After 10 years of losing hearing at approximately 5-10% a year and through some excellent advice from my audiologist Eileen Freed at Highline Speech and Hearing, I finally came to grips with the fact I wasn't going to get my hearing back no matter how much I wished it or how many vitamins I took. Because of his excellent reputation with cochlear implant surgery, I elected to have Dr. Mangham of the Seattle Ear Clinic assess my problem. He and his staff and my family were most supportive of cochlear implant surgery and I decided I had no other choices. Surgery gave me hope of hearing where doing nothing was just a bleak forecast at best. Once my decision was made, I had few fears, but never doubted a surgical success

I had my surgery on February 2, 2000-a tribute to the Ground Hog-and received the Nucleus 24. I was treated royally at Swedish and was aware of nothing until I awakened in the recovery room. I had discomfort for about a week-worse the first couple of days, but the discomfort from the surgery was less than what I got from the pain pills. The month between surgery and mapping went well-lots of support and encouragement and I felt back to normal within a week of the implant. Removal of the bandages had its surprises, however, as I had a cauliflower ear and my hair was not enough to cover it. Glasses were hard to wear because of the swelling but I found I could do fine by putting the glasses stem on the outside of my ear. The groove behind my ear where bone was removed was sensitive as was the spot where the magnet was put, but within the month, I could sleep on the side of the implant with no discomfort.

I looked forward to my first mapping with Jennifer DeCastro at the Seattle Ear Clinic on March 6th. She programmed my SPrint body processor with ACE and asked me if I heard anything. She and my husband had been chatting back and forth and as usual, I had tuned that kind of noise out, but I suddenly realized I was hearing "words". I said "is that you I'm hearing?" The back and forth chatting sounded like a grade school rhythm band practicing in a chicken yard. But I could hear "words". I was excited even if they did sound funny. Jennifer worked with me more that day and by the time I left, I was able to grasp 29 out of 34 words. I haven't heard that well for a long time-it was truly a miracle. Four days later, I attended the Ears, Hearing and Beyond Conference. This was a crowded room with lots of people and talking, but I was able to hear most of conversation directed to me. One of the biggest things I notice now is loud sounds are no longer painful-I really had a small area of tolerance and adjusting hearing aids to that was a challenge. Another noticeable change was my voice. It sounds like someone behind me continually interrupting. I have been in for 3 more sessions and really like my fourth setting although Jennifer has left my first mappings on so that I can determine what it is I like or dislike about each one. If I know the subject of the conversation, I find I'm picking up most of the words, but still a question out of the blue leaves me in my old habit of guessing. I also find that watching lips as I have been so accustomed to doing is now confusing as there is a minimal delay between the mouth and when my brain deciphers the word. If I just "listen" I do better than when I really work at it as when I wore aids. I have been able to understand some of the news broadcasts on television and some of the conversations on other programs without the TV cable attachment. I was also surprised to catch some words on the radio while riding in the car.

Today, I received the ESprit and Jennifer programmed that in SPEAK. The sound is different and I am not as comfortable with it yet, but the convenience is wonderful. Jennifer has been so helpful and so willing to give me time-I am very grateful and excited about this whole process.

By Dori Tabor, Sumner, WA

Our 5 year old daughter McKenzie was implanted with the Nucleus 24 by Dr. Sean McMenomey at OHSU. Her surgery went very fast and no problems. She has healed beautifully. McKenzie's implant was activated on January 10, 2000 by her audiologist at Tucker Maxon Oral school.

That very fist day, after three maps were set, she wanted to show her classmates her implant. Her teacher took her a very noisy classroom and she just stood there in the middle of the kids with a huge smile on her face and
lifted her hair so everyone could see, all of the noise did not seem to bother her. That night at home she would giggle at the different sounds she was hearing, in particular, slurping from a cup. This brought tears to our eyes.

It is now April and she has had the implant for almost three months. Her speech is changing, she is saying sounds that she could not identify with her hearing aids. Her language is also expanding at a fast rate. McKenzie can hear us outside when we call her name. She is constantly asking us to tell us what she hears as there are so many sounds she is hearing for the very first time. This experience has been so much more than we ever imagined. McKenzie has started to DANCE TO MUSIC! Before the implant she would cover her ears and tell me to turn it off. We are so thankful and thrilled, our little girl is happy.

My hearing loss is due to a severe case of scarlet fever when I was 25 years old.

I had my Cochlear Implant on January 7 of this year. Dr. Douglas Backous, a wonderful surgeon, did the operation at Virginia Mason Hospital. The Nucleus 24 was used with its powerful body-worn processor. It was turned on by Laura Comer, audiologist and master of assisting me to anticipate a gradual improvement in communication. Yes it is not a sudden burst of hearing that occurs, but a step by step progress I am making. My husband Paul tells me I am improving. When I attend meetings I can understand a few words if they don't talk too fast. I am working with my daughter Rita getting a feel of the phone again. Some days are discouraging, but hope keeps me going.

[Editor’s note: I have known Jean for many years. She has depended on speech reading as long as I have known her. Knowing Jean, she will put in a lot of effort to make it successful. Paul will be her number one supporter. ]

I was implanted on Jan. 21 at Kaiser Sunnyside Hospital in Portland, OR by Dr. Geoffrey Lawrence (whose mentor is Dr. Schleuning of OHSU) & had my initial mappings on Feb. 23 & 25. at OHSU with Dr. Don Plapinger. My 3rd mapping was on March 13, & I will probably have many more within the year.

The first sound that I heard was more of an "electrical impulse"--a sharp noise or a softer noise, nothing distinguishable. It was interesting to "hear" myself talk; to hear my footsteps & the keyboard as I typed; a light switch on & off, etc, but after the novelty wore off, it was just--noise. It all sounds the same. I am surprisingly tolerant of "noise". I hear better inside buildings than
outside, as all sounds are spread out & just blend together. The sharpest
noises are closer to me.

Presently, the most "exciting" thing for me is that I can hear my portable timer & also my oven timer--they have very distinct beep-like sounds. I have a long way to go for my implant to be meaningful, but an audiologist friend has been helping me with pattern discrimination (vowel sounds) & he says that I'm doing remarkably well. I really have to concentrate tho, & background noise does interfere when I am concentrating on something specific. For example, if a phone rings, I have to be aware that it is ringing & then listen for it, but I can then hear it. I wouldn't know what it was unless told, however. I am trying to be patient & go with the flow, but it has to get a lot better than this before I will consider myself a successful CI user. I have set a 5 year goal for myself--so I will not give up.

Hook up - Feb. 8, 2000- Sharon Smith - Audiologist

Feb. 8, 2000 - Hook up was at 9:00 a.m. Ann, Don and Mona were with
me. I was quite disappointed with the sound. It had a very tinny sound
to it and it seemed that I was listening to sound at two frequencies.
We went out to a Chinese cafe for lunch and it was very hard to hear.
Lot's of environmental sounds like people talking in the distance and
dishes clanking. Street noises were overpowering. Help!!

Feb. 9, 2000 - Back to Sharon at 9:00. New map. It was probably worse
than the first one. Still a tinny overpowering noise with most sounds.
Echo voices that sound like they could be in the water. I met with Amy,
aural therapist, and could hardly hear her voice. It sounded like her
voice was crackling between a low and high frequency. I did identify 8
out of 10 numbers without lip reading. I think I guessed at most of
them. I get a head ache. I needed to put my hearing aid on the right
ear for awhile. I hear sounds like the clock ticking, feet rubbing on
carpet and things like that. Computer keys are very noisy. If I tried
out a hearing aid like this I would throw it away. Is it going to get
better? Ann left for home and I need her with me.

Feb. 10, 2000 - I'm still in the cities. No map today. Took the CI. off
for part of day. I wish I could report improvement.

Feb.. 11, 2000 - Back to Sharon. New map. I'm really gun shy on the
high frequencies. The new map I have is not better that I can think
of. I have a new processor also. I thought there could be something
wrong with the first one but not the case. I met with Amy and got 9 of
10 on numbers and maybe 9 of 12 months. Is this improvement? I drove
home afterwards and played around with the radio. I can distinguish
most music from speech but not any recognition at all. If I could just
take away this one frequency that continues to bombard my ear with most
sound. It is frustrating.

Feb. 11, 2000 - Ann and I drove to Walker. I can hear her if I look and
lip read at the same time. Very hard to hear people. I need to do a
lot of lip reading. I sat in restaurant and could hear three guys in
booth behind me but not a clue as to what they are saying. These damn
computer keys drive me nuts. I can hear one sound that sounds like how
the keys should sound and I hear this other tinking sound at the same
time. I have to get rid of the "tinks". We used the auxiliary mic. in
the car that evening and I could hear her voice much better than with
the standard mic. in my left ear.

Feb 12, 2000 - Ann and I were greeters at church today and it was
difficult. I wore my hearing aid in the right ear also and that helped with understanding. The one thing that I did notice was that I thought I could identify more notes in the music than I used to with my hearing aids. It seemed like it had some harmony to it. I could follow the minister a little as long as I could lip read. I guess I really can't report progress at this point.

Feb. 13, 2000 Valentine's Day - I think that I can report some progress today. More comfortable to wear the system and some of the sounds are clearing a little. In social situations I have been wearing it with my hearing aid. Not sure if that is a good thing to do or not. I know that I can hear much better with the C.I. and hearing aid then I could with two hearing aids. Some voices on T.V. make sense every now and then. It kinda comes and goes. Mostly goes!!

Thurs, Feb. 17, 2000 - Left at 5:00 for cities and a mapping session with Sharon. Lousy weather and a traffic jam on I-94. Got there 45 min. late. I listened to a little music on the way and could hear some harmony here and there on some songs. Sharon said that I turned up my comfort levels on the high frequencies. Went to lunch with my son Rich and brother Don. I could hear pretty good in the car and at lunch. Had to lip read but did so without a great deal of effort or strain.

Sat. Feb. 18, 2000 - Was outside in the morning and could hear a lot of
chirping noises. Looked up in the trees and saw a flock of redpoles. I could hear them very clearly. High sounds are coming in very clearly. Ann and I sat outside and I could hear water dripping from the roof over 20 ft. away. Voices are still not clear but I don't have as much of a problem of hearing two frequencies at the same time. They seem to be blending together some. Sometimes voices are more clear than others. At other times it seems that the voices are really garbled together. I could get the numbers 1-10 and months of the year all correct from Ann without lip reading. Probably good guessing. Mon. Feb. 20, 2000 - I am turning up my volume quite a bit and also the sensitivity. I keep them at about 12:00 each and turn the volume to 1:00 quite often. High frequency sounds are very good. I can hear Ann's steps on dry pavement until she is 100 ft. away. If I could just get these voices straightened out. I can separate music from voice on the radio quite easily now. I tried a few recordings on the phone using the patch and could recognize some words. My theory now is that the middle frequencies have to be cranked up more for voice. In a real noisy area I have a hard time hearing any voice but I can easily hear my feet rubbing on the floor. Hard to understand If I could just hear the voices better I am sure that the discrimination would come. Sometimes the voices are real gravelly. Driving down the road I can hear Ann slowly tearing a perforated piece of paper out of a book. I can hear every single perforation. Amazing. What do you think of this?

Thurs. Feb. 24, 2000 - Pulsatile program works the best by far. I had a contractor out here at the house in the morning and I could follow his
conversation quite easily. I have had my sensitivity at 9:00 and volume
at 12:00.

Fri. Feb. 25, 2000 - I have been trying my patch cord with a walkman
and can hear the radio programs quite well. Music sounds good if it is not too complicated. I can't hear voices well yet but I did notice today that listening to a voice program on my truck radio that I was picking up words and sentences and when a telephone number was given to call, I could hear that perfectly. We had company here in the evening and I could follow the conversation quite well. Probably better than when I had my hearing aids. Lip reading is still a necessity. I heard a squirrel when I was in the house. He was really making a racket. Amazing that I can stand outside and hear the roar of traffic on a road about a third of a mile away and still pick up the individual chirps of the birds that are 75 ft. away. Would be real nice if the human voice
would come in that clear and precise.

Mon. Feb. 28, 2000 - I think the voices are coming around better. I
walked with Ann and I could hear her quite well. I had to lip read a little but not much. Road noise doesn't bother me nearly as much as it used to. I had lunch with a couple guys and it was real noisy in the restaurant. Had to lip read but I could hear their voices. I talked with some people in a couple offices and the library and it was real easy to hear them. Still lip reading but not with a great deal of effort. I got an audio book from the library and amazing how clear the words come over the tape when you are reading along with it. If I take my eyes off the book I can pick up some of the words but not all of them. I am looking forward to my new map with Sharon this coming Thurs. Outside sounds are still great. I spend too damn much time sitting around and listening. Hey, I'm retired. I'll sit around as much as I please.

March 2, 2000 - Another mapping session with Sharon at the U. I jacked
up the comfort levels again for all of the frequencies. It seems like it works better but it will have to make the test of time. Voices are starting to come in a little better but I have a lot of resonant sounds in the lower frequencies. It seems like I am hearing women's voices better than men. Amy, my speech therapist, said I was making fantastic progress. I told her she tells everybody that. Especially to good looking dudes.

March 22, 2000 - Went back to see Sharon and took my one month test.
Sharon said that I did about average with words and sentences. I made a
new map and kept my old one on channel two. The new map didn't seem to
make a lot of difference from the one I had before. The birds and ducks are returning up north where I live. It is great to hear all of those sounds outside. I can hear all the individual bird calls and the crows make tons of noises. One of my hearing buddies was with me when I told him to listen to a certain bird that I was hearing. He couldn't hear it. He evidently has some high frequency losses. It was amazing that I could hear something that he couldn't.

March 29, 2000 - I took off by myself for a trip to New Orleans to play
golf with my buddy down there. It was a little of a challenge to take charge of my travel arrangements by myself. Amazing how your hearing is not affected by the changes of altitude in flight Things went fine. The only problem is that the implant causes the x-ray security to have a five alarm warning. I needed to do some explanation there. At least they didn't call the cops. Had a great time down there and the hearing is definitely better. Real tough in noisy situations but talking with my buddy in the car went much better than it ever has with my aids. No way that I would ever exchange my aids for the implant now. Maybe I
have arrived.

April 4, 2000 - I was standing outside watching the ducks fly around and
a drake mallard flew by quacking away as usual. One thing I heard with
that duck was the beating of the air with its wings. That is a sound that I had never heard before. We have some loons on the lake now and I can hear them much clearer than I ever did before. Ann and I can talk in the car very easily using the pin on mic. She thinks we may live a lot longer now since I can watch the road when I am listening to her. Kind of takes the sport out of it.

April 13, 2000 - Back to see my good friend Sharon. My brother Don, who is a candidate for this, came with me. He has been to most of the
sessions with me. The new map seems to have made a real big difference. Voice discrimination has really improved. Many of the words have become very crisp and clear. Sharon must have waved her "magic wand". I can now sit in the house about 10 feet from Ann and hear almost everything that she is saying on the phone without watching her. T.V. comes in very clear without the captioning as long as I can see the person talking. I can pick up quite a bit of the T.V. conversation even without seeing the speaker. I have talked on the phone to a few people and have done very well. I had lunch with another friend here yesterday. It was the guy who couldn't hear the birds. It was noisy in the restaurant but I could hear him quite well. I was using the program that Sharon gave me for a noisy situation. Life is good. This is the first real major progress that I have noticed with a new map. I feel like I could do much better on a speech discrimination test. I'll be able to try that out the middle of May. Sharon talked with my brother Don about being a candidate for making a documentary for the discovery channel on implants. He is interested. I would like to see him get it done.

[Editor’s note: Roger has the Clarion Hi-Focus with the electrode positioner.]

I had my cochlear implant surgery on November 29, 1999 as my left ear was 10% by Tom Rees and 17% by Tina Worman as far as speech was concern. The surgery was done at the University of Washington Medical Center by Dr. George Gates. I had complications during the surgery and had to stay in the hospital an extra four nights so the doctors and nurses could watch over me. The Nucleus 24 was use for my implant and Tina Worman is my audiologist who is doing the "mapping". I have had seven mappings with Tina as all I am hearing is a beep, beep sound when someone is talking or a noise is picked up through the processor. I have the processor on maybe three hours each day as it makes me a little dizzy when I hear the beeping sounds. Like Karen Utter, Gordon Nystedt, and many of the "implantees", had told me to be patience as that is what I am doing along with my other disabilities. The last mapping has different sounds as I am praying that this might be a step closer in hearing what I am suppose to hear. Dr. Gates and Tina are puzzled as to why I am hearing what I am hearing as they went to a conference and several doctors suggested to try something. I am almost afraid to try it as I will be dizzy for "days/weeks" so I am trying everything else before Dr. Gates injects some medications into my middle ear. I am happy that I can still hear through my right ear fairly well
(about 28% in the speech range) and that I am an excellent lip-reader.

Give me a second chance to hear. God heard my prayers; he heard my crying out. He sent his guiding angels to Dr. Gates so I would hear again. I had all the faith in God and trusted Dr. Gates from day one.

Dr. Gates assistance told me the morning after surgery that it would be three or four weeks before I would be able to hear. I said to myself, “Lord, if I waited almost two years to have surgery to hear, I can wait another four weeks to hear again.”

My first day when Tina turned me on, I started to run out of her office from the sound I was hearing. Her voice sounded like a dog barking. My daughter, Norvelle, sound like a duck quacking. I sounded like a giant man voice. I said, “Oh my God, listen to me.” Tina Worman said in a sweet way, but still like she was barking, “don’t worry; you won’t be able to understand anything good for the first few visits. I want you to wear it and get use to it.” Before I left Tina’s office I began to get my confidence back in myself. I could make her and my daughter out better. Praise the Lord. “smiling”

I got home with my new Cochlear 24 and walked into the family room. My kids, grandkids, and son’s girlfriend were all silent. My daughter Karia, made a statement to me. I answered her and she was shocked. She said, “Mom, you can hear.” I replied with a big smile, “Of course I can.”

My 1 1/2 year old granddaughter was in the high chair and started crying. I started crying and said, “Oh! God, she is crying.” It was like life of a new born as I hadn’t heard her cry since she was 2 or 3 months old. Everyone was crying tears of joy along with me. My two year old grandson said “Hi grandma.” Oh God, he can talk.

On my second day Tina asked if I had any questions. I said that I did and wanted the attachment that let you talk on the phone. I said, “I want to hear my mother’s voice. I haven’t heard her voice in almost two years. She told me we would get to that next. She plugged me into her phone and asked me what I heard. I told her it was ringing, and that it was busy. She told me not to be disappointed if I did not understand my mother. I said a silent prayer; “Lord, you said ask whatever you want in my name and it shall be given unto you. Your word always remains in me. Please let me hear my mother’s voice again.”

We went home and I had my daughter go outside and call me on her cellular phone. I heard her fine. I called my mom in Clinton, LA and my aunt answered the phone. She said; “Oh thank you God. You can hear again.” I asked her to put my mom on. My mom said; “Hi baby.” I got cold chills and tears . Now all my relatives call me from that moment on, crying, praising God. It is a beautiful feeling, a blessing, a miracle, all in one. Dr. Gates is a guiding angle working for God, helping people everywhere to hear again.

On my third visit Tina did a hearing test. It was 85% compared with zero on my first visit to the clinic.

I called Tina on the phone and she was so excited to hear me. She told Jenny and she was also excited when I told them all the good news as to how I was doing. I told them about my call to my mom and about the grandchild crying. They were so happy for me.

An implant is so much better than a hearing aid. I know as I had one up until I lost my hearing.

By Earline Day, Las Vegas, NV

When it became very noticeable was in 1955 when I was 24 years old and had uremia. The doctor had to give me large doses of antibiotics. Antibiotics just came into the medical field and they caused a rapid decline in my hearing loss.

I started wearing hearing aids before my illness. Over the years I gradually lost more. In November 1995 when I was home alone, all of a sudden I couldn’t hear anything and I thought I needed to put in new batteries. Still nothing happened. It was then I realized I had lost the little bit of hearing I had left. This happened so suddenly. It was like turning off a light switch. The hearing aids were not doing anything for me and I had just purchased new ones two weeks before. I was hysterical.

Then I started going to doctors and they would tell me that there was nothing they could do for me. Each time a doctor would tell me that I would turn to my husband and say, “There is an answer out there somewhere.” I had a lot of faith!

I had a friend who was a nurse. I asked her for a recommendation. She recommended Dr. Ashley Sikand. She encouraged me to make an appointment and said, “I know he can help you.” My husband and I followed through. My appointment was in March 1996. After Dr. Sikand reviewed the test, MRI and etc. from the other doctors, he asked me to return to his office. When I walked in he asked, “How would you like to have your hearing restored?”

Dr. Sikand told us about the cochlear implant. I am not one to make hasty decisions. I often return home and think it over. But not this time. I turned to my husband and said, “This is what I will do. This is the answer to our prayers.”

Dr. Sikand was trained to do the implant but Las Vegas didn’t have the facilities at that time. I went to Utah University Medical Center in Salt Lake City where Dr. James Parkin implanted the Nucleus 22 on May 20, 1996. I went through surgery like a breeze staying over one night.

I returned to Salt lake City in July when Marsha McCandless hooked me up and did the first mapping. I don’t remember ever hearing this well! I didn’t even have an adjustment period. There have been no problems whatsoever. I can’t even begin to describe the joy and happiness that has come into my life. It is a whole new world out there! The implant has become my husband’s “Show and Tell.”

Every impaired hearing person I meet I say, “If you qualify for an implant go for it!” It is a blessing!

Implant Center: Virginia Mason Clinic Doctor: Dr. Douglas Backous
Audiologist: Laura Comer, M.S. CCC-A
Aural Audiology Therapist: Lisa Illich, M.C.S.D., CCC-A

Type of Implant: Advanced Bionics S-Series processor, Hi-Focus electrode
configuration- helps get the electrodes closer to the center of the cochlea
where the nerve fibers are located. First Turn On: December 21, 1999

No. of Mapping to date: Approximately 5 maps. Third Month Mapping: March 23, 2000

My CI experience began with just whistles and beeps to more crisp and Donald Duck-like sounds. Sounds that were new to me were as follows: humming of the espresso machine, scotch tape rustling as it is being pulled off a
sweater when "de-fuzzing" the sweater, water boiling on the stove, elevator
beeping, humming of the heater, a click when the heater goes off, water
dripping from the faucet, car driving about 1,000 feet behind me, the engine
turning about five hundred feet away. Dismay turned to delighted. After my
third mapping, I was tested with a soundfield audiogram, my thresholds were between 25 dBHL and 35 dBHL. I have seen Lisa for an on-going aural
rehabilitation program. I find this very helpful. We both worked on several exercises such as Spondee Identification, Sentence Identification of
Closed-Set Same Length Sentences, Related Sentence Recognition-Key Topic and Word Clues and Phrase Length Identification and Vowel Length Discrimination.

I noted a couple of different things - 1) inflection in Lisa's voice
helped me "hear" words and 2) for the first time I was able to listen for key words - I could hear without seeing the word. Like I said each day gets better and I'm optimistic. I also look forward to eliminate the "echo" or tunnel effect and hear more "normal" people and environmental sounds. It's a marvel how ci works in all of us! Thanks to Dr. Backous, Laura and Lisa for their efforts and hard work. It does pay off.

Andy Nelson, Redmond, WA. Andy was implanted by Dr. Douglas Backous at Virginia Mason, Seattle on March 24th. He elected for the Med-EL and will receive his processor on May 1. His audiologist is Carol Pierce.

Helen Boyd, Springfield, OR. Helen was first implanted about eight years ago. Due to failure of her original implant, she was re-implanted with the N24 by Dr. Schleuning at Oregon Health Science University. Her Audiologist is Don Plapinger, Ph.D.

Rachael White, 2 yr old daughter of Kelly White, Bozeman, MT. Rachael was implanted with the Clarion by Dr. Von Doersten, Rocky Mountain Ear, Nose and Throat Clinic, in Missoula, MT. Her audiologist are Eve Bakula and Jamie Small.

Diana Grieser, Juno, AK. Diana was scheduled to have surgery on March 22nd at the Swedish Hospital in Seattle. Dr. Mangham will perform the surgery.

Barbara Davis, Troutdale, OR. Barbara received the Clarion S series on March 22nd at St. Vincent’s Hospital in Portland, OR. Dr. Sean McMenomey performed the surgery. Her activation date is May 1. Her Audiologist is Don Plapinger Ph.D. and Sherry Dickie at Oregon Health Science University in Portland.

Halston, 3 yr old son of Rose Cowan, Puyallup, WA. He was implanted January 11 with the N24 at the Children’s Hospital in Seattle. Susan Norton Ph.D. is his audiologist

Terri McGarvey, Springfield, OR. Terri was implanted with the N24 at Good Samaritan Hospital in Portland by Dr. Owen Black.

Correction: Grace Helman, Seattle, WA was implanted by Larry Duckert at the University of Washington and not by Dr. George Gates (as stated in the last CI newsletter. Audiologist is Tina Worman.

By C. Dale Becker, West Richland, WA

by Karla A. Balko, MS, CCC-A

The field of technology is rapidly changing and this is no less true for cochlear implants. The Listen For Life Center at Virginia Mason is sponsoring a seminar to the public for those who are interested in learning the latest information. The Cochlear Implant Team at L4L Center will be presenting from each of their areas of expertise. T

This has definitely been a learning year, to say the least. I’ve been one of the ‘slowpokes’; (or maybe I desired to much too soon?:)), but have noticed great strides in my hearing comprehension ability since first having sound turned on in April ‘98 using my Clarion speech processor.

My latest triumph is to be able to comprehend spontaneous speech, as from someone waling by, from public address systems, or one of the family calling out from another room. I don’t always recognize whole sentences, usually just phrases, but some rewards come in small packages.

When sentence recognition in no-background testing went from 47 to 84% back in April of this year, I knew I was on my way. That seemed to give me the confidence, the boost I needed to believe I was capable of learning and was indeed improving at a good rate. (I worried that this old dog just wasn't going to go very far with this method of hearing.) I tend to be reclusive by nature, but I do enjoy visiting with people so much more now that I do not have to rely exclusively on lip reading.

Telephone conversations are possible using the TLP-102 Adaptor made available form cochlear Corporation through Spokane EN&T, and I have had some very pleasant visits by phone On the other hand, I have also had some unpleasant experiences while trying to take messages for other members of the family. Still, all opportunities to stretch one’s abilities can be seen as

positive learning experiences. Just have to stay positive.

I was delighted to learn of your own 100% success in sentence recognition reported earlier this year in the newsletter. And I laughed when the gentleman from Sioux Falls, SD spoke of the “nuisance” of hearing wind noise form “both sides” (do you see me turning green with envy here :)) in the winter issue. I love the sound of wind in the trees around our home. The louder, the better. One particularly breezy day I turned my processor as loud as I could tolerate (Shhh, don’t tell Laura, my audiologist, she’d frown with concern that I might risk over stimulation?) and stood listening to that special rustle/roar. Love it. It was one of those sounds I missed most during my 23 year hiatus.

And then there is music. Still somewhat “out of sync”, but who cares - - I LOVE MUSIC. I enjoy mostly classical to contemporary instrumentals, and recently heard “The Creation” in German (which, of course, I do not speak) performed by a beautiful orchestra/choir and three soloists, all of whose names I never learned. But the purity of the sound was so sweet, so special. Even those moments, when sound threatened to go out of range, was not disturbing, it was so engrossing. Then along comes the teenage daughter and commandeers the stereo system. Rap, county and rock provide added stimulus to exercise moves? (Let’s rock - I LOVE MUSIC.)

Gordon, it was brought to my attention that many in the deaf community have expressed objections to cochlear implantation. This surprises and saddens me, because the world of sound has so many positive and pleasant experiences to enjoy. True, in retrospect, I also enjoyed silence very much (maybe I’ve got the best of one world and an alternative to the other?), But, thought there can be “down” times in the learning process of becoming Familiar with sound, I heartily recommend the cochlear implant experience. Sound appreciation is every bit as important to the fullness of a good life lived, as is sight, taste, smell, and feeling.

So “happy hearing” to all who have or will avail themselves of this other option, alternative to deafness, provided by our special otology surgeons, audiologists, and Audiology equipment manufacturers. And even insurance company (reluctant or otherwise—I wonder how many of their directors or board members are willingly deaf) providers who must decide how much to help those of us who depend on them to invest our premiums and return some of that investment in providing helpful, health care benefits to help us lead fuller lives.

Thank you for all our dedication and hard work in putting out the PNWCIC newsletter. The whole family reads it. Keep up this most rewarding task. You are truly helping all your fellow implantees.

There is no subscription or membership fee required to receive this newsletter. We want all implantees in the Pacific Northwest, as well as those interested in learning more about an implant, to receive this newsletter, regardless of ability to pay. If you would like to donate to support the cost of the newsletter, make checks payable to Gordon L Nystedt. If you have not notified us in the last year that you wish to continue to receive this newsletter, please do it so you will not miss an issue. If you are not on our mailing list, please let us know so we can add your name. If you receive this newsletter and are no longer interested, please advise and we will remove your name from the mailing list. The next edition will be mailed in August.

Name ___________________________________

Address ______________________________________

City ________________ State ____________ Zip Code _____________

E-mail address __________________________________