gratitude
It's Thanksgiving week in the U.S. and that leads to thoughts of what we're thankful for. A friend posts daily on Facebook, each day something new that she's thankful for. It's a good exercise in perspective; no matter how much rain seems to be falling on your parade there's generally something to be grateful for.
For me it's both simple and quite complex. This year has been a whirlwind, and I've been moving both unimaginably fast and occasionally unbearably slowly toward better hearing with my cochlear implants. And there is much to be thankful for. Since it's Thanksgiving week I thought I'd take the opportunity to enumerate them, because the number of people and institutions that I'm thankful for is quite large. In January of this year I had no idea that I'd qualify for CIs. How I got here, and that quickly, is still a source of amazement to me.
(Note: I have no one's permission to use their names here so I'll substitute initials.)
First, the simple part: the impact on my life since receiving my CIs, even though I'm just getting started with the second one and it's far from rehabbed, is astounding. A couple of months ago I had lunch with a former employee and HE nearly cried when he saw what a difference it made. Imagine how I feel.
The complex part is, of course, more detailed. The first step on this journey was when I learned that my audiologist was going out of network, so that any future appointments would cost more. So when I had my checkup, I asked my GP for a referral and he had me see an ENT and audiologist who work as a team, and who are, conveniently, in the same medical center as my doctor and quite close to home. So the first person I'm grateful for is my doctor, W.M.
Then I saw the ENT and the audiologist, M.H. and J.D. and had my hearing evaluated. When the audiogram was complete, they both acted surprised that I hadn't been referred to a cochlear implant clinic before; I wasn't surprised because I didn't know exactly what the threshold was, but I did know that my interaction with my previous audiologist was simply to go in every five or so years when my hearing aids died and get new ones. That was the whole thing, there was never any discussion of cochlear implants. So I'm incredibly grateful to both Dr. M.H. and to J.D. the wonderful audiologist there.
They referred me to the University of Minnesota clinic, and specifically to a woman who's both an ENT and a neurotologist, and not incidentally, a CI surgeon, Dr. T.H. After confirming that I'm a candidate for CIs, she sent me to another audiologist, K.B., who specializes in cochlear implant patients. There I was evaluated again, and my candidacy was confirmed.
This was followed by two successful and highly uneventful surgeries, thanks to Dr H, who is very, very good at what she does, and to whom I'm grateful beyond words for making something that's potentially quite frightening as routine and successful as it was.
Each surgery was followed by activation and the mapping and rehab process that's still ongoing, guided by the knowledge, advice and cheerful attitude of K.B., whose patience and guidance is something that I'm more than grateful for.
Aside from the medical team, my husband and brother, my friends and co-workers have all - without exception - been supportive and helpful. People can be really, really good, which isn't always evident if you get your input from the news.
On a different scale, I'm grateful for the people who developed, designed, qualified and manufacture this amazing device. As I've noted before, my device is a direct technological descendant, if I can use that term, of a device co-developed by my employer in conjunction with the University of Vienna in Austria in the 1980s. 3M exited that business a long time ago, but the 3M-Vienna device was a significant step on the path that leads directly to the implants in my head.
My implants are from Austria, though Med-El is in Innsbruck, not Vienna. They not only make a good product, but part of their business is to provide a support network for the recipients that helps us all to learn to get the most from the technology we've been provided. From the online forum and the people I talk to there, to in-person meetings designed to provide help with using assistive devices and with doing the routine maintenance (changing microphone covers, etc) the company truly supports the people who use its products. This is true on a more fundamental level as well, for reasons that led directly to my choice of implant: backwards compatibility (processors that work with older implants as well as the latest - mine are the latest, but they're going to be in my head for a long time); technological advances (Med-El has a number of electrode arrays that our surgeons can choose from depending on our anatomy, and they can actually make custom arrays if that's what it takes to make the implants work for patients with anatomical oddities). And they are known for device reliability, as well as the fact that the implant itself is MRI safe to 3 Tesla. So I'm grateful not only for the Hochmairs, who developed the CI that I use, but who built a company focused on patient support and device reliability.
And finally, I'm grateful that not only does my insurance cover this, but it covers the U of M clinic, which provides, as its normal kit to recipients, two processors per ear, so that we always have a backup in case of technical problems, and each kit also contains an assistive device, and I was lucky to have received two different items, which provide help in differing situations. Many people don't get the backup processors or the assistive devices, and I'm grateful that I was provided them. My company is self-insured, so the decisions to provide this coverage are internal, and I've spent much of this year in awe of the coverage that 3M provides. My husband and I discussed the possibility that insurance wouldn't cover me (it does happen sometimes) and we discussed paying for this ourselves. We could have done it, but it would have set retirement back - way back. I'd probably have ended up dying at my desk (but able to hear!). And so I'm grateful to be working for a company that provides this.
So this Thanksgiving I have more reason than ever to be thankful. My gratitude to 3M, to MED-EL, to the U of M Clinics, to my entire medical team, my co-workers, family, friends and my husband, who has been there for me through it all. And even for my friends who read this blog and who have held me up with their good wishes and support.
I remain stunned by all of this.
For me it's both simple and quite complex. This year has been a whirlwind, and I've been moving both unimaginably fast and occasionally unbearably slowly toward better hearing with my cochlear implants. And there is much to be thankful for. Since it's Thanksgiving week I thought I'd take the opportunity to enumerate them, because the number of people and institutions that I'm thankful for is quite large. In January of this year I had no idea that I'd qualify for CIs. How I got here, and that quickly, is still a source of amazement to me.
(Note: I have no one's permission to use their names here so I'll substitute initials.)
First, the simple part: the impact on my life since receiving my CIs, even though I'm just getting started with the second one and it's far from rehabbed, is astounding. A couple of months ago I had lunch with a former employee and HE nearly cried when he saw what a difference it made. Imagine how I feel.
The complex part is, of course, more detailed. The first step on this journey was when I learned that my audiologist was going out of network, so that any future appointments would cost more. So when I had my checkup, I asked my GP for a referral and he had me see an ENT and audiologist who work as a team, and who are, conveniently, in the same medical center as my doctor and quite close to home. So the first person I'm grateful for is my doctor, W.M.
Then I saw the ENT and the audiologist, M.H. and J.D. and had my hearing evaluated. When the audiogram was complete, they both acted surprised that I hadn't been referred to a cochlear implant clinic before; I wasn't surprised because I didn't know exactly what the threshold was, but I did know that my interaction with my previous audiologist was simply to go in every five or so years when my hearing aids died and get new ones. That was the whole thing, there was never any discussion of cochlear implants. So I'm incredibly grateful to both Dr. M.H. and to J.D. the wonderful audiologist there.
They referred me to the University of Minnesota clinic, and specifically to a woman who's both an ENT and a neurotologist, and not incidentally, a CI surgeon, Dr. T.H. After confirming that I'm a candidate for CIs, she sent me to another audiologist, K.B., who specializes in cochlear implant patients. There I was evaluated again, and my candidacy was confirmed.
This was followed by two successful and highly uneventful surgeries, thanks to Dr H, who is very, very good at what she does, and to whom I'm grateful beyond words for making something that's potentially quite frightening as routine and successful as it was.
Each surgery was followed by activation and the mapping and rehab process that's still ongoing, guided by the knowledge, advice and cheerful attitude of K.B., whose patience and guidance is something that I'm more than grateful for.
Aside from the medical team, my husband and brother, my friends and co-workers have all - without exception - been supportive and helpful. People can be really, really good, which isn't always evident if you get your input from the news.
On a different scale, I'm grateful for the people who developed, designed, qualified and manufacture this amazing device. As I've noted before, my device is a direct technological descendant, if I can use that term, of a device co-developed by my employer in conjunction with the University of Vienna in Austria in the 1980s. 3M exited that business a long time ago, but the 3M-Vienna device was a significant step on the path that leads directly to the implants in my head.
My implants are from Austria, though Med-El is in Innsbruck, not Vienna. They not only make a good product, but part of their business is to provide a support network for the recipients that helps us all to learn to get the most from the technology we've been provided. From the online forum and the people I talk to there, to in-person meetings designed to provide help with using assistive devices and with doing the routine maintenance (changing microphone covers, etc) the company truly supports the people who use its products. This is true on a more fundamental level as well, for reasons that led directly to my choice of implant: backwards compatibility (processors that work with older implants as well as the latest - mine are the latest, but they're going to be in my head for a long time); technological advances (Med-El has a number of electrode arrays that our surgeons can choose from depending on our anatomy, and they can actually make custom arrays if that's what it takes to make the implants work for patients with anatomical oddities). And they are known for device reliability, as well as the fact that the implant itself is MRI safe to 3 Tesla. So I'm grateful not only for the Hochmairs, who developed the CI that I use, but who built a company focused on patient support and device reliability.
And finally, I'm grateful that not only does my insurance cover this, but it covers the U of M clinic, which provides, as its normal kit to recipients, two processors per ear, so that we always have a backup in case of technical problems, and each kit also contains an assistive device, and I was lucky to have received two different items, which provide help in differing situations. Many people don't get the backup processors or the assistive devices, and I'm grateful that I was provided them. My company is self-insured, so the decisions to provide this coverage are internal, and I've spent much of this year in awe of the coverage that 3M provides. My husband and I discussed the possibility that insurance wouldn't cover me (it does happen sometimes) and we discussed paying for this ourselves. We could have done it, but it would have set retirement back - way back. I'd probably have ended up dying at my desk (but able to hear!). And so I'm grateful to be working for a company that provides this.
So this Thanksgiving I have more reason than ever to be thankful. My gratitude to 3M, to MED-EL, to the U of M Clinics, to my entire medical team, my co-workers, family, friends and my husband, who has been there for me through it all. And even for my friends who read this blog and who have held me up with their good wishes and support.
I remain stunned by all of this.
There are many benefits to living here in the future, aren't there?
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