I have a hearing loss that began in my mid 50s. It is a fairly sever hearing loss and I have become very frustrated with the hearing aids that I have and others that I had tried. I somehow found out about the Esteem hearing implant and looked into having it done. What I found out is that it was hard to get input from any other recipients other than the one on the Envoy web site. It all sounded too good to be true. That led me to the idea of blogging about my experience so that others could get an unbiased point of view.
I started my blog on another site and over the next couple of weeks I will move those blogs to this site. In the mean time if you would like to see what was previously posted goto http://hearingsparks.blogspot.com/2010/03/esteem-fully-implantable-hearing-aid.html
http://hearingsparks.blogspot.com/2010/03/esteem-fully-implantable-hearing-aid.html
Anyone is free to post comments to this blog. I would love to hear of other's experiences.
Hi Kay. I was wondering how music sounds with the Esteem implants. I currently wear analog over the ear hearing aids and found that every time I tried digital hearing aids, it really destroyed the music experience that I can achieve with analog hearing aids. In an attempt to bring speech to the front of the music, it classed the guitars/bass/drums as "background" noise and would keep switching it out. Is the program for Esteem hearing aids much like analog where everything is 1 setting and there are no special programs to cut noises out?
ReplyDeleteBefore I get excited about Esteem implants, I'd like to check and see what the deal with music is because music is a big part of my life.
Thanks, and I hope the implants are working well for you.
Hi
ReplyDeleteIn answer to your question about music, I'm not sure I can answer that question. My non Esteem ear is my dominant hearing ear, so I hear music more with that ear. I would say that the Esteem will give you a more natural hearing experience since the sound goes in the ear canal. I do have a setting for music and I will test it out further and let you know how it goes.
Kay
Hi. Thanks for your candid comments. Our oldest son (18.5) has had an unexplained (believed to be congenital) 80 dB bilateral SN loss...which has gradually progressed to 'profound'. He remains exceptionally 'oral' however, so we've so far resisted the suggestion of a CI. I'm wondering what would happen if you were to ADD a HA on the ear with the Esteem?
ReplyDeleteThanks for your blog! I was under the impression that Esteem was the big cure. It's just another way to help hard of hearing people. I have a severe hearing loss in both ears and wear two aids. The technology has gotten so much better in the last ten years that it gives me hope for the future. I thought Esteem was it. But it's not. It's been very difficult to find people like you who are straightforward about their experience. One of the red flags I got from the Esteem website is that it sounded too good to be true(pun unintended) and I was off put by the aggressiveness of the Esteem reps inviting me to their seminars..
ReplyDeleteAnyhow, I'm sure there are benefits to Esteem and there are definite advantages- but it is not a cure! Rats.
Tom
I also say "Rats", Esteem is not the cure. But it is a very big help. Maybe not as big as the testimonials would have you believe. At $30000 per ear, it should give better results. And don't forget the risks of putting wires in your middle ear
ReplyDeleteThanks for being so honest. My experience with the Esteem has been very similar to yours.
ReplyDeleteThis is an update as of Feb 8, 2012. I had another appointment with the Esteem engineer. She found that my hearing in the Esteem ear at low frequencies had dropped by 25db. That is why speech was so distorted. She said that the drop was probably due to lack of adequate glue on the transducers or tissue in the middle ear. This would take a minor surgery (Tympanotomy) to investigate and fix. So I will need to go back to the Doctors office to have this procedure done. I was told there was no charge for this procedure. They go through the ear drum to fix the problem.
ReplyDeleteI will say this that they do take very good care of the patients after the Esteem implant has been done. I am hopeful that this will bring my hearing in that ear to a much better level. I was told that patients with my hearing loss usually do quite well with the Esteem.
Kay
I am having similar experiences.
ReplyDeleteThe procedure was done late Nov. 2011 and the device turned on late Jan. 2012.
There was a slight improvement at first, but that has diminished with time.
My ear feels like it is plugged all of the time and sounds are muffled.
Clarity and word recognition are poor. Music is not enjoyable and restaurants are impossible.
I am being told that there maybe a problem with the driver.
Esteem engineers and the Doctor agree that the entire unit needs to be replaced at no cost to me.
I will post the outcome in about 2 months.
When I visited my doctor recently he also mentioned that there could be a problem with the driver. We left it at wait and see. We will reevaluate in one year what to do.
DeleteThe results for the Esteem are very disappointing indeed. I guess there are some who get big benefits, but I am hearing about more and more who are not.
Thanks for reading my blog.
John, I cannot email you because you did not give me your email address. Comment again and include your email and I will answer your question.
ReplyDeleteJohn, send me your email so I can answer your question or just ask it as a comment and I will reply
ReplyDeleteHi Kay,
ReplyDeleteI had the esteem installed in feb 2012, and it had to come out in
aug. 2012. I got a bad infection in the middle and inner ear starting immediately after surgery. I don't know if they had dirty surgical equipment or what. I don't know if they gave me the wrong anti-biotics after first sirgeru or what but my ear never drained because of the infection. I went back in aug. for what I thought was going to be a revision or corrective surgery, only to wake up to be told they took the unit out. Guess what, for some reason, that I can't find out, they never installed the tiny prosthesis back in to connect my ossicular chain back up, so therefore, I have no hearing now in the ear. Sadly that was my best ear(right ear) because everything I do, such as drive, watch tv, work, or whatever else, people are always on my right side. But what is the sad part, it has been two months now since the removal surgery, and no one has checked to see if the infection cleared up or see if I'm alive or anything else. I have tried repeatedly via email and phone calls to get them to contact me but to no evail. I would think they should at least offer to install the prosthesis back in so I could have my old hearing(as advertised) and/or repay my #19,000 plus dollars I paid them for the device that had little use.
I am so dissapointed and shocked at this company that I don't know what to do. It's like they don't know me anymore.
Thanks for the blog spot. Bud
Hi Bud,
DeleteI remember your blogs on the Facebook group for Esteem patients. This sounds like one of the worst cases that I have heard of. The person who had her Esteem implanted the same day as I did has had a similar experience as yours but not as bad. They did not explant her Esteem.
I can't imagine why they did not rebuild the ossicular chain, my guess is that they thought there was too much infection or scar tissue or something. But why didn't they tell you why? I think you can make an appointment with you doctor to check on the status of the infection without going through Envoy. You might look into Cochlear implant also if they can't restore your hearing to what it was. What was the level of hearing loss in that ear before the Esteem implant?
Thanks for reading my blog