I finally got around to taking some photos of my cochlear implant and accessories. It came with a lovely briefcase in the color I had chosen (reddish). The Opus2 consists of, from top to bottom, the ear hook, the processor which attaches to the wire going to the magnet coil head piece, and to the power pack. The power packs hold the batteries and can be exchanged to hold either rechargeable or disposable batteries. Then there is the cover that slips over the power pack and batteries. This cover can be just plastic, or can contain a 3-prong direct connect plug at the bottom.
Here’s a link to the photo album if you can’t see the slideshow: Med-El Duet2 on Flickr
I love that I don’t have to be stuck with one type of battery or another. The rechargeables are great but only last about 10 hours. If I ever get out camping or sailing or somewhere away from a normal outlet then I’ll be happy to be able to use disposable batteries during that time. I’m told that 3 disposable batteries last about 3 days.
I also use the direct connect cable a LOT. I’ve just finished reading and listening to The Count of Monte Cristo and highly recommend the original version even though it’s really long. Leaving the cover with the direct connect plug on it makes the processor longer and heavier behind my hear, but I don’t notice it much and it’s nice to be able to plug in to my iPhone whenever I want to without switching the parts.
Lastly, I think it’s funny that they made such a big deal out of choosing the color I wanted and then gave me all six colors as covers. You can see that one I’m wearing has a bit of black in the middle of it. This is the rechargeable power pack being black and the processor and cover being red. I think it’s cool.
