More appointments

So, having decided on Advanced Bionics, I used their Clinic Finder to look up surgeons. I saw that the Mayo clinic was listed, so Brian called for me and asked about a candidacy screening. They had an availability the next day! I made an appointment. After I got to work, I told a co-worker, excited that things were moving along. But he warned me that Mayo might not be covered on our plan. Turned out, he was right. I had my second canceled appointment.

Brian and I stepped back, and decided to cross reference the Advanced Bionics list to the insurance company's network. Also, some word of mouth made its way back to me, and it turned out that both of the surgeons I heard about were in-network and implanted Advanced Bionics. So the two surgeons each got a call for a candidacy screening appointment. One is for February 27 (next Friday!) and the other is for March 30, over a month away. I'll go the one next Friday to see if I'm even a candidate.

The candidacy screening will be an evaluation of my auditory skills. I will go through a battery of tests, with and without my hearing aids. My listening comprehension will be tested on each individual ear, as well as both at the same time, while wearing hearing aids. Background noise will be added, and there will be no visual cues (no lipreading). If I do not do well enough, then I am a candidate. If I do too well, then I am not a candidate. I listen to audio exercises now and my listening comprehension is very poor. Sometimes I can't even understand a single sentence, and even though I play it over and over again, I just can't make it out. I'm pretty certain I'm a candidate. I'm going to do the best I can, and if I disqualify as a candidate, so be it. This journey will pause, and I'll continue to learn about this incredible technology. But, if I do qualify, the implant is going in. Maybe by summer, I'll be exploring a new, noisy world.

I ordered "Rebuilt: How Becoming Part Computer Made Me More Human" and "The Practical Cochlear Implant Guide" from Amazon. They should get here sometime after my candidacy screening. One is a memoir that has great reviews. The other is a more mundane, thorough book, covering all aspects of Cochlear Implants. It was first written in 1991 and was recently updated and revised.