The wait is finally over! My BAHA is on!

[hannalou]

I got my BAHA fitted and adjusted yesterday and I am loving it! The 3 month wait after surgery is finally over.  I am a substitute teacher and can't wait to get in the classroom and hear the difference...

I do have a few questions for fellow BAHA wearers out there - I know there are several setting that can be programed into the device, however my audiologist only programed one for me.  She stated that because I have SSD I would only need to use one setting.  Is that correct?  I am just thinking that there are different environments that I am in where I might need a different setting to be programed.  She said could do it but doubted I would need that.  Just want to make sure that now that I have the technology that I use it to its fullest potential.

Also I am wondering about the additional things you can get for it - like the MP3 attachment,  do they help and how do they work?  Currently, when I use my IPOD I just wear one earbud in my hearing ear and leave the other one dangling around my neck.  And just figured I wouldn't wear my BAHA or would shut it off when I use my IPOD. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Hannalou

[jaylogs]

Congrats Hannalou!!!  I am sure you'll be loving every minute of the hearing world again!  Which BAHA did you get?  Let us know how the classroom works, as my wife is a teacher and she knows another teacher at her school that is SSD from an AN, she's kind of considering going with a BAHA eventually...
Jay

[leapyrtwins]

Hannalou -

I'm going to chime in with the same question that Jay asked - which processor do you have?  One by Cochlear or one by Oticon?

I personally wear a BP100 by Cochlear so my answer will be based on that, but a lot of what I'm going to say will be relevant to the Ponto Pro by Oticon also.

The reasons BAHAs have different settings is so that patients can use them to enhance their hearing experience.  If you are only using one setting, as you suspect, you aren't using your technology to it's fullest potential.

My BP100 has 3 different settings and I use them all (although the majority of the time I use setting #1).

My setting #1 is for normal, every day, small room, etc.; setting #2 is for large, crowded and/or noisy rooms; and setting #3 is for music.  I use setting #3 with a Cochlear MP3 adapter and absolutely LOVE it!  When I use it I have no need for any earplugs in my ears - one end of the adapter plugs into my iPod and the other end plugs directly into my BP100.  As I've told my doc - and many others - it's like having a concert inside of your head 

I also have a single ear bud (eliminates the "dead" ear bud from dangling around my neck) and a mono plug that I purchased for about $10 (total for the 2 items) @ Radio Shack that I still use when I exercise (I don't wear my processor when I exercise).

If it were me I'd make a trip back to the audiologist and ask her to finish programming my processor.

Good luck,

Jan

[hannalou]

Thank you for insight   My Baha is the BP100 and I thought it just seemed weird that she only set 1 setting for me considering the technology offers 3.  I will be going back for some adjustments in the couple of weeks and will request that she set up the other programs for me.

Thanks for the input about the MP3 player and earbuds.  I am an avid music lover and am excited about being able to better enjoy music and concerts again.  I recently started working out at the gym again and it has been bugging me having the dangling earbud. 

I will be subbing tomorrow and Thursday so I will have input on how it helps in the classroom soon.

Again thank you ~ it is so nice to have someplace to chat with others who have been through this and understand what I am going through ~ the good and the bad

[leapyrtwins]

Hannalou -

another great resource that you might find helpful is the Cochlear Community (www.cochlearcommunity.com).  It's a forum similar to this one for people with CI's (Cochlear Implants) and BAHAs (made by Cochlear)  Registration is free, but you can't "lurk" like you can do here; you have to register.

When I first joined it seemed like the number of CI wearers greatly outnumbered the BAHA wearers, but the BAHA group seems to be growing every day.

Jan

[Suu]

  Congratulations on the exciting news. I am gobsmacked that the technology is this far advanced.

Cheers
Suu xxoo