Christine H.
THE WONDERFUL WORLD OF HEARING
I would like to introduce myself: My name is Christine H. I was born on December 25th, 1946, and received my cochlear implant at the Vienna General Hospital in June 2005. Until the age of 40 my hearing was normal, but then I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease and gradually lost my hearing.
After a number of sudden hearing losses in both ears I received a PULSARCI100 cochlear implant for my right ear in June 2005. Four weeks after surgery I was switched on. This was an overwhelming step for me as I could hear again, from one minute to the next! After only a short time I was able to understand speech well. At first it sounded a bit like Mickey Mouse, but only two months later speech sounded natural again.
In September I went back to my teaching job and led my class through the school year without any difficulties.
In July I enrolled in a study and was fitted with the new OPUS 1 processor. I would like to give you my personal opinion about this new development.
This new processor marks a huge step forward!!
My first impression was that speech sounds absolutely natural. Hearing music is fantastic. Now I can distinguish between all of the instruments without hearing any distorting or metallic sounds. With my previous speech processor it was different, but I had learned to filter the disturbances.
I can hear better now than ever! The improved discrimination of the individual frequency bands gives so much more to a CI user than speech tests indicate! Even with very loud background noise I can understand 50% of what is being said. Here in Vienna this means that I can even understand announcements in the underground!
My audiologist told me that the OPUS processor might give me great music enjoyment and he was absolutely right.
However, it is also important to think of speech as music too! Everyone speaks in a different pitch and changes pitch while they speak. Just think of the recitatives in music theory. Without a doubt speech understanding is also enhanced with the OPUS 1.
When I think about this, I think about how important improved speech understanding is for implanted children who learn to understand speech with their CIs. Isn’t it just a miracle that the gift of hearing has been given to so many people through technology and research?
Birds singing, crickets chirping, the wind rustling through the leaves, a murmuring creek, and, and, and…… I can hear it all again!
I have dived back into the wonderful world of hearing! And, more importantly, I am part of society again!
I cannot put into words how grateful I am for your research and developments. But perhaps you will know from these lines.
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
I would like to introduce myself: My name is Christine H. I was born on December 25th, 1946, and received my cochlear implant at the Vienna General Hospital in June 2005. Until the age of 40 my hearing was normal, but then I was diagnosed with Ménière’s disease and gradually lost my hearing.
After a number of sudden hearing losses in both ears I received a PULSARCI100 cochlear implant for my right ear in June 2005. Four weeks after surgery I was switched on. This was an overwhelming step for me as I could hear again, from one minute to the next! After only a short time I was able to understand speech well. At first it sounded a bit like Mickey Mouse, but only two months later speech sounded natural again.
In September I went back to my teaching job and led my class through the school year without any difficulties.
In July I enrolled in a study and was fitted with the new OPUS 1 processor. I would like to give you my personal opinion about this new development.
This new processor marks a huge step forward!!
My first impression was that speech sounds absolutely natural. Hearing music is fantastic. Now I can distinguish between all of the instruments without hearing any distorting or metallic sounds. With my previous speech processor it was different, but I had learned to filter the disturbances.
I can hear better now than ever! The improved discrimination of the individual frequency bands gives so much more to a CI user than speech tests indicate! Even with very loud background noise I can understand 50% of what is being said. Here in Vienna this means that I can even understand announcements in the underground!
My audiologist told me that the OPUS processor might give me great music enjoyment and he was absolutely right.
However, it is also important to think of speech as music too! Everyone speaks in a different pitch and changes pitch while they speak. Just think of the recitatives in music theory. Without a doubt speech understanding is also enhanced with the OPUS 1.
When I think about this, I think about how important improved speech understanding is for implanted children who learn to understand speech with their CIs. Isn’t it just a miracle that the gift of hearing has been given to so many people through technology and research?
Birds singing, crickets chirping, the wind rustling through the leaves, a murmuring creek, and, and, and…… I can hear it all again!
I have dived back into the wonderful world of hearing! And, more importantly, I am part of society again!
I cannot put into words how grateful I am for your research and developments. But perhaps you will know from these lines.
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
|
