Hearing Test Results From First Adjustment

As I mentioned in my last post, I completed a hearing test during my re-adjustment appointment. This is probably one of my least favorite things in the world. I mean who likes to be tested and scored on something you know you are not very good at! Well, I received my test results today and I have to say that I am very disappointed with my scores and feel like I am hearing a lot more than what is showing up in this test. 


Before the implant, I had severe to profound hearing loss (in the lower and high ranges, respectively). My test is showing only a 5 decibel improvement with my Esteem, with the greatest improvement at 15,000Hz (80 to 30 decibels). I also had requested my hearing test from the day of my activation, and, at most frequencies, my hearing was, on average, 5 decibels better than my recent test. My test scores went down from my activation to my readjustment. Also, my Esteem scores are about 5-10 decibels less than my hearing aided scores. 


It really broke my heart when I saw these tests. I told my husband this and he was shocked as well and felt that he has noticed such a difference in my hearing and speech. I am feeling very concerned about this lack of improvement and am hoping that it has something to do with my cold instead of something more serious. I emailed my Technician about this to see if she could offer any explanation. 

Additionally, my word understanding increased from 68% to 76%. I was told that patients typically increases about 10-15% at this stage in the process and I am below that average with an 8% increase. I am not trying to justify anything, but I do feel like it is difficult to really detect an accurate account of differences when my pre-test took place in Denver, in which the audiologist said the word, and the test today used a recorded voice. When I was tested in St. Louis just 3 months before my test in Denver, my word understanding was 20%. I think this was so low because they used a recording of a female with a high pitch voice. So I am not going to let myself get too discouraged about this, as I will have a more accurate comparison when I am tested at my next readjustment appointment. 


While I am trying to stay positive about this (the situations is what it is), I am a bit concerned and will feel much better once I hear what the Envoy Technician has to say about this. More details to come...