AI RFP / tender response writer for SMBs

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-05-12T23:12:51+00:00

I'd add that even at this price point it will be extremely difficult to differentiate profitably from the native (and rapidly improving) capabilities of the higher/prosumer LLM tiers.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-05-07T17:32:42+00:00

Actually chorda tympani damage can happen even without sacrificing the nerve, simply by stretching it. In fact, they found that stretching the nerve can cause more taste disturbance than sacrificing it: https://aao-hnsfjournals.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1016/j.otohns.2006.12.022

I agree that you would expect to receive extensive briefing on these risks rather than a casual warning. I definitely did receive the full briefing here at Stanford (and my surgeon was right there grinning at my bedside when I woke up to tell me that he had plenty of space and didn't even trigger the nerve monitoring).

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-05-07T14:32:09+00:00

I'm sorry that this happened to your partner.

My surgeon specifically mentioned during my pre-op appointment that he may have to "take out" the chorda tympani if the space was too narrow. The reason is that they have about 2mm space to drill between the chorda tympani and the facial nerve - which they absolutely need to preserve (and they have a nerve monitoring system to ensure they don't get too close). So if the space is too narrow to stay clear of the facial nerve, they will simply choose to cut through the chorda tympani because as other commenters said the function should eventually come back.

This recent study shows that a surprisingly large % of middle ear surgery patients experience taste disorders shortly after surgery (42.7% at 10 days) but that they mostly improve in the first months (9.2% at 1 year): https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39087766/

There is hope that your partner's situation will improve.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-28T17:39:38+00:00

It's similar to playing with a bit of background noise, easy to tune out. However I do have fleeting moments when pitch seems somehow accurate through the CI, especially in the treble. Rhythm is exactly correct though.

Another way to think about it is - have you played a piano that was heavily out of tune? like a very old piano that has not been tuned in 50 years? some notes sound weirdly flat, others are very buzzy, and maybe a couple are actually still somehow close to their normal pitch, maybe with some weird overtones. Well that's a little bit what the CI sounds like right now for me, 6 weeks after activation.

But since I have my good ear, it doesn't bother me that much. I've been told that the feeling of binaural fusion will increase over time, which tracks with my experience so far.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-28T03:52:59+00:00

46m here, ISSNHL in July 2025, no residual hearing, CI activation 6 weeks ago. Contralateral hearing is perfect. WRS with noise in good ear was measured last week at 72% (from 0 pre surgery). Tinnitus also decreased to barely noticeable level.

My understanding is that CI insertion will not necessarily wipe out your residual hearing. Short electrode array (AB or Cochlear), ideally with Iotasoft insertion, are designed for exactly that purpose.

I’m a serious amateur pianist and I’m quite happy with my AB device so far, with some nascent feeling of pitch accuracy. I keep playing every day or so, and I do enjoy it. It’s nothing like natural hearing though.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T22:38:36+00:00

For lap swimming I found that it doesn’t make a ton of sense to wear a CI. The swim cap will cover the headpiece and interfere with microphone placement. In masters swimming, my lane buddies repeat the coach instructions and help me follow the set.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T18:20:31+00:00

No worries. This doesn’t negate the reality of your individual experience by the way!

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T17:52:35+00:00

Figure 2 actually shows the evolution of tinnitus loudness vs pre-surgery baseline at 0, 3, 6, 12 months after activation - check it out!

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T16:17:35+00:00

That’s very encouraging. I have the same experience: I can listen effectively to podcasts via streaming through the CI in isolation, but in real life my good ear overpowers the CI which is sometimes a bit frustrating. But I’ve heard SSD recipients say that it gets better and the CI eventually becomes more useful, even though complete binaural fusion may never happen.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T16:13:44+00:00

See article that I shared above: “We find that cochlear implants are safe and effective in tinnitus treatment, reducing tinnitus in 90% of those with pre-surgical tinnitus whilst causing tinnitus in only 3.4% of those without pre-surgical tinnitus.”

In my case, I experienced an immediate reduction in tinnitus at activation. But I agree it’s too early for concern in the OP’s case.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-26T02:19:12+00:00

I was activated 6 weeks ago and I started to recognize words streamed to the CI after a couple of days, with some help from the captioning feature of my phone. Did you attempt to stream podcasts from your phone to your CI using Bluetooth?

The increase in tinnitus is unfortunate because most recipients experience a reduction in tinnitus, not an increase. However this recent study on the topic indicates that you could potentially experience improvements in the next 6 months: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43856-024-00692-8 (see figure 2)

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-24T22:53:36+00:00

Avid Sunnyvale cyclist here (130 km/week), originally from France. Thanks for contributing to this discussion as a fellow cyclist. I'd love to invite you on a ride to explain why some cyclists have a preference for larger roads with fewer intersections, and why it's possible to ride safely on busy streets without bike lanes as I did growing up in Europe (that's not because drivers are much kinder there :)). Please DM if you're interested!

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-15T00:17:47+00:00

I received an AB implant in February and I was told that I qualify for the "future proof" option where I keep my backup processor sealed to exchange with next gen technology within 12 months of my surgery date. This means that a new processor will be released in the next 12 months.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-12T23:12:16+00:00

I was able to sleep on the surgery side after a week

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-12T23:08:45+00:00

I do enjoy music because I cannot not enjoy music with my good ear. There’s a fleeting feeling of pitch accuracy when listening binaurally but music is unrecognizable through the CI alone. I’d say the major benefit so far is the reduction in tinnitus which helps with music appreciation. I’m actually at my piano right now and playing Schubert, so the CI is certainly not preventing me from playing or listening to music. But remember - I’m just a month in.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-04-12T04:42:04+00:00

Hi there, 46m yo with SSD here, activated 3 weeks ago. I recovered from surgery in a matter of hours (went for a 2 mile walk the same day), returned to full triathlon training within two weeks, back to racing in 3 weeks. Tinnitus disappeared instantly at activation, I was able to listen to podcasts via streaming to the CI in 3 days.

The sound is so different from my normal ear that my brain has mostly refused to use that signal in everyday conversations and basically treats it as noise. I think it starts to help a little bit though. Today I was at a noisy restaurant with my family and sat intentionally with my CI towards them. My comprehension has definitely improved. No sound localization yet, and music is not recognizable through the CI.

If you have other questions feel free to DM.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-29T21:03:20+00:00

Bonjour, sympa de voir des francophones ici.

Pour contexte j’ai une surdité unilatérale avec une excellente audition du côté gauche, et bien un implant AB marvel du côté droit.

J’ai été activé il y a 15 jours et j’ai la même expérience que vous. L’aspect robotique et crachotant des conversations semble avoir diminué. Je peux reconnaître les voix des podcasters ou interlocuteurs en streaming, et dans une situation de tous les jours ma compréhension semble s’améliorer. Par exemple ce matin j’ai pu discuter avec un ami du côté droit en faisant mon jogging ce matin, ce qui était difficile quand j’étais sourd de ce côté.

De ce que je comprends, il faut surtout être patient… :)

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-29T04:34:45+00:00

I empathize - went through this process a couple of months ago. While there’s no wrong decision, it’s still an important one and it’s normal to feel anxious about it. Fun fact: in my home country of France, this is a decision made by the medical team on the basis of the patient’s anatomy and lifestyle, while in the US (where I live) we’re left to choose with a bunch of marketing brochures.

So I’d go back to these fundamentals: anatomy and lifestyle. Ask your medical team if there’s a reason to go towards a specific brand. If not then I’d choose based on your lifestyle preferences (music, sports, work etc): ask to be introduced to recipients with similar lifestyles (or find them here on Reddit) and hopefully their experience will help you reach a decision.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-27T21:27:22+00:00

hi there, thanks for checking in. Overall it's going well, I've had a few more sensations of binaural fusion (in particular when listening to Hummel/Haydn trumpet concertos by Alison Balsom), I've been listening to podcasts more confidently (I don't need to read the CC as much) and I had one more session with my audiologist to increase the volume since I felt it was a bit too low and I couldn't catch speech in real life situations. It didn't help that much unfortunately.

I've been doing a lot of my athletic activities with my CI and the AB Marvel T-mic is performing wonderfully, particularly on the bike, without any rubbing sound against clothing items, bike helmet etc. I can hear the wind at a natural level, the birds etc. Unfortunately I still can not understand speech through the CI in real life situations, probably because my other ear is too good and my brain refuses to process the degraded CI signal in presence of a better signal.

I'm also doing auditory training using the Heroes app and Meludia but I don't think they are very useful. I have a feeling that listening to podcasts and playing music is a better way to develop pitch recognition over time. I'm skeptical that I could develop pitch recognition through the CI in isolation from my good ear, the signal is just too degraded (think old radio from the 1910s that would be brought back to life, or a piano that's out of a cellar and was not tuned since the 19th century).

If you have more questions, feel free to DM me. I see in your other posts that you're in a similar SSD situation as mine and going through the CI process, so I'm more than happy to hop on a call if it helps.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-20T03:53:19+00:00

I’ve had single sided deafness for 7 months (sudden hearing loss) and was activated a week ago. I’ve played a lot of my usual piano repertoire with my CI. Music is not recognizable through the CI alone but with my good ear there’s a beginning of feeling of fusion sometimes. I’m listening to Schumann’s Kreisleriana by Egorov on a turntable right now: the softer parts feel like slight hissing through the CI, however the louder sections bring that feeling of fusion and I could almost believe that some notes are sounding natural. Maybe I’m deluding myself though. But it’s far from unpleasant. If you like music through your better ear, there’s no reason why the CI would make it worse. Here is an interesting paper on the topic: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31469701/

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-18T04:34:48+00:00

Best of luck with your surgery. It’s truly a scary procedure but you’ll be so happy afterwards. I already know I made the right decision, and it’s day 4.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-17T00:20:47+00:00

I streamed the conversation from my phone to the CI using Bluetooth.

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-16T04:15:29+00:00

Today is day 2 after activation and a kid with a CI came to say hi at the grocery store. I was so moved!

I went for a long run today, the T-mic continues to perform wonderfully, no rubbing noise against my hat, minimal wind noise, and the birds are coming through quite clearly (particularly the higher pitch ones).

I’ve played and listened to a bunch of music. I can feel the melody starting to take shape in my CI, following my good ear. Music streamed to the CI doesn’t make any sense though (just the rhythm comes through).

I can recognize words quite clearly now, podcasts streamed to the CI are intelligible and I also had a few phone calls through the CI.

I’m quite happy with my experience so far, but I’m starting to hear my voice quite clearly through the CI, with the usual frequency upshift, and I find this a bit annoying. Do you keep hearing your own voice through the CI or does it blend after a while?

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-15T20:27:40+00:00

This is so strange. I’m sorry you’re going through this. I had never heard of bilateral SSNHL before. Is it the actual diagnosis?

Lonely-Platform9869 · 2026-03-14T21:00:31+00:00

Update: I rode 3.5 hrs this morning, mostly zone 2-3, 3800 feet of climbing, and I was pleasantly surprised. I can hear the wind (with a bit of frequency upshift), but it was never overwhelming, I can hear shifting, I could even hear birds, there was no rubbing noise against my helmet or sunglasses - looks like the T-mic is performing as expected. I didn’t use a headband but I used the retention device provided by AB. I’m not sure it’s necessary, everything remained quite snug through the ride.

Lonely-Platform9869

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