This week has been pretty much the same as last, except that I have not had the time to do the ear training and piano that I was doing all of last week.
I am practicing the piano a little and playing the guitar but have not done much in the way of relative pitch training.
It’s a very busy time of year, pruning the 700 peach, nectarine and apricot trees and they do need to be done expeditiously. In addition, I have had a couple of other matters to deal with so the ear training has taken a back seat.
I do notice that the dog’s bark has changed a little and there definitely seem to be more occasions when I can understand someone speaking with less effort, but Donald Duck still has his home in my implant.
I don’t really have much in the way of “other” noises to contend with like popping and clicking so that’s a good sign.
I read Envoy’s investor presentation that was issued on 2/3 and it looks like they are expecting FDA approval in Q2 2027. If that happens, it will be pretty quick, but I am hoping that is the case. The same presentation pitches the device at $30K. That’s not cheap, but then I don’t really know what “traditional” devices cost.
Envoy is also projecting replacing the battery every 5 years. That sounds fairly similar to pacemaker replacements and as it is in the same location a pacemaker battery may be placed I don’t think it’s going to be major surgery.
Next week I return to MUSC audiology for more programming so next Thursday’s report show be a more significant update.
Thanks for listening.
God bless you.
7 thoughts on “Cochlear Implant Weekly Report”
Have you put yourself in a restaurant or dance hall to see how they handle a noisy environment? I am talking to someone with a simple external CI and they state that even after all these years (maybe 30?) they have a lot of trouble in those environments and would rather just stay home alone. I likely need a CI soon, so this is a concern for me, as I do ballroom dancing and am worried I would never really be able to do so again. Thanks
I find my CI is a little better than my remaining hearing aid in a noisy environment. I have only been turned on for a month, so my brain is still learning to discriminate but I have been told it won’t help much in a noisy environment because that kind of discrimination relies on some serious brain processing power that determines how long a sound takes to arrive, the reverberation and tonal quality etc.
That said, I have also been told it won’t help with tinnitus, but my right-side tinnitus is totally gone or suppressed at this point. At least as far as I can tell, even if I “listen” for it.
It certainly should not be any worse than your hearing aids.
Does this CI have bluetooth compatibility?
Hi Alex.
The audiologist said not. I don’t need it because I don’t stream anyway. They way it works, you can just use regular bluetooth earbuds anyway, or headphones. Which is what I did yesterday as I was spraying the orchard. Worked fine for me.
They do have some kind of near field communication (NFC), like your cell phone because the minute you turn the charger on, it knows how much battery is left in the implant. Also, bluetooth could always be added to the device post approval / just before approval. It would likely consume more battery so that may be why they did not add it in the first place (if it isn’t there).
I can’t see the device when I scan with my phone but it could be disabled, at the very least not in pairing / scanning mode.
Hi Robert. Just learned of your blog and will be following it. I’m 68 yrs. old, have worn hearing aids for about 25 years, and also have tinnitus. The word recognition results from my audiogram earlier this week were 40/45%, much worse than in my 2024 tests. My audiologist suggested a CI, and while I plan to get a CI evaluation, I am sure it will take some time for me to adjust to that idea.
The Envoy Acclaim has advantages that seem worth waiting for. Maybe I’ll be mentally ready for a CI when they are released in 2027. Your blog posts are very helpful and the fact that you’re a musician is a bonus, as one of my worries about a CI is the sound quality of music.
Thanks, and best wishes to you.
Mark
Thanks for the kind words Mark. I do hope people find this useful, also Envoy, as I think they need some patient advocate / feedback.
40-45% is the highest level they want you at before considering a CI implant. I went for an evaluation in June of last year and then managed to get into the Acclaim trial and I could not be happier. I am presuming the 40-45% was without hearing aids and non-contextual i.e. not in sentences, just the “ready”…”word” prompt.
Yes, the 40-45% was without hearing aids and with just words with no context. I was told by the audiologist that 60% was the point at which one becomes a candidate for a CI, so my score seemed quite low using that as a threshold.
It’s very encouraging to me that you are so pleased with your implant, and so soon after it was activated. I’m happy for you!