Denise,
I may be the one you were referring to that had all the problems several years ago. Now a few years later (3 this week, to be exact), I now know that the vast majority of the problems were because of the audiologist, not the device. Yes, a few wires broke back in those days. They've redesigned them and they are FAR better - haven't had the new model's wire break yet, and I've had it since May of last year (nearly 8 months). The key is to either get a very good and very flexible audiologist who's willing to work with the company and get it right, or find a provider that's already experienced (with good results) with the TransEar.
The new model is much better for speech recognition than the original (I went from the very first model (full shell) to the high frequency model just last year, and the difference was almost instantly noticeable. Like Jeanlea, I hate to be without my TransEar most of the time. On weekends when it's just my wife and me, and I'm perhaps doing some work outside or something, I may leave it out. But when I'm with a group or out around town it's in my ear. There really is a differnce, though it SEEMS so subtle that it isn't noticed often time. Just get used to it for a few months, then have it need repair and be without it for 2-3 weeks, and it's instantly obvious how much difference there is.
Sorry to say, 3½ years after sudden SSD (overnight at age 57), I also still can't tell what noises are sometimes. I particularly don't enjoy hearing noises once the lights are out and I'm trying to get to sleep. I often can't tell what they are and it's frustrating trying to figure it out. It took me more than 2 years to finally let go of the belief that water was running through the pipes and wondering if the water heater had broken, or someone turned out the outside faucet or something - I can hear the noise from the refrigerator at the other end of the house out in the kitchen when it's very quiet at night - and it sounds just like water running somewhere in the house. I still have to ask my wife, "What was that?!?" at times. It's usually something I would have recognized easily back in my pre-SSD days. But I've learned to live with it, and it's really not much of a bother anymore (except perhaps to my sweet wife who has to put up with it without complaining
). A nice, patient spouse is a wonderful blessing with SSD.
Chris
