The First Appointment

I'm a perfect candidate! Just got home from a very long appointment and day with Dr. Merwin. My first appointment went well and I am so excited about the possibility of being able to hear better. My appointment was at 3:30 p.m. and I didn't walk out of there until after 7 p.m!!! I liked Dr. Merwin right away when he walked in the room and felt very comfortable with him. He has eyes that smile, was warm and friendly, and was easy to understand (that is so important for me!). After meeting with him I spent some time with his audiologist and went through a whole battery of hearing tests. I failed them all with flying colors (and that is a good thing)! In fact, my hearing has gotten worse since my last audiogram which was done five years ago. I only got one word right without lipreading. From what I could tell from the chart, it looks like I have a 110+ db hearing loss. Dr. Merwin says that I am an excellent candidate for a cochlear implant. The question now is which ear to do. He will leave it up to me. He says that both ears are about the same and asked me if I was right handed or left handed. When I told him that I was right handed, he said that it would probably be best if we did my right ear. That is the ear that I favor and was hoping that we could do the other ear. He said that left handers use their left ear more and right handers have a tendency to favor their right ear, which is true in my case. He said that both ears would work but I would have better sound and more results with my right ear. All that is really needed is the connection to the brain and the brain will readjust itself. (Isn't that amazing?) We discussed the implant, equipment, surgery, how long it would take, etc. (which I already knew from the research that I've been doing). I would have the latest technology available. I will have to have two more tests done (an ENG for balance and a CT scan) and we'll go from there. Dr. Merwin's nurse will schedule that and call me back tomorrow. They will also send a letter to our insurance company right away. Hopefully they will cooperate and approve everything. I hope to be implanted as early as a month from now. Depends on how I can work it around work and our family vacation. . . .more later! I met Steve at Applebee's for dinner so I didn't get home until 9:30 p.m. Today was a good day.