Days leading up CI decision

In April, I started looking into cochlear implants and asked my ENT doctor for some referrals. He gave me three names and I went to visit one of the doctors on the list. The doctor was Dr. Sanjay Bhansali. His office is located near Northside Hospital in Atlanta.

Dr. Bhansali did his customary examination review of my health and looked in my ears and started listening to me. One of his first comments was that I wasn’t deaf. Apparently, my speech skills were such of a level beyond a deaf patient that he was accustomed to seeing in his practice. At first, that really irked me, but then I must admit that in hindsight, I was thankful that I was the person I am today because of my parent’s insistence to raise me in the oral method. Nevertheless, after looking over my audiogram results, he said that I was profoundly deaf and that I was an excellent potential candidate for a cochlear implant. I would need to complete several other hearing tests and get an MRI of my head and ear to verify the candidacy. After looking over the MRI images and the ENG test, the doctor confirmed that I would be a good candidate for CI surgery.

My wife, Melinda and I then arranged a visit with Debbie Brilling, Executive Director at Auditory-Verbal Center, to discuss the cochlear implant. Her children and father are cochlear implant recipients. This visit allowed us to see all three brands of the cochlear implant devices and processors. The Advanced Bionics processor appeared to be the best processor available. Our visit with Debbie was very educational for us. We felt strongly that this was the best path for me to take to hear better. [I have set up links on the side for you to refer to on both the Auditory-Verbal Center and all three companies that make the cochlear implant processors, Advanced Bionics, Cochlear Americas and Med-El Corporation.]

Our family also had the pleasure to meet with one of the Auditory-Verbal Center therapist, MaryAnn Costin at a piano audition at the home of my first therapist, Quida Lanier. Quida helped my parents teach me to lip read and speak orally way before Auditory-Verbal Center was born. Mary Ann Costin’s vast knowledge and valuable input was another instrumental factor in cementing my decision to go with the cochlear implant.

After discussing this over a weekend with my wife and family members, I was ready to commit to the CI surgery. We asked the doctor to initiate insurance coverage approval for the surgery. The doctor’s office set up a date for the surgery to be done on June 23rd. After waiting three weeks, we received a letter from the insurance company requesting additional tests results. I had to go back to the audiologists to complete these tests. The doctor’s office then submitted the results back to the insurance review. Within one week, we received approval letter from the insurance company that we could proceed with the surgery. Needless to say, I was very relieved and excited that this could be done without spending so much money. The total cost of the surgery may end up over $50,000, but with insurance coverage approval, we would pay our 10% share. We got a call from the doctor’s office that there was a cancellation and if we wanted to, we could move up the surgery to July 16th. We agreed to do so.

Our family took a vacation to St. Simons Island over the 4th of July to spend time with my parents, brother, sister and their family. I told everyone that we had received approval from the insurance company and would go ahead with the CI surgery on July 16th. I showed video clips from both Advanced Bionics and Cochlear Institute to show my family how the implant works and the impact that the cochlear implants had on some of their patients. They were all excited and happy to see a possible brighter future for me. I just wished that I had this done years earlier.