I finally got my cochlear implant, and on July 1 they turned it on. The surgery on June 20 had gone well, but like everyone else who must await activation, I had no idea how well it would work in restoring my hearing once it went live. But when the audiologist attached the external processor and activated it, I experienced a modern miracle.
After about 20 seconds of some electrical whining and echoing, my brain started tuning directly in to all the sounds in the room. When the audiologist started speaking to me, I could actually understand what she was saying. My wife started speaking, and for the first time in years I understood what she was saying without having to look at her. The audiologist got behind me, turned her back to me, and spoke to the wall, and I could still understand what she was saying.
It’s been nearly a month now, and I’m still overwhelmed. I’d done extensive research on cochlear implants, and I knew outcomes ranged from just okay to excellent. Just okay would have been fine with me, as my hearing loss had progressed to profound deafness in my right ear and very near profound in my left.
A simply adequate outcome would have restored enough hearing to enable me to manage my life as I had for many years when I coped with severe hearing loss. Fifty-percent word and sentence recognition without looking at the speaker can translate to 80 percent with good speech reading skills, which I had developed over time. Even if using the phone were a hit-or-miss proposition, as it is for many cochlear implant recipients, being able to use it at all would have been a big improvement for me.
But my immediate ability to understand what people were saying made it clear I’d gotten an excellent, perhaps extraordinary, result. In my first follow-up tests a week later, my word recognition (without speech reading) was better than 80 percent, and my sentence recognition exceeded 90 percent. In the weeks since then, sound has gotten more natural, and my comprehension has increased. And they say improvement can continue for months as the brain gets used to processing the sounds delivered to it electronically through the implant.
I started using the phone right away, and though voices on the other end initially sounded like Mickey Mouse, I could understand what they were saying and have real conversations for the first time in two years. And in the weeks since then, voices on the phone have begun to sound a lot more normal.
I have no idea how much better my hearing and comprehension will get with the implant, but for the first time in over a decade I feel like I’m experiencing sound naturally again. I feel like I’ve won a mega-millions lottery. And I’m only just starting to comprehend how big a change this will be.
I feel like I’ve gotten my life back. I feel like I can breathe freely again. I feel like I’ve been let out of prison and am readjusting to society reliving all the experiences I’d given up on. Chatting with the salesperson at the store, having real conversations on the phone with friends and family, holding my own in business meetings, listening to talk radio, hearing the birds cry and the wind on the water on my walks around the reservoir — these and literally thousands of other experiences normal-hearing people take for granted have come back to me in a rush. It’s overwhelming.
For nearly ten years I’ve been writing about hearing loss, hearing aid technologies, and a global hearing industry that’s committed to delivering constant innovations and improvements to people’s hearing health. I’m a big believer in the power of technology and modern medicine to transform people’s lives. And now I’ve experienced such a transformation with restoration of most of my hearing from profound deafness.
I’d been planning all along to chronicle this process in Hearing Mojo. Though I’ve started half a dozen posts in the past month, until now I’ve simply been too overwhelmed to organize and communicate my thoughts clearly. But now I will. Stay tuned.
Update: In April 2015 I got a second cochlear implant on my left side, which had declined to profound deafness in the year since the first. The results have been equally great! Read more at:
https://hearingmojo.com/a-second-cochlear-implant/
Judy says
I currently wear hearing aids both ears are not good but I have lost just about all my hearing in left ear I can no longer understand speech in that ear so I will be going to see if I am a candidate for ci’s audiologist thinks so and my dr does too but will be tested first to see if I am indeed a candidate if I am and my ins covets it I will too have choclear implants !
Paradise Hearing says
Wow, it is amazing how well the treatment worked for your hearing! Using modern technology, many people are able to restore their damaged hearing. It is a precious ability that can totally change your quality of life.
Robin Dewey says
I have been suffering with Menieres Disease for 4 years now. My hearing in my left ear is completely gone. Two days ago I was told I should get a hearing aid. I am very scared about this step. I will say that I have resigned myself to the disease….the vertigo, the ever present tinnitus, the drop attacks…..I have actually learned to live with it. The hearing aid, however, is challenging to face. See, I am a 42 year old, single woman, who actually hopes to someday NOT be single…lol. I also hope to be employable again. In all seriousness, I am scared of what the hearing aid means. People see it differently. And most don’t care to hear the explanation of the hearing loss. I live in a small community in eastern Ontario, Canada. Keeping a job with Menieres is almost impossible, as I have had episodes that have lasted well over 24 hours. And the drop attacks are simply a safety concern. Now I will have a hearing aid and possible employers see that as a disability and possible mates see as a negative attribute.
The doctors told me that the hearing aid will help lessen the vertigo. And if that is the case I want to have it done.
There are so many other concerns of course. The cost being a major one.
I am glad I found this page, if only to vent. Thanks!!!!
Besh says
I’m happy for you. Wish you can update us more often on your experience after 3 months of use. Is it better than being in the severely hearing loss phase with hearing aids especially in speech and phone use?
Greg M says
Dave – This is terrific to read and my enthusiastic congratulations to you! I was just talking about you to someone this morning and will circle back via email.
Glad life on the West Coast is treating you well.
Best,
Greg
MachineGhost says
Very interesting and what a surprise! I have some tough questions:
What brand and model of CI did you decide to eventually go with? This could be a huge factor in your extraordinary outcome depending on the level of a CI manufacturer’s technological obsolescence vs another.
Did you pay out of pocket or did Medicare pick up the tab?
Did you take advantage of the new processing algorithms that multiply the fixed electrodes virtually or are you still using stock?
Why did you opt to go ahead with it instead of waiting for regeneration therapies? Are you comfortable with the possibility that you may not avail yourself of that in the future by irreversibly damaging your cochlea in the here and now?
And last (and some would argue most importantly), how is the music reproduction?
Phil says
I, too, am looking forward to learning more after you have had it for a while. Congratulations on the success of your CI!
___ says
Congrats!! I’m glad surgery went well and post-activation has been great. Take your time adjusting to the CI and blog about it when you’re ready.