I'll definitely keep you in my thoughts, feelgood. I also have deafness from meningitis as a baby, and when I consulted with my audiologist, it was decided that I would not beneft from a cochlear implant, even though my hearing is completely gone in my left and profound in my right. From her description, people who end up having cochlear implants hear the world as if everyone talks/sounds like Donald Duck. That sounded like a regression from the quality that I'm able to hear with my Perseo digital. I've noticed a WORLD of difference from my analog - I could never go back to analog now, and feel the $3,000 was well worth it.
As far as ASL, the same thing happened to me - I was fluent and used both ASL and conversational English until I was 10, and then the school district I attended refused to provide supplemental ASL time. As a result, I've grown rusty from lack of use, and now primarily use lipreading.
Good luck on your surgery, I hope this turns out well and gives you the increased peace of mind with additional clarity of hearing.
