Jan's BAHA pictures

[er]

Jam. How does the demo work if you don't have the titanium post in?

eve

[leapyrtwins]

The demo is basically a processor (small hearing aid) attached to an elastic headband.

At my demo, my doctor had me plug my "good" ear with my finger and then he talked to me.  Amazingly, I could hear every word he said to me. 

At that point it had been about 4 months since I had heard anything with my "bad" ear and I was stunned.  I fell in love with the BAHA right then and there and the rest is history.

If you think you might be interested in the BAHA - however remote that interest might be right now - I'd ask your doctor about the demo.

Jan

[er]

Thank you Jan, I think I will.

We are suppose to  have another support group meeting in a couple of months and they are arranging for some one with Baha's and trans ears to put on a demonstration. I am really curious about the equipment.
eve

[lori67]

I survived my first winter with my BAHA (ok, it was in Nashville, not Chicago, but it still gets cold here!) and had no problems at all.  I don't even notice the abuttment is there.  It doesn't set off metal detectors, make the microwave run funny or help me get any better radio reception either.

My BAHA demo was attached to a headband with the processor against the bone the implant would be in.  My doctor had me put it on and walk around the medical office building and the hospital and the noisy food court to try it out.  It was great and the real thing is much better.

Eve, I hope you get a chance to talk to people who have the various hearing devices so you can get some first hand accounts of the pros and cons.

Lori

[yardtick]

Lori,

How cold is cold in Nashville?  I know Chicago is referred to as the "Windy City" and know it gets pretty cold there, but Nashville in the winter I haven't a clue

It's another hot, hazy and humid day here in Southern Ont.  My igloo might be all melted by now hee-hee-hee!

Anne Marie

[er]

  would the titanium post stop you from getting  an MRI.
Since I moved and didn't have my records, this last time they took x - rays of my head to make sure I didn't have any metal
before they gave me an MRI. 
eve

[lori67]

Anne Marie,  probably not cold by your standards, but it gets below freezing on occasion.  It usually doesn't last long though.  And the fun part is though it might be 30 degrees one day, the next could very well be 80 degrees!  We sometimes get a few flakes of snow that don't stick anyway, but that's enough to shut down the whole city for three days.  And today it's 98 degrees and humid!!  Blah.. .no happy medium...

Eve, you can still get an MRI with the titanium post.  It's not magnetic (or some other technical word my husband used to explain it...ugh... nuclear engineers..think they know everything)  My first MRI since the BAHA was delayed a bit while the technicians made a few phone calls to my surgeons and Cochlear America to make sure it was okay.

[leapyrtwins]

Lori -

I'm sure you'll correct me if I'm wrong, but didn't the whole request for Steve to knit us hats come out of our desire to keep our BAHAs warm in winter    Sometimes we get so silly, even I forget how certain jokes started 

Eve -

Lori is absolutely correct.  In fact I got my first post AN surgery MRI about a month after my BAHA implant was put into my head.  The technician's assistant wasn't sure if it would be a problem, but she consulted with the technician who said it wasn't an issue.  So, you have to mention it to MRI "personnel", but it won't prevent you from having an MRI.

My nifty little BAHA gift pack from Cochlear contained a card about airport security and BAHAs on one side - no, they don't make the metal detectors beep - and information for MRI technicians on the other side.  A handy little card if I may say so myself 

Jan

[LADavid]

Jumped into this discussion a little late -- par for my life at the moment -- but I just wanted to say, that's very wild, Jan.  I had no idea what they were or looked like.  My question for those with shorter hair -- does it show?  I'm not a candidate for one since I wear a hearing aid in my good ear -- but am looking into a CROS.  And Jan, I know what you mean about getting used to your own voice -- I felt like I was screaming when I first got a hearing aid.  I got somewhat used to it -- but I don't wear it at home so I can't hear the noisy neighbors above me.

David

[LADavid]

And Jan, congratulations on posting pictures.  I've managed it once (with Phyl's help).

And to give my input on the weather discussion -- I've been all over the US and a lot of Canada -- the coldest I have ever been was in Chicago.  It was the wind coming off the lake that made it so bad.  Calgary is wicked too.

[lacey7]

Wendy,
You mentioned you lived in Staten Island and there aren't 100,000 people there.  I live in Monroe, MI, and in the city, the population is about 25,000.  Since I've been diagnosed, I've come into contact with 4 other people who have it that live in this city!
I can't believe it's that common here! 
We DO have a nuclear power plant here, but no one will probably ever  know what the cause of having this many people, when I also heard the average is one out of 100,000.   We also have a higher than average rate of cancer, also.
Any other people here find higher than average living around you that have AN?

[er]

Lori & Jan

Thank you for the information it does help to know. I guess anything invasive on your skull is nerve racking especial after having your skull open up once. Sorry I am still a coward.
eve

[sgerrard]

Wendy and Lacey,

The 1 per 100,000 figure is per year. That means you would expect on average about 1 new case every 4 years in Monroe, MI; and there must be someone else on Staten Island besides Wendy that has an AN. Maybe they got it diagnosed in Manhattan?

Steve

[leapyrtwins]

David -

glad to "see" you; you've been missed!  Stop by more often 

Yes, the BAHA is a little wild but then again, so is having brain surgery 

The BAHA does show if you have shorter hair, but it depends how short it is.  When joef sent me some pictures of his processor attached to his head, you could see it quite clearly.  I also saw another man with one at my doc's office and it was noticeable too.   But it's not "Oh, my God!!" noticeable.

I just got my hair cut today - and it's back to where I was wearing it pre-BAHA.  My son and daughter both told me they could see the processor.  However, when I asked their friend who had never seen it before, to stand behind me and tell me if there was anything "weird" about my head, she told me she saw nothing.  I knew she wasn't lying because when I popped the processor off and showed it her, she gave me a little shocked look.  I think my kids are still a little uneasy that "mom has something attached to her head"    I think it's probably the age - they are preteens after all - with time they'll get used to it.

Posting these pictures wasn't as hard as it was the first time I tried to post a picture.  I guess I'm getting a little better at the "technical" stuff on the forum.  Not to brag, but I've even figured out how to put links in some of my posts 

Eve -

don't want to push you into anything, but I do have to say that the BAHA implant surgery does not involve opening up your skull like AN surgery.  It is completely different.  Although it does involve implanting the fixture into your skull with a drill, it is more like being scalped.  I know that's not a comforting description, but it's not nearly as bad as it sounds.

Jan

 

[Kaybo]

Jan~
You can be my new technological advisor - I can't even get a quote to work right!!

Lacey~
I live by a nuclear power plant and I don't know about the AN's but we DEFINITELY have an elevated rate of birth defects here.  My friend (Vicki) has a son with Down Syndrome and she can rattle off some of the stats to you.  She grew up in a town on the other side of the plant and LOTS of the girls she grew up with have had babies with MAJOR problems.  My golf coach in HS moved to the tiny town where the plant is located (I'm about 45 miles) - they lived on the last street before the plant's property started - and her daughter had a brain tumor and died. So sad...

K