It was recently brought to my attention that the the business model at Envoy Medical, the company that created the Esteem hearing implant I have in my left ear, has changed. Just to give you a little background (if you are not already familiar), prior to this change, patients went through Envoy Medical in order to connect with a surgeon and obtain the Esteem implant. At the beginning of the process, you would be assigned to a Envoy representative who would then be your point person for questions about the implant as well as figuring out payment plans and filling out necessary paperwork. When I went through this initial process during the summer of 2011, I spoke to my surgeon, Dr. Marzo (the surgeon in Chicago), once before surgery, and I was not able to speak with him until I had paid my surgeon fee and set a surgery date. Almost all of my initial contact was with my Envoy Representative. Currently, there are ~13 surgeons whom are able to perform this surgery across only ~13 locations across the United States. Therefore, it was part of Envoy's procedure to fly their Engineer's to a patient's location for activation as well as any subsequent adjustments down the road. Since surgery almost a year ago, almost all of my contact has been with an Envoy Engineer.
However, I found out that after a certain time frame, Esteem patients will be getting their Esteem through surgeons instead of Envoy Medical. Envoy will no longer be sending their engineers to remote areas for their Esteem adjustments. The future goal is to have Esteem trained audiologists in many different areas throughout the US so that it will be more convenient for patients; however, I was told that it would take a while (at least a couple of months) to reach this goal. I was also told that at the present time, while the new procedures are put in place, current Esteem patients will have to travel to their implanting surgeon site or surgery center for their adjustments.
The changes that Envoy is undergoing makes perfect sense to me. These changes will make connecting with the Esteem implant much easier and less tedious for patients since we can connect with a surgeon directly instead of having to go through Envoy to ask questions, determine our eligibility, and make payments. Additionally, I can only imagine the resources that will be saved by not having Esteem Engineers fly across the globe to make adjustments. Hopefully, these resources can and will be used for research/credibility and making the Esteem device more effective, especially for those with profound hearing loss.
While I agree with the changes that Envoy is making, I have to admit that I am a bit concerned about what this means, financially, for my future revision surgery(ies). I was told that it has not been clearly defined yet how to handle patients that are experiencing issues with their Esteem device. All patients that are currently experiencing an issue will be reviewed by the Envoy management team and engineers as well as my new surgeon, Dr. Murray. It is then up to Dr. Murray to decide how to move forward with my Esteem device issues. Payment for the revision procedure and expenses have also not yet been defined.
What scares me is that it is possible that under this new business structure, my revision surgery and the expenses that go along with it (hotel, car rental, etc.) will not be cover by Envoy under their new structure. I have been through the process once and it is definitely NOT cheap! I just keep thinking to myself, how on earth am I going to be able to afford the costs of a revision surgery? The issues with my Esteem are outside of my control and there is nothing I could have done to prevent this disconnect of the driver from the Stapes. I have also done so much extra work, specifically around aural rehabilitation, to make sure that I am, personally, doing everything I can to get the most from the Esteem. I know I took a huge leap of faith going into this surgery and I feel like a 2 year old saying this (so, excuse my pity party moment), but it just does not seem fair. Ugh. I feel upset. angry. frustrated. impatient. confused. I feel so many emotions, I do not even know what I feel (if that makes any sense at all).
I think the worst thing for me right now is just not knowing what the financial aspects of the revision surgery will look like and not being able to see a clear picture of my future with the Esteem. I love the Esteem and it has changed my life in more ways than I could have imagined. I love it! However, it is hard knowing that it has the potential to get even better and that one day, I may not have to consider myself as hearing impaired anymore. There is one thing that I hate more than waiting and that is things that are outside of my reach. If Envoy does not cover my revision expenses, then this dream is out of reach for me. But I am a fighter and this is just another uphill battle that I will have to overcome. I may not see the benefit of Gods path for me now, but I know that one day, I will look back at these struggles and thank God for giving them to me. I will never let these hard times define me or my life but instead strengthen me to my core and give me the gift of patience.
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