Roswitha G.
My name is Roswitha G., I was born in Hamburg in 1953. I have been married for more than 35 years and am a mother of 4 adult sons and a grandmother of 7. My hearing impairment became apparent in my early teenage years. I noticed that I could only use the telephone with my left ear, because I did not understand anything on my right ear. At the age of 20 my ENT doctor diagnosed a severe hearing loss. I received my first hearing aid one year later. Surgery on my right ear did not improve my hearing abilities, on the contrary: after this surgery I lost my hearing on the right ear completely. As years went by the hearing in my left ear deteriorated gradually, and new hearing aids only remedied the situation briefly. I only communicated with my children and grandchildren in writing or with sign language. Family get-togethers were a real torture, I felt increasingly excluded, because I could hardly understand anything, and tried to lip-read. It was a difficult time.
By chance I heard about cochlear implants. My husband and I collected information on CIs. The internet proved to be a great source. Mid 2004 I had an appointment at the university hospital Eppendorf (UKE) which was followed by numerous examinations. In early 2005 I received the go-ahead for the cochlear implantation. Unfortunately I was on a waiting list of 20 patients, which meant another year of deafness, because only one surgery per month was scheduled. Only a short time later I received a phone call from the UKE where I was informed that they now performed more surgeries than planned. I was implanted in March 2005.
The TEMPO+ speech processor was fitted four weeks after surgery. The UKE clinical engineer, Mrs Bohnke, sat through the fitting with me. When I heard her say “Mrs G., can you hear me?”, my husband and I cried tears of joy. I cannot put this happy moment in words when I heard again properly for the first time in 30 years.
I was thrilled, not having expected such a success after the first speech processor fitting. Overjoyed, we went home. The moment when I heard the little voices of my grandchildren was indescribable. I am so glad that I can actively take part in life again. Courageously, I took my husband’s mobile and tried to make phone calls. And to my surprise it worked perfectly well! Now I was able to use the phone again and call my relatives.
Life has become worth living again. I strongly recommend severely hearing impaired people to ask for a CI. It gave me one of my five senses back: my hearing.
After a year with the TEMPO+ I was asked to participate in a MED-EL study with the new OPUS 1 speech processor. With the OPUS 1 listening to music and hearing in noise has become even better. Now I can thoroughly enjoy my favourite music, watching TV and going to the cinema. I even discovered new sounds. The OPUS 1 speech processor enhanced my hearing even further.
NB:
I would like to express my gratitude to my relatives and friends for their patience. Special thanks go to my husband for his patience and understanding during the time when I was almost deaf.
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
By chance I heard about cochlear implants. My husband and I collected information on CIs. The internet proved to be a great source. Mid 2004 I had an appointment at the university hospital Eppendorf (UKE) which was followed by numerous examinations. In early 2005 I received the go-ahead for the cochlear implantation. Unfortunately I was on a waiting list of 20 patients, which meant another year of deafness, because only one surgery per month was scheduled. Only a short time later I received a phone call from the UKE where I was informed that they now performed more surgeries than planned. I was implanted in March 2005.
The TEMPO+ speech processor was fitted four weeks after surgery. The UKE clinical engineer, Mrs Bohnke, sat through the fitting with me. When I heard her say “Mrs G., can you hear me?”, my husband and I cried tears of joy. I cannot put this happy moment in words when I heard again properly for the first time in 30 years.
I was thrilled, not having expected such a success after the first speech processor fitting. Overjoyed, we went home. The moment when I heard the little voices of my grandchildren was indescribable. I am so glad that I can actively take part in life again. Courageously, I took my husband’s mobile and tried to make phone calls. And to my surprise it worked perfectly well! Now I was able to use the phone again and call my relatives.
Life has become worth living again. I strongly recommend severely hearing impaired people to ask for a CI. It gave me one of my five senses back: my hearing.
After a year with the TEMPO+ I was asked to participate in a MED-EL study with the new OPUS 1 speech processor. With the OPUS 1 listening to music and hearing in noise has become even better. Now I can thoroughly enjoy my favourite music, watching TV and going to the cinema. I even discovered new sounds. The OPUS 1 speech processor enhanced my hearing even further.
NB:
I would like to express my gratitude to my relatives and friends for their patience. Special thanks go to my husband for his patience and understanding during the time when I was almost deaf.
Many more user stories are available on the Hearing Companion database. Please be sure to check it out!
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