how a deaf fluteplayer gets to hear again

[gregdidge]

Fantastic news!!!! Happy New Year.

[devondancer]

This is such lovely news! It is so good to smile for you, instead of worrying. Enjoy what you are hearing now, and look forward to even better hearing before too long. Happy new year, Berti.

[mutepointe]

Yippee. Just curious, what do you play on your flute?

[Jayhawk]

That's great news Bertie! I am so happy for you. I'm keeping my fingers crossed hoping the new implant will restore your hearing without causing any problems.

[Berti66]

[quote="mutepointe"]Yippee. Just curious, what do you play on your flute?[/quote]

well, ITM of course...

[anniemcu]

Massive grinning hug fest! Now... to the tunes!

[Berti66]

It has been a while. Almost six months.
And believe me, I feel MUCH BETTER physically than I have the last year!
Symptoms are gone now that the faulty thing has been removed last december.

OF COURSE I was to find out that the manufacturer, AB, had a total recall last november and after they solved their problem, they had to wait for green light from FDA and then from TUV (european organisation) before they could ship again.

Meanwhile I have been working on my house, on the huge pile of snail mail that has been waiting and to sort things that needed sorting.
Month after month passed, and by now I feel good enough to be able to tackle anything with gusto again!

I have lived under the impression that now all was going to be all right, I would get a new implant and my hearing back and back to my LIFE again.
The first thing that went wrong was my last visit to my specialist in march, who told me when I started to talk about the new implant. He simply said he did NOT believe that the implant was faulty (despite proof that I have black on white ) and that he expected the problems to return after giving me a new one.

I don't need to say what this meant to me. My world collapsed. But I went after things.
Then last week, finally got the news that AB could ship again YAY!!! And next day, got an email that I am NOT (opposite as was supposed to be) on the list.
That there was an verbal agreement between the AB person and the head of the ear nose throat clinic and the rest of the TEAM (!) knew noooothing. To make matters worse, the head of dept had a heart attack and needed a stint, won't be back until september. The head of the implant team is on a sabbatical since shortly.
My AB person says, that AB WILL pay for the surgery, for the new implant but that the hospital initially only agreed on ONE fitting (say, processor needs programming till hearing balances out again) only.
This makes no sense at all.......that was yesterday.
I totally collapsed.........so after the initial set out of things going to be all right, I am now being let down AGAIN, because my AB person "cannot make the hospital decide to DO the surgery"

Excuse me? Thanks to THEM I had surgery last december or otherwise I would still be living on opiates and lying down on the sofa, vegetating.
I have taken a insurance last week that covers costs of lawyers and am now trying to make my mind up what to do.

I have decided to make the whole story public. Write down a version of the story, and send it via email to as many organisations, papers, tv, whoever I can reach. And meanwhile wait for copies of my hospital files to arrive (hopefully) .

And my hearing? I am "making do" with an hearing aid ........its NOTHING compared to what I had, but at least it gives me sound......cannot say I ENJOY music right now.

AND I MISS IT.

[Innocent Bystander]

Writing down the whole story sounds like a good idea. Specialists aren't always good at listening, are they?
It sounds bad. Big hugs.

[mutepointe]

I've been waiting forever to hear news from you. I'm glad you have lawyers involved now. I'm still wishing you the best, which you deserve.

[devondancer]

We too have been waiting anxiously, Berti. So sorry that things are still not making the progress they should be, but with the lawyers on your side I hope that there will soon be a big improvement. Very glad that you are at least no longer in pain, all the same. You remain in our thoughts.

[Berti66]

thanks
I have no lawyers on my side...I am trying to....but we are not there yet.
next monday I DO have an appointment with a lawyer, to hear what my rights are as patient and to ask for advice on what steps to take first and what they would need etc.
you all understand I will need a lawyer specialized in medical cases, and that my insurance hopefully will cover.

first going to try and write a good story, and see how I am going to handle going PUBLIC....like papers to start with but also maybe tv etc.
meanwhile trying to get my hospital files (which lawyers need anyways).

stay tooned.

[Whistlin' Will]

That sounds really bad. I've had hip problems for almost a year now, and I know my stories about medical treatment are NOTHING compared to some people's.

And I'm glad to hear about somebody who's actually working with lawyers like they're supposed to. There's a lot of idiots out there, sadly.

[Berti66]

not working with lawyers yet....someone suggested, that given the story this could become a BIG case, and maybe some lawyer could do it pro deo.....
don't want to think about the costs of all this....
when things come into the news, maybe someone will stand up...who knows?
thats also a good point for making it all public....

[HDSarah]

Berti, I'm so sorry to hear that you're still getting the runaround.

Here in the U.S., we frequently hear of "class action" lawsuits that are made when a large number of individuals are affected by one company's actions. If there were others negatively affected by the defective implants, perhaps you can join together in legal action.

I, too, am glad to hear that the debilitating pain is gone. I wish you the best in your continued fight to get your hearing restored.

Sarah (the far-northern one)

[Berti66]

today I had a nervous breakdown.
went to the police, crying and all...they phoned the crisis healthcare people.
the police has the whole story by now , short version and where shocked.
crisis people were busy.....but I was allowed to wait for HOURS if I wanted to .

I didn't...suddenly my daughter was coming home tonight so won't be alone, and tomorrow morning 9.00 I have an appointment with the crisis people.
police has informed them and made sure that those people will LISTEN to me and take all the time needed!
they PROMISED.

we will see.
I am very tired and trying to keep going, one hour at a time....eyes sore from crying.
the fact that lately I noticed myself doing things that were so NOT me and that often I was wanting to have a drink early in the day, just to not have to feel and endure all this crap.....says enough.

I have reached my breaking point.
more tomorrow. or tuesday. depends.

question: would someone of the US people on chiff, be prepared to make a phone call for me? within US.... please PM me.
you might be able to make a difference or at least be of some help with this horror story.