could schedule it. What he found was a tumor that had grown into and around the Cochlea and over the implant which was probably what had pushed the wire out of place, and had grown into my ear, and the bone. By the time of this surgery, I was pretty uncomfortable and had very little hearing left.

He had a mess on his hands, he had to completely close my ear canal, I don't have an ear canal any more, he had to do a lot of drilling and a lot of unplanned surgery but he managed to dig out the old implant and had to remove some bone and, (we hope), remove all the tumor and make a space to replace the N22 with a N24 C. What would have happened to me had I not decided to listen to my instincts, I don't know.

My audiologist has re mapped the ESPrit 3G at least 12 times and I'm due for another map any time now but I could tell from the first map that it was going to be OK, I could hear and understand speech right away although it was very strange sounding. I now use the phone with just having to ask for repeating of a few words now and then. She has done a wonderful job, her staff is also special people I hope everyone of you have or find audiologists and surgeons like these.

So God bless the surgeons and audiologist like the ones above. Don't hesitate to go to a different surgeon or audiologist if you feel something is not right.

Betty

Back to the Medical Information Page