Two weeks and counting...

[leapyrtwins]

BAHA = Bone Attached Hearing Aide

I just had the surgery 3 days ago, but still don't really get the scientific explanation of how it works (hell, I'm an accountant - I know NOTHING about medicine  )

Anyway, I'll explain it this way - pardon my rudimentary description, please - this is the way another BAHA patient described his surgery to me before I had mine and although I was wide awake the entire time, I didn't ask the doc to do a play by play of the action LOL.  I plan to get more details from the doc when I go for my post op appt. next week.  I'm thinking if I had the surgery, the least I can do is find out exactly how it was done.

In a nutshell, the doc basically lifts up a layer of your scalp, inserts a titanium plate, and attaches a "fixture" to your skull (aka "bone").  I say attaches, but the doc pretty much drills a hole in your skull and inserts the fixture.  The fixture lies flush with your skin - doesn't stick out  - and is about the size of the tip of your little finger.  After the fixture has calcified to the bone, it is strong enough to hold an "abutment" which you attach the processor or "device" to.  The abutment is sometimes referred to as a screw.  The processor or device is a tiny hearing aide (approximately the size of the your thumb if you measure from the tip to the knuckle).

In contrast to a conventional hearing aide, or a Cros, or a TransEar the device doesn't go inside your hear; it attaches directly to your skull.   The bone actually helps the sound travel somehow - I'm not at all sure how, I just know that it does.

I think I'm in over my head here - someone who understands medical stuff needs to help me out.  Lori67?  Sam Rush?

Jan   

[leapyrtwins]

I too look forward to joining the postie club.
I'm stocking up on toothbrushes and dish soap for my BAHA.
Syl

Syl -

are you planning on the BAHA surgery at the same time you do the translab?  I know there are some on this forum that had the BAHA surgery at the same time as their AN surgery and from reading their posts it sounds like it's sometimes easier to get insurance companies to pick up the tab for the BAHA surgery when the two are combined.

In my case I never thought to ask about it because #1) I had no idea what a BAHA was, and #2) I chose retrosigmoid in the hopes that my hearing could be saved.

Jan

[Syl]

Jan,

Getting a BAHA at the same time as the AN removal was the plan. I need more details from my Dr., but it looks like it may not happen. I will speak with her Monday.

Syl

[leapyrtwins]

Syl -

I like the plan - in a way I wish I would have had that option.   Having the 2nd surgery was nowhere near as tramuatic as the first, but it would have been nice if we had a game plan that said "if during surgery it becomes obvious that hearing is gone, immediate insert BAHA fixture".

Sorry to hear your plan might not happen Good luck with your chat on Monday.

Let us know how it goes,

Jan

[lori67]

Jan, I think you explained it quite well for an accountant!   

Lori

[leapyrtwins]

Why, thank you, Lori 

I saw you posted your explanation about 2 minutes before I posted mine.  Yours is much more scientific, so hopefully between the two, Calimama will get a good idea of what a BAHA is.

Jan

[Syl]

Looks like I will not be getting my BAHA during my AN resection. Many of those who have both surgeries at the same time end up not liking the BAHA. The dr. explained to me that there is a workup that is done before the BAHA surgery. What it comes down to is that how can I test the BAHA if my hearing is still intact? Though the BAHA surgery is reversible, I don't think I'd want my head cracked open a 3rd time for something like this. I'm fine with having to wait until I heal from my AN surgery.

Syl

[leapyrtwins]

Syl -

the good news is that BAHA surgery after AN surgery isn't a big deal (at least IMO). It in NO way compares to going through AN surgery (thankfully)    For my AN surgery I was "out" for 7 1/2 hours, for my BAHA surgery I had local anesthesia and it took about 90 minutes from start to finish.  I literally could have hopped off the table and walked out of the OR if they would have let me.

Also,  just to clarify things, for a BAHA implant, your head isn't opened up again.  I thought so too, and was hesitant to have one, but several members of this forum who had one before me told me otherwise.  Now, it's my turn to pass along the good news 

Once you have the AN surgery and your head is healed, try the demo and go from there.  I absolutely loved the demo and decided on the surgery; you may or may not decide it's right for you.

Jan   

[Syl]

Jan

So tell me does what I said make sense? That you can't really appreciate whether a BAHA is right for you while your hearing is still intact?

Syl
 

[Melissa778]

Best of luck to my fellow Ohio-ANs    I see Dr. Theo on the 24th for a consult.

I want to get off subject for just a sec.  Would either of you be willing to share who else in Ohio you have seen for your AN issues?  I am having to pay for my consult out of my own pocket because my insurance company is giving me a bit of a runaround.  I am from the Toledo area and I work for a health care facility and have somewhat privatized insurance, so seeing any kind of specialist for this is considered "out of network".  I have seen Dr. Lee at Cleveland Clinic.  My insurance company is now recommending I see a Dr. Babu at the Michigan Ear Institute, but they are balking at covering my visist to Dr. Theo.....It's so frustrating to have AN anyway and then to get the insurance run around too......AGH!  Anyhoo....I'd love to hear any kind of feedback on who else you may have gotten opinions from here in Ohio.  Thanks much!

Good luck to you both in the coming weeks.

Melissa

[leapyrtwins]

Jan

So tell me does what I said make sense? That you can't really appreciate whether a BAHA is right for you while your hearing is still intact?

Syl
 

Good question, Syl.  I don't know.

I was totally impressed with the demo, but I was SSD when I tried it.

I'm going to have my bandage & cap removed tomorrow morning and will ask the doc your question.

I'll get back to you,

Jan

[oHIo]

Daydreamer...I have also heard great things about Dr. Bradley Welling at Ohio State.  I did not do a consult with anyone else in Ohio.  My insurance is an HMO, so I did get 2nd opinions via phone consult.  My comfort level with my surgeons here influenced my decision to stay in Cincinnati. 

[leapyrtwins]

Jan

So tell me does what I said make sense? That you can't really appreciate whether a BAHA is right for you while your hearing is still intact?

Syl
 

Syl -

asked my doc about this today.  He said that the BAHA is only for those who are completely unilaterally deaf.  For those who have some hearing remaining, the option is conventional hearing aides.  So, the BAHA wouldn't be right for someone with hearing still intact.

Jan

[Mama R]

DAYDREAMER: I talked with Dr Welling @ Ohio Universtiy and I would recommend him. I also built a friendship with a wonderful woman who had him do her surgery and she can't say enough good about him. I am having Theo/ Pensak do mine on the 21st.  I have heard Dr Lee is a good surgeon but I have not heard much about his experience with AN's. There is another Dr in Chagrin Falls that my ENT recommended, Dr Megerian.He looks good on paper but have not visited him.And best of luck to you too!


Best of luck to my fellow Ohio-ANs    I see Dr. Theo on the 24th for a consult.

I want to get off subject for just a sec.  Would either of you be willing to share who else in Ohio you have seen for your AN issues?  I am having to pay for my consult out of my own pocket because my insurance company is giving me a bit of a runaround.  I am from the Toledo area and I work for a health care facility and have somewhat privatized insurance, so seeing any kind of specialist for this is considered "out of network".  I have seen Dr. Lee at Cleveland Clinic.  My insurance company is now recommending I see a Dr. Babu at the Michigan Ear Institute, but they are balking at covering my visist to Dr. Theo.....It's so frustrating to have AN anyway and then to get the insurance run around too......AGH!  Anyhoo....I'd love to hear any kind of feedback on who else you may have gotten opinions from here in Ohio.  Thanks much!

Good luck to you both in the coming weeks.

Melissa
[/quote]

[oHIo]

Thanks to everyrone.  I'm at the final countdown of less than one week.  Looking forward to being a postie.  Good luck to my fellow Ohio ANers.  I'll let everyone know how things go.  Praying for a speedy recovery with no complications for everyone.

Ohio Also...I'll look for you in the hospital so we can race down the hall.