Pink Is Not An Option

Met with the audiologist today about the devices. Turns out that I was wrong about the color options. The basic options for the head coils and processors are: beige (like my current HA, blarrgh), silver/grey, black, and brown. The real color "options" are in the side and face plates. The head coil for one manufacturer is a solid disk, so they have colored covers you can get for that too. The other head coil looks a little like a spoked wheel, so you're pretty much stuck with one color, although, someone handy with a sewing machine might be able to fashion some kind of cover.

So, basically, the real color options is in the trim. The plus of that though, is that you can change those plates depending on your mood. So, if you're testifying before congress or attending a funeral, you can stick with the basic color. If, afterwards you find yourself at a trip jam concert, you can slap on the psychaldelic swirl trim, and you're good to go.

Both BTE processors felt fine, but one was a little less noticeable, probably because the "T-mic" (which positions the microphone near the bowl of the ear) made the other processor a little more snug.

We went over the rest of my questions about the two devices. I've probably flipped back to my original preference, but I still have my doubts. I like the looks of this processor a bit better (it's also the one that was more comfortable). And the controls are buttons, rather than a small dial and a tiny little switch lever.

The biggest concern is, it uses only a single output for all of it's electrodes. That means that only one electrode can be fired at a time. The other one gives each electrode its own output channel, meaning that multiple electrodes can be fired at once.  Theoretically, that could allow for sensing a greater number of spectral frequencies. In practice, that isn't really happening right now, as a bigger factor is how many cochlear cells are being stimulated by the electrodes.

The other piece of information I got was related to the surgery schedule. I'm still waiting on the insurance company, but while we were talking, I mentioned the difficulty in trying to plan things more than a couple of weeks ahead.  The audiologist went and checked with the surgeon's secretary to see what the schedule looked like. When she got back, she said that if I were to get the approval in the next week, the earliest they could schedule me would be mid August. That means that I can make plans at least that far ahead (meaning, I can go ahead and register for the ND MS150 ride, which is at the end of July).

If there's no word from the insurance company by early next week, I guess I'm going to contact them to find out where things stand.