Vera’s Cochlear Implant Journey: The Path to a Hearing Future

Deciding to Get a Cochlear Implant

I am a cochlear implant user from England, and I use the RONDO 3 audio processor. I started losing my hearing in my early 20s. The first frequencies I lost were the high frequencies, but I could still understand speech quite well. Hearing aids were enough for a while—but then suddenly, they weren’t. I could no longer have casual conversations with people, and that was extremely upsetting to me.

My husband has such a wonderful sense of humor, and I love to laugh when he says something funny. But I couldn’t hear his humor anymore, and that was very difficult for him too. But my CI has given that back to me and all the things I love along with it.

Cochlear Implant Surgery

Once the hearing in my right ear was almost gone, I set off on the path toward a cochlear implant.

I got lots of information from my surgeon at the Bradford Royal Infirmary about a month before the operation. I started to feel a bit nervous a few days leading up to it. For a long time, it was happening in the future, and then suddenly it was, “Oh, I’m having an operation on Thursday!”

I felt expectant and hopeful and nervous all at the same time. But I was looking forward to hearing my husband again and feeling like myself again.

So I didn’t have much hesitation about getting a cochlear implant. I received a SYNCHRONY implant with a FLEX28 electrode array. The surgery went well—the wound was so tiny—and I was able to go home less than 24 hours after the operation.

Audio Processor Activation & Hearing Rehabilitation

Before the switch on, Nigel and I were incredibly nervous—who wouldn’t be?  Right after activation, everything sounded squeaky. But just a short time later as I was being shown how my audio processor works, voices started coming through. I knew it would take time to let my brain get used to that.

Then I went to my speech and language therapist, and she gave me materials to practice at home with Nigel. To begin with, I was tired a lot. My brain was working really hard to make sense of all this new stuff that was happening. Sometimes I could only work on exercises for 15 minutes before I needed to stop.

Eventually, it was almost as if I could sense my brain beginning to realize that these squeaks were also speech. I could hear consonants again, most of which had gone with my hearing loss. And then suddenly one morning, my brain merged what I was hearing with the soft sounds I could still hear, and I began listening to it all in one. That was very exciting, and it was really gratifying to feel that progress.

Although speech took time and work environmental sounds happened straight away. Taking a walk with my husband and my dog, Izzy, was like going on a primary school nature walk—I was constantly asking, “Oh! What’s that?” I hadn’t heard the chirping of birds since I was in my thirties.

I hadn’t realized how much I had started missing out on as I gradually lost my hearing. For example, I’d forgotten what stirring a teaspoon in a cup sounded like. It’s really quite emotional when you start hearing those things again after all that time.

Back to My Old Life With a Cochlear Implant

After switch-on, I didn’t want to hide myself away; I wanted to get out there as quickly as I could and started taking part in the activities that I’d been finding so difficult. Less than a month after switch-on, I joined a new class. Exposing myself to lots of language and speech in busy environments helped speed up my progress. Being able to do the things that I used to be able to do before has given me back amazing amounts of confidence.

Over time, I started to be able to hear the news on the car radio while we were driving. Sometimes the improvements are so gradual, you don’t even notice them. But in the first three months the improvement was staggering.

Now I can sit through hours of history lectures without any extra technology and hear everything and then talk with people during coffee breaks and mealtimes. When I meet up with a friend, I don’t have to worry about finding a quiet café—I can just go to whichever one I want. I can enjoy conversations with my husband at mealtimes again. Being able to say and understand “inconsequential” stuff is part of enjoying life together with someone.

A Hearing Future

Even after regaining my confidence conversing in face-to-face settings, I had avoided talking on the phone because I’d had so many embarrassing phone situations before the implant. But now I’ve also regained my confidence on the phone. That’s given me more independence.

My cochlear implant enables me to live my life as I did before I lost my hearing. I don’t have to concentrate so hard anymore. I haven’t heard this well in decades and I can understand speech so much more easily. Most of the time I don’t even realize my CI is there. I never think about it at all. It’s very liberating and feels completely natural.