Had my appointment with the audiologist on Friday to talk about brands and ask questions. I had narrowed it down to Advanced Bionics or Cochlear; I liked AB because you can still get MRIs without having to have anything removed first (and the MRI seems to be the preferred medical test nowadays), and Cochlear because it’s controllable with an iPhone app. However, basic program changes and volume adjustments can be done using the earpiece on the AB, and they have a dongle you can attach to stream Bluetooth directly, and AB seems, well, a bit more advanced in terms of technology. I don’t understand all the terminology or inner workings, but it sounds like Cochlear, being the oldest and most established brand, might be content to rest on its laurels rather than continuing to innovate.
I had a few concerns about doctor availability, given how long it took me to get the initial appointment with the surgeon (almost 2 months after my assessment with the audiologist), so I asked about it, since I do want to make sure that if I have any problems after the surgery I’ll be able to see someone. The audiologist assured me that emergencies and established patients are given priority, and that they have more than one doctor who will be able to see me if needed. So that’s a relief.
I have an order form that I’ll need to fill out to choose my accessories; AB uses a point system; each accessory “costs” a certain number of points, and you get 5 points free with the implant. Anything beyond that I’ll have to purchase (presumably then it’ll actually be in dollars, not points). I’ll need to do a bit of research to figure out what accessories I want.
I’ll also have to choose a color. That’s a harder question; I was thinking I might want to decorate mine, since it might not be easy to hide, and if I can’t hide it I might as well embrace it. So I could go with standard, boring brown like my hair, or something lighter that I could get a friend’s artist daughter to paint a pretty design on for me.
So aside from that, there’s just the waiting.