John, S.*
I am 56 years old and starting a new phase of my life as a result of my cochlear implants. It’s a new phase because it has given me the opportunity to look at what life holds for me and to appreciate the ability to continue to enjoy it.
I was an officer in the US Army and a pilot when my hearing began to deteriorate. At the urging of my family I was tested and fitted for a hearing aid. Within two years this progressed to hearing aids for both ears and the realization that my hearing was rapidly becoming worse all the time.
I continued with my professional life, retiring from the Army and accepting a position as a Dean at a Community College. I taught college classes and began to work as a business consultant. I became an expert at speech reading after almost a year of training with a speech pathologist. I also became an expert at “faking” being able to hear; but all those close to me, especially my family, knew the reality of my increasing deafness.
I left the Community College to work as a Hospital Administrator and healthcare consultant. My hearing loss was accepted by my colleagues but became a greater and greater burden. My wife and I stopped going to movies, didn’t go to plays and I avoided almost all social occasions. Even my granddaughters, all under 7, knew they had to get my attention so I could “see what they had to say”.
After urging by my audiologist I was evaluated for a cochlear implant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After several visits we set a date for the operation and selected the Med-El Tempo +. The day before the surgery I was offered the opportunity to have a bilateral implant the next day. It was a quick decision that night but one that I am glad I made.
I received the implants in late August 2001 and had both speech processors “turned-on’ three weeks later. It was a new experience from the beginning. I heard speech in my right ear for the first time in over two years and although all sounds were different they were there and all around me.
For the first three months I have gone through a period of adjustment and learning. I now set no limits on my activities even though I know I can’t hear everything. The bilateral implants have given me a renewed sense of being able to locate sounds and I actually feel safer walking or riding my bike. I have started consulting again and I’m able to carry on full conversations now in almost any environment.
I’ve learned that I want to hear with both ears and feel that I’m missing a great deal when I turn off one processor. I’ve volunteered for research in bilateral implants and have learned a tremendous amount about how to hear and listen better.
I have a new outlook on life and I can honestly say that I owe a great deal of that to having two cochlear implants and the wonderful support I have received throughout this process. I would not trade my two Med-El processors for anything!
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
* name has been changed for anonymity
I was an officer in the US Army and a pilot when my hearing began to deteriorate. At the urging of my family I was tested and fitted for a hearing aid. Within two years this progressed to hearing aids for both ears and the realization that my hearing was rapidly becoming worse all the time.
I continued with my professional life, retiring from the Army and accepting a position as a Dean at a Community College. I taught college classes and began to work as a business consultant. I became an expert at speech reading after almost a year of training with a speech pathologist. I also became an expert at “faking” being able to hear; but all those close to me, especially my family, knew the reality of my increasing deafness.
I left the Community College to work as a Hospital Administrator and healthcare consultant. My hearing loss was accepted by my colleagues but became a greater and greater burden. My wife and I stopped going to movies, didn’t go to plays and I avoided almost all social occasions. Even my granddaughters, all under 7, knew they had to get my attention so I could “see what they had to say”.
After urging by my audiologist I was evaluated for a cochlear implant at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After several visits we set a date for the operation and selected the Med-El Tempo +. The day before the surgery I was offered the opportunity to have a bilateral implant the next day. It was a quick decision that night but one that I am glad I made.
I received the implants in late August 2001 and had both speech processors “turned-on’ three weeks later. It was a new experience from the beginning. I heard speech in my right ear for the first time in over two years and although all sounds were different they were there and all around me.
For the first three months I have gone through a period of adjustment and learning. I now set no limits on my activities even though I know I can’t hear everything. The bilateral implants have given me a renewed sense of being able to locate sounds and I actually feel safer walking or riding my bike. I have started consulting again and I’m able to carry on full conversations now in almost any environment.
I’ve learned that I want to hear with both ears and feel that I’m missing a great deal when I turn off one processor. I’ve volunteered for research in bilateral implants and have learned a tremendous amount about how to hear and listen better.
I have a new outlook on life and I can honestly say that I owe a great deal of that to having two cochlear implants and the wonderful support I have received throughout this process. I would not trade my two Med-El processors for anything!
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
* name has been changed for anonymity
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