Author Topic: BAHA - Coolness in a box  (Read 6156 times)

Tod

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 661
    • My blog (work and life)
BAHA - Coolness in a box
« on: December 01, 2010, 08:59:32 am »
Today I started the BAHA process with my neurotologist. I tried the sample unit, and yep, it is Coolness in a Box! I really, really want one. Audiologist appointment is scheduled in five weeks, meanwhile the surgical coordinator is scheduling a surgery date and starting the insurance process. Fortunately, my doc understands the insurance nightmare and is used to negotiating the minefield. We'll see what happens.

On a side note, he is very pleased with my progress nine and a half months since that very long surgery, especially since I am successfully running and backpacking again. He agrees with me that Bob's compression on my brainstem really affected me these last few years prior to surgery.

I hope everyone else is having a great day,

Tod

Bob the tumor: 4.4cm x 3.9cm x 4.1 cm.
Trans-Lab and Retro-sigmoid at MCV on 2/12/2010.

Removed 90-95% in a 32 hour surgery. Two weeks in ICU.  SSD Left.

http://randomdatablog.com

BAHA implant 1/25/11.

28 Sessions of FSR @ MCV ended 2/9/12.

Kaybo

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 4232
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #1 on: December 01, 2010, 09:23:28 am »
great news, Tod!!  So happy for you!

K   ;D
Translab 12/95@Houston Methodist(Baylor College of Medicine)for "HUGE" tumor-no size specified
25 yrs then-14 hour surgery-stroke
12/7 Graft 1/97
Gold Weight x 5
SSD
Facial Paralysis-R(no movement or feelings in face,mouth,eye)
T3-3/08
Great life!

msmaggie

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 665
  • Blessings abound!
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #2 on: December 01, 2010, 10:55:07 am »
Very good news indeed!  I love it when there is a solution to a problem  :D.

Priscilla
Diagnosed  left AN 8/07/08, 1.9 CM
Surgery 12/10/08 at Methodist Hospital w/Vrabec and Trask for what turned out to be a cpa meningioma.

Jim Scott

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 7241
  • 1943-2020 Please keep Jim's family in your hearts
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #3 on: December 01, 2010, 03:01:00 pm »
Todd ~

Allow me to add to the well-deserved chain of congratulations both for your progress in recovery and your status as a potential BAHA wearer.

Jim
4.5 cm AN diagnosed 5/06.  Retrosigmoid surgery 6/06.  Follow-up FSR completed 10/06.  Tumor shrinkage & necrosis noted on last MRI.  Life is good. 

Life is not the way it's supposed to be. It's the way it is.  The way we cope with it is what makes the difference.

dalern

  • Sr. Member
  • ****
  • Posts: 328
  • My glass is always half full
    • www.dalebarnesrn.com
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #4 on: December 01, 2010, 11:29:54 pm »
You are doing just great.  Congratulations, and good luck with the BAHA process.  I love mine, and am sure you will as well.
Kay, you're next!
~Dale
Dale Barnes, RN, MSN, CLNC
Tarzana, CA
1998 Sudden Onset Idiopathic Sensorineural  hearing loss diagnosed at House Ear Institute, Los Angeles
BAHA June 30, 2010 Dr. Jeffrey Harris UCSD San Diego

leapyrtwins

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 10826
  • I am a success story!
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #5 on: December 07, 2010, 11:19:51 pm »
Tod -

BAHAs are amazing!!!   ;D

If you need insurance help, Cochlear now has a division called OMS that can help you and your doc get insurance approval.

Good luck!

Jan
Retrosig 5/31/07 Drs. Battista & Kazan (Hinsdale, Illinois)
Left AN 3.0 cm (1.5 cm @ diagnosis 6 wks prior) SSD. BAHA implant 3/4/08 (Dr. Battista) Divino 6/4/08  BP100 4/2010 BAHA 5 8/2015

I don't actually "make" trouble..just kind of attract it, fine tune it, and apply it in new and exciting ways

moe

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 1697
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #6 on: December 08, 2010, 12:34:00 am »
Congrats Tod, on first of all:
Running and backpacking again!
Second: the upcoming BAHA. I got my processor a week ago, have already gone through one battery, and love the way I can hear. It didn't make the tinnitus go away, as I expected, but it does help to muffle it a bit, since I can now hear out of that ear. Will see how it works in the long run.
(I have the PONTO by Oticon.)
so glad to hear you are doing good. How is your swallowing?
Maureen
06/06-Translab 3x2.5 vascular L AN- MAMC,Tacoma WA
Facial nerve cut,reanastomosed.Tarsorrhaphy
11/06. Gold weight,tarsorrhaphy reversed
01/08- nerve transposition-(12/7) UW Hospital, Seattle
5/13/10 Gracilis flap surgery UW for smile restoration :)
11/10/10 BAHA 2/23/11 brow lift/canthoplasty

Tod

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 661
    • My blog (work and life)
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #7 on: December 08, 2010, 05:01:13 am »
Thanks, as always, for the support everyone.

Maureen, my swallowing is improving, but as I told the doc,  I'm not sure if that is from healing or that I am simply adapting to things. Perhaps both. Occasionally I have choking episodes when I stop paying attention to what I am doing, but these are pretty rare. I also don't have to drink nearly as much liquid   to get through a meal as I used to. And my left eye is starting to produce tears again, so life is pretty sweet.

-Tod
Bob the tumor: 4.4cm x 3.9cm x 4.1 cm.
Trans-Lab and Retro-sigmoid at MCV on 2/12/2010.

Removed 90-95% in a 32 hour surgery. Two weeks in ICU.  SSD Left.

http://randomdatablog.com

BAHA implant 1/25/11.

28 Sessions of FSR @ MCV ended 2/9/12.

Tod

  • Hero Member
  • *****
  • Posts: 661
    • My blog (work and life)
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #8 on: December 08, 2010, 05:59:25 am »
BTW Jan, I have read enough for your BAHA posts already to be aware of that, and had mentioned to my doc. He has definite opinions about the insurance process and seems to know the routine as well as being aware of the OMS division.

Thanks,

Tod
Bob the tumor: 4.4cm x 3.9cm x 4.1 cm.
Trans-Lab and Retro-sigmoid at MCV on 2/12/2010.

Removed 90-95% in a 32 hour surgery. Two weeks in ICU.  SSD Left.

http://randomdatablog.com

BAHA implant 1/25/11.

28 Sessions of FSR @ MCV ended 2/9/12.

Snoopy-16

  • New Member
  • *
  • Posts: 3
Re: BAHA - Coolness in a box
« Reply #9 on: February 26, 2015, 01:58:34 am »
Hi all,
As you probably know, the TransEar is only available in a few countries, but as I live in Australia, my options were either the BAHA or stay SSD.
3 years ago (in 2012) I discovered TransEar on Google, & decided I had to have one.
I travelled from Australia to the UK in 2013 and was fitted with one, but I never really got on with it. I found it really uncomfortable & the sound was very intermittent.
Regardless, I decided to purchase it & return to Australia, to see if I could 'get used' to it.
I 'put up' with it for 3 months, before I decided it wasn't for me.

Now (Feb 2015) I was sorting through a draw, and found my TransEar. I thought I would give it one more try. Funny enough, it seems to be working really well this time. I was just thinking about trailing the BAHA, but maybe now, I may finally have the answer to my SSD after all in the TransEar.
(Fingers crossed)

I have noticed that this topic has not been monitored for quite a while.
I hope there are other TransEar users that see this.

Regards,
Pete
(SSD since 2009)
Single sided deafness caused by 'serous labyrinthitis' in 2009, brought on by a simple chest infection.
Tinnitus in dead ear, sounds like compressed air blasting out of an air gun.