53 years old Slowly progressive hearing loss in adulthood from unknown cause Musician

The following story is one person's experience with a cochlear implant. Your experience may be very different. Success with a cochlear implant is influenced by many factors including how long a person has had hearing loss, the age a person receives an implant, medical and anatomical factors and more. Please consult your cochlear implant professional and/or the Bionic Ear Association with questions.

My decision to get a cochlear implant came when hearing aids provided very little benefit to me. I was still active as a service technician working in the field, meeting new customers on a daily basis so verbal communication was paramount.

While my hearing was gradually slipping away over a 25-year period, it was getting increasingly difficult to function in both work and social environments. Understanding my customers' concerns was challenging and frustrating for each of us. On the home front, my wife always provided unwavering support but I was withdrawing socially from friends, not wanting to go to parties or other functions where there were group gatherings. Also I lost one of my great loves, my music. Since I was a part-time musician, this came as a double whammy since both the ability to play and listen had been taken away. Although I tried to attend social gatherings for my wife's and my own benefit, it was becoming a unproductive exercise. I was backed into a corner and did not know how to get out.

I was so thankful to be offered help from a cochlear implant. On the day of my hookup, it was nothing short of a miracle to me. I was able to understand speech almost right away. When I first walked outside the clinic, I could hear birds chirping, a sound I had lost over 25 years ago. I was fast-tracked into the hearing world again at a mind blowing pace. Suddenly I was using the telephone, listening to the radio and watching television again without captions. My relationships with many people took on a whole new perspective, especially the ones that I had known only while hearing impaired. So many things became so much easier again. Even the simple act of going to the store to buy something, without the feeling of nervousness or frustration I usually experienced while hearing impaired. Music sounds right to me now, so I am able to sing and play my guitar again. I feel released from a prison in which I was held when I couldn't hear!

It has been three years and most of the time I feel that I am able to function as well as someone with normal hearing. The only time I feel challenged is when I am in a crowded room with everyone talking. Then again, lots of people with good hearing tell me they have problems with that too. I feel like I am the luckiest person alive to have been given back something I thought was gone forever!