u/Mediocre_Koala_7262

Had my cochlear implant activated yesterday and the audiologist did the initial programming. I have genetic hearing loss that runs in my family. My father and one of my siblings has it. Two of my nephews have the genetic hearing loss as well. I had been wearing hearing aids for 27 years progressing from the CIC model to the Behind the ear model as my loss progressed. I have a CT scheduled for next week. The audiologist said they analyze the CT and implant placement to plan to make further adjustments. I was unsure of what to expect when the implant was turned on. I've read people experience bells and whistles to an angry swarm of bees sounds. I didn't have any of that. Actually, I was understanding the audiologist speaking to me. I even took my hearing aid out of my non-implanted ear to test just listening with the cochlear implant. I was actually able to understand the majority of what she was saying. She said the fact that I still had some residual hearing in my ear that was implanted probably helped the transition since my ear the nerve was still active and being used. I'm excited and its strange hearing things I haven't heard in a long while. The only thing is right now when people speak to me, it sounds like I am in a steel drum. The audiologist said that eventually will go away. I was hesitant to get the surgery. But now I am glad I did.

My surgeon had told me to plan on taking about 2 weeks off from work to recover from surgery. I am about 9 days post op from surgery, and the worst of the recovery from surgery seems to have passed. I am scheduled to return to work next Monday. I had a single sided CI placed, and retained my natural hearing in my other ear. I wear a hearing aid in that ear as well due to profound hearing loss. I can function, but I still need to read lips to fully understand what people are saying. Even then, sometimes I have extreme difficulty especially if the person speaks very softly or has a very monotone voice. I'm scheduled for activation on the 15th, one week after I return to work. My job involves seeing patients and treating them in a dental clinic as a practitioner, so I do need to be able to communicate with patients during treatment. I underestimated how much of a benefit wearing two hearing aids was even if one ear was almost completely deaf. Now I am worried about being able to effectively communicate with patients since I am only wearing one aid right now with one somewhat functional ear. Also, I am uncertain how long it will take me to learn to hear with the CI. My wife is saying I should take an extended leave from work to focus on rehab and improving my health and hearing ability. Have any other CI patients had to deal with a situation such as this where your job involved a lot of interacting with people and speaking? Did you go back to work relatively quickly after your surgery? Did you struggle with communicating with people? Did you wish you could have taken more time off to rehab your hearing?