ANA Discussion Forum
General Category => Hearing Issues => Topic started by: ginsue on March 19, 2013, 10:06:22 pm
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Well I took the plunge and was fitted for a SoundBite hearing devise. I'm very lucky that my insurance is picking up 85%. The devise will be in April 18th. I was told that it will take some getting use to. My concern is that I have very sensitive teeth and I hope the vibration does not bother me. Here I go again putting the cart before the horse. I am so excited to hear from both sides, it's been 21 years. Please keep me in your prayers and I don't think it will hurt to cross you fingers too. :-\
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What terrific insurance you have. That's a blessing!
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Yes Thursday I am very blessed with good insurance. The SoundBite is considered a prosthetic not a hearing aide, so it is covered much better than a hearing aid. It's as if it were a leg for an amputee. I think this is due to having total deafness so it is a replacement part sort of.
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Very exciting news, Ginsue!
I'm so happy that you are getting a SoundBite. I have a BAHA - also considered a prosthetic so it was covered 100% by my insurance - and I'd be lost with out it.
It's wonderful that there are so many options for people with hearing loss these days ;D
Happy hearing,
Jan
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Hi Jan, I am finding so may things that are out there from this web site. I guess that I had stuck my head in the sand the last 20 years. I was just happy to be on this earth enjoying my children (I was single at the time of my surgery) that I never tried to seek out anything new. It was a fluke that I even found this web site. I haven't seen a Neurologist or an Ear Nose Throat doctor for 20 years. At my one year check my neurosurgeon told me I needed an MRI every year for the first couple of years then if that was good I could go a two years. My general practitioner just ordered my MRIs and she would get a print out of what a radiologist reported. Well I changed doctors after all these years and the new doctor seemed surprised that I was getting a MRI every two years. I started researching into how often people with AN get rechecked. That's when I stumbled onto this site. I seen the hearing folder and started to read, I knew nothing of ANY devise. I decided that SoundBite seemed to be the best for me. I located a doctor in Chicago and was fitted for one. While at my appointment the doctor showed me my MRI, I have never seen mine before. I thought since they removed just about all the tumor that my brain was back to normal. OMG I could still tell where it was! Amazing! Well I guess I finally pulled my head out of the sand and I am going to keep up with technology, scleral lens next.
Happy to be hearing soon, Sue
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Hi, ginsue! So glad you found this site and discovered all the new technology for SSD! Please let us know what you think once you've tried your SoundBite out for awhile...it is relatively new (compared to BAHA) and it is good to get feedback from actual users...we have been hearing good things about it! I am having a SoundBite rep come to our local support group meeting this Summer (had a BAHA and Phonak Cros presentation at previous meetings)...like to be able to share with our group what I hear from people here on the forum about the products out there which are being used.
Best to you and all the sounds you will be hearing soon!
Cindy
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Hi Cindy,
I will let you know what is going on and will keep updates on this tread. I feel it is very important to share this information after all I wouldn't be getting a SoundBite if it wasn't for the sharing of information.
First visit: I seen the audiologist first for the usuall sound booth tests. She came into the booth after the first round then put some kind of head band on.
Second round of beeps started. Beeps it my hearing ear began, then beeps in my deaf ear began, what?!? did I hear out of that ear? Then tears of joy ran down my cheek(one side of course). She said the tears were a normal reaction. Next I went to see the doctor. He looked at my newest MRI disc and put it up on a screen so I also could view it. I seen what was left of my tumor. I was told 21 years ago that they got it all. He examined my ear and then tried the test SoundBite. This is a metal bar that I bit down on. He put it on my paralysed side, made me plug my "good" ear and got within inches of the deaf ear and whispered....Chocolate syrup, I repeated chocolate syrup (as I was tearing)....strawberries, I repeat strawberries....whipped cream, I said stop you are making me hungry! It was incredible!!!! Now comes the worrying part, after the test my teeth were sore from the vibration of the bar, I have very sensitive teeth and have a hard time like eating ice cream or food that is too hot. It took me 6 months to get use to a bridge I have in my mouth and if I could have taken it out I probably would have. I'm hoping the sensitivity was just because it wasn't fitted to my tooth, we will see. The doctors office then called a dentist in the same building and he seen me that day to make the impressions of my teeth. Now the wait....April 18, 2013.
I will keep updating. Thanks for sharing my enthusiasm, Sue
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I'm so excited. this THURSDAY at 3:15 ;D
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Well my appointment was postponed until next Wednesday due to floods closing Chicago's freeways. :'(
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Glad you found this site and a hearing device. The Soundbite doesn't help with sound direction though, right? I have the Phonax Cross which worked pretty well...
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Phillies,
I was told that it will not help with sound direction. I'll have more input when I actually wear the divice for a while. I will keep you updated.
Sue
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Well my appointment was postponed until next Wednesday due to floods closing Chicago's freeways. :'(
Ginsue -
sorry to hear your appointment was postponed due to the flooding.
Unfortunately I have firsthand experience with that flooding - although it was on a suburban street; not the expressway. My insurance company just totalled my car yesterday - it stalled on a rain flooded street, took on water, and had to be towed to my driveway where today it sits in the rain (again) unable to start.
So although it's disappointing you have to wait, you don't want to mess with the flood waters in Chicago. Trust me on that one :)
Hang in there,
Jan
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Jan,
So sorry to hear about your grief! What a mess! Can you believe more rain, where is it to go? I just looked at your profile and seen your location. You are about 12 miles of were I have to go, Lutheran General Hospital, Dr Moore ENT. I live 65 miles west of you.
I have waited 21 years to hear so a week was nothing....only one day left now...10am tomorrow! YAY
Sue
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I FINALLY GOT IT!!!!!
I wore the SoundBite home from the doctor"s office for the hour and a half drive. I called my husband and I could still hear the radio, I plugged my hearing ear and I could still hear the radio. I think I sang all the way home. ;D I haven't taken it out and it has been 4 hours. The thingy in my mouth causes NO pain from the vibrations, I don't even feel the transmition. Now it will be just having to see what I think in different situations. Life is good!
Sue
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Are you able to use the phone in your deaf ear at all?
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CONGRATS Sue!!!! So glad you have found something that is helping you after all these years!! How wonderful!! I am still deciding what I would like to pursue so its always nice to hear success stories,, plus I am truly happy for you ,,,,best of luck adjusting to it ,,Jane
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Sue -
great to hear (no pun intended) how happy you are with your Sound Bite ;D
Thanks for updating us,
Jan
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Great news, Sue! Please continue to update us on how things go as you have fun with your new hearing!
cindy
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Thanks all! Phillies, I haven't even tried the phone but the audiologist said not to, not sure why. I will try it soon, I have been so busy at work. Jane, this was the only thing that I considered because I never want to go under the knife again. Jan, I'm glad you sense my enthusiasm and thanks for sharing it with me. Cindy, I will keep updating. I feel it is my duty to share info with others that may be considering it, after all that is why I invested.
First full day: I wore it all day at work but I work in a one on one quiet room. Went out for supper and had to remove it, they told me that I could wear it while eating but I can only chew on the side that I wear the mouth piece and food kept on sticking to the part that goes on the roof of my mouth. If I could chew on the other side I think it would have been fine but that is paralysed so it's not happening. That did not disappoint me at all. The mouth piece is very easy to put in and take out. After supper we went o a loud discount store. No problems there and my husband never said "she's talking to you" so I don't think I missed anything. What I can't understand is that they told me at the doctors office that it will take some getting used to, everything seems very natural so far. I thought that I would wear it a few hours at I time but that is not the case I find myself not wanting to take it off.
Life is good :P Sue