An Audiologist’s Review: How WaterWear Improved Her Life With CIs

My name is Nashlea Brogan. I’m 50 and I live in Canada. I’ve worked as an audiologist and owned my private practice for more than 23 years.

My own hearing journey is what inspired my career. Living with hearing loss led me to pursue a doctorate in audiology. Outside my work, I’ve always been active. I ski, travel constantly, and I love spending time outdoors and in the water.

Growing Up With Progressive Hearing Loss

My hearing loss is hereditary. I have two family members who also have hearing loss and are both cochlear implant users. My hearing loss slowly progressed over many years. I had my first hearing test when I was 14 and received my first hearing aids at 18.

One of my earliest memories was realizing I couldn’t hear people sitting in the back seat of the car when I was driving.  I was also a competitive Highland dancer, and I remember struggling to hear the bagpipes during competitions.

By my late 30s, after two decades of progressive hearing loss while raising two children and building my clinic, hearing aids were no longer enough. That’s when I decided to move to bilateral cochlear implants.

Why I Started Avoiding Water

I’ve always loved being in and around the water. But for 20 years, while I wore hearing aids, water became something I gradually avoided. I was terrified of getting my devices wet, but I was equally afraid of taking them off because then I couldn’t hear or communicate at all. Every trip to the beach, every day on the boat, every afternoon at the pool meant making a choice between protecting my devices or staying connected with the people around me.

Over time, I simply stopped doing many of the activities I once loved.

The First Time I Heard Underwater

I started using WaterWear years ago. One of the biggest surprises with WaterWear was realizing I could actually hear while I was fully submerged. I still remember how amazed I was the first time it happened.

WaterWear has truly been life changing. I can spend time around the pool, get into the water without worrying about my processors, and simply enjoy being present with my family.

Travel Without Missing the Moments

Travel has always been a huge part of my life, and WaterWear comes with me everywhere.

One memory I’ll never forget happened during a family trip to Arizona. We were out on a speedboat while my daughter wakeboarded behind us. When we stopped to enjoy the lake, I was able to jump right into the water with everyone else. Before WaterWear, I never would have done that.

More Than Waterproof Protection

As both an audiologist and a cochlear implant user, I often meet people who worry they’ll have to give up swimming or water activities if they choose a hearing implant. I understand that fear because I had it myself.

For me, WaterWear made it possible to reconnect with activities I’d avoided for more than 20 years.

I also think accessories like this are important because they allow people to keep living the life they already have instead of adapting their lives around their hearing technology.

Whether I’m on a paddleboard, in a kayak, on a boat, or simply spending the afternoon at the beach, I can hear what’s happening around me.

Confidence Changed Everything

If there’s one word that best describes what cochlear implants and WaterWear gave back to me, it’s confidence.

Confidence allows you to stay socially active. It gives you the freedom to try new things and participate fully instead of standing back because you’re worried about your hearing.

Before WaterWear, I often avoided being around water because I knew I’d eventually have to remove my processors. Now, instead of feeling distressed, I feel confident, connected, and free to enjoy the activities I love with the people I love.

Living Life on My Own Terms

People often ask whether cochlear implants have limited my lifestyle. My answer is always the same.

There is very little in my life that I’ve had to give up. I ski, cycle, paddleboard, travel constantly, and spend as much time outdoors as I can. If anything, my cochlear implants have opened my world rather than limiting it.

The most rewarding part of my work is seeing that same transformation happen for other people. So many individuals slowly lose pieces of their lives because of hearing loss. Then they receive an implant and begin getting those moments back, with more connection, more confidence, and less fear.

I’ve experienced that change myself, and it never gets old.

Thank you, Nashlea!