Nervous about going bilateral - should I get a second implant
Hello everyone, I was wondering if people could offer me some advice or share personal experiences regarding going bilateral.
I lost my hearing at around 5 years old, in which I developed profound loss in my left side and moderate loss in my right. I was implanted on my left side in 2014 at age 7, and have also had a hearing aid in my right side ever since. For the last 4-ish years, I have found that I prefer my left side significantly more. I prefer people to sit or stand on my left and find it significantly harder when people are on my right, especially at school. I’ve been to my audiologist who looks after my right (HA) a few times over the last couple of years and basically been told that my hearing aid is as loud as it can be, yet i always feel like I want more! I am consistently frustrated in social situations when I feel like I can’t hear someone, no matter how many times i ask them to repeat themselves, and I am constantly tired out from concentrating so hard.
I have recently gone in for a consultation to get a second implant on my right side. My hearing loss in my right ear is only JUST bad enough to make me a candidate for a second implant, but my audiologist seems to think it would be a good move.
I’ve booked a date with my surgeon, but I’m starting to chicken out a bit. Is this the right decision? I still have around 30-40% natural hearing in my right ear, so even though I find my left stronger, am I silly to throw away the natural hearing I have left? I’m worried about making myself completely deaf. My left cochlear side sounds natural to me, but I’m wondering if that is only because I still have natural hearing in my right, and if it will sound very different with two implants. I’m someone who loves music, so I'm particularly worried about this. It also only properly hit me last night how scary the prospect of being completely deaf is, and I think it might be a very big shock to me. Any advice, positive or negative, would be greatly appreciated, particularly from anyone who has gone from the cochlear implant & hearing aid combo to bilateral implants.
Thanks for letting me vent, it’s hard to talk to hearing people in my life because they don't quite understand what a cochlear implant sounds like!