 I
guess the best place to start is to say that many people, my son included,
report that the 3G gives them clearer sound and makes speech easier for
them to understand. My son absolutely loves his and refuses to put either
his SPRint body worn speech processor or his ESPrit ear level processor
back on. He also loves being able to change the colors. OK, here are some
notes about the 3G and some things you may want to know about.
- One mother writes me to say:
My son is
enjoying the 3G, but we are having a lot of problems with sweat getting
in the microphone and generating that "motorboating" sound. We sent our
first 3G back because the problem seemed irreparable. I have now
discovered that if I take out the batteries (with cover off) and blow
dry the unit somewhat aggressively, the motor-boating goes away.
Sometimes just blowing out the mic holes with the puffer included with
the kit is sufficient, but other times only blowdrying+puffer does the
trick. (The battery compartment also collects a fair bit of moisture.)
- When people first get their 3G programmed, it can be done by
either a straight translation from the SPRint or ESPrit, or by starting
from scratch and setting all the T & C levels. From the implant
recipients I've heard from, who were unhappy with the 3G, almost all of
them had a straight translation done. When they went back and had a new map from scratch, they loved the results. I've only heard of
one or two whose map was started from scratch who didn't like it and
went back for another map.
- Some audiologists are recommending that patients not use the
screwdriver included with their N-24 to change the covers on the coil,
that they should instead get a screwdriver for eyeglasses and use that
instead. They explain that the one included is just a hair too big and
it strips the heads of the screws too easily. The most frustrating thing
for my son is getting the screws in and out. I had assumed the problem
was because the magnet kept pulling the screwdriver to it. My son tried
the screwdriver for eyeglasses and said it works a lot better.
- There is a problem with the package design for the Varta
batteries and the package is being redesigned. The problem is, when you
remove the battery from the package, the tab automatically comes off.
This doesn't prove a problem for normal use of the batteries, but if you
like to keep some spares in the battery caddy (our cochlear implant
representative gave us a special one that holds 3 batteries), you don't
want the tab coming off. I'm still using some Toshiba's we had before to
keep in the battery caddy and using the Vartas at home. It looks like if
you're really careful, you can use a razor knife to take them out of the
package and still keep the battery tab on, but I haven't had to actually
do this yet.
- Cochlear realizes the screws are causing problems for many, and
so they're re-designing the head coil. The principal clinical
applications specialist for the west central reason said that the
overall appearance of the coil for the 3G will not change significantly
but that the magnet will once again screw in and the cover will no
longer be removable (thus no color covers anymore). The coil and cable
will also remain one unit. The Cochlear
representative said that they won't do a mass mailing of them, but as
the coils come in under warranty for repairs, they'll be replaced with
the newly designed ones. Just last week I asked Cochlear when this would
be and she said probably not till after the first of next year, if even
that soon.
- Colors, and lots of them - but some people
want a specific color that just isn't included in the kit - like gold or
orange. The representative told me that even though Cochlear hasn't
officially approved this practice, many people are getting an extra set
of covers and painting them. When I asked what kind of paint they are
using she said spray paint, model car paint, enamels, all sorts of
things. Some paint it a solid color, and some paint pictures on it.
Great idea! Please be aware that Cochlear put a lot of effort into
making sure that their colors wouldn't cause skin reactions, and when
you paint them, all bets are off as far as this goes. So, if you paint
the covers, you do so at your own risk. We've painted the pink one that
came in my son's kit because it looked like he had a pencil eraser stuck
to his head every time I saw him wearing it. He LOVES his customized
covers. All of them have a clear top coat to prevent skin reactions.
Here are 3 covers I've done for him (click on the picture to get a
better look):
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This one was made with a vinyl window stick-on, then coated
with clear fingernail polish. |
This one was made with fingernail polish: 2 coats of base
color, 2 coats of glitter color, and 1 coat of clear. |
This one was done with glow-in-the-dark spray paint: 2 white
layers for base, 2 layers of glow-in-the-dark, and 2 layers of
clear spray paint on top of that. The clear layers are essential
on this one because the glow spray paint is water soluble. |
This is my son's latest favorite - his Patriotic look. We just
used the red and blue covers, but used paste eyelash adhesive to
stick on the star. |
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