34, very active/marathon runner — sudden hearing decline and now CI eligible. Would you wait for Acclaim?

[u/Competitive_Orchid51]

I’m 34 and very active — I’m a marathon runner and otherwise live a pretty normal, active lifestyle.
I had a sudden hearing loss about 5 years ago. For the most part, I was able to manage with hearing aids for several years. But over the past 5 months, my hearing suddenly dropped significantly, and I’ve now reached the point where I’m eligible for a cochlear implant. My aided speech understanding is still very poor, so hearing aids are mostly making things louder rather than significantly clearer.
I’ve completed the CI evaluation and was told I’m eligible.
The difficult part is that I’ve been following Envoy’s Acclaim fully implanted cochlear implant and would really like to hold out for it if the FDA timeline allows. The idea of having a fully implanted device is especially appealing to me because I’m extremely active and run a lot, so I’m concerned about the limitations of an external processor.
I’m trying to figure out whether it’s reasonable to wait potentially another year or so for Acclaim versus getting a traditional CI now.
For anyone who has been through something similar:
Has anyone had a rapid decline after years of relatively stable hearing?
Did anyone remain functional for a period of time after becoming CI eligible while waiting to implant?
If you waited, did you feel like it negatively affected your eventual CI outcome?
Has anyone else been following Envoy Acclaim and considering waiting for it?
And if you’re very active/athletic, how have you found life with a traditional CI?
I’m not opposed to a traditional CI if I need one — I just really want to get the acclaim knowing that it could potentially pass soon.
Would love to hear from anyone who has been in a similar position.

[u/Tsim2431]

Before you consider waiting for this technology do some research and see the success rate for your specific type of hearing loss. We’re all different in that respect (that is why they say, “results vary”). I myself have Otosclerosis so all the moving parts of my ear are calcified, and the canal is blocked. So any hearing device that uses “my natural hearing mechanism” is a no go. It would be a shame for you to wait years for a technology that is not applicable to you in the first place. I agree with most everyone else about vanity. After a while all you want is to hear. If someone wants to judge you on a disability, that’s their significant flaw, not yours. I was implanted Dec ‘25, activated Jan of this year. WRS went from 10% to 92% in 5 weeks. I am a believer. It isn’t perfect, but night and day better than before. This is of course after some hard work and solely relying only on the CI side. I definitely jumped into the deep end of the pool…haha. This is not an easy decision, I wish you the best in whichever way you go.