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.
Her present was opened at the audiologist’s office. Inside the box was Michelle Tjelmeland’s ability to hear.
Michelle Tjelmeland (pronounced CHUM-land) of Springfield, Illinois, lost much of her already-impaired hearing during college while training to become a middle school language-arts educator. She went completely deaf several years later and had to quit her teaching job as a result. Along came her eldest child, Ellie, who was born deaf. Michelle arranged for Ellie at 17 months to receive an Advanced Bionics cochlear implant, and then got one for herself a short time afterward. Here is what she says about the activation of her own implant, and where it has led her since.
“I have been implanted since 2001, and it has been the greatest gift I have ever received. From the moment I was hooked-up, I loved my implant because it has truly given me back my life.
“I hear, speak, listen, and communicate with everyone around me with little effort. I can hear birds chirp, dogs bark, horns honk, music, the keys click on a computer keyboard, emergency vehicles, the timer on my oven, the door bell, and ice being made by the ice-maker in my refrigerator, to name just a few.
“And, because I can hear so well, I’m able to appear on a weekly radio program about computer technology and trends involving the Internet. I was asked to be on the show because of my expertise with the Internet. After regaining my hearing, I started a website development and consulting firm, called e-Websmart. It’s grown to become a very successful small business, and I’ve won a number of awards for my work.
“The ability to hear is something I treasure so much that I also founded the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation (CIAF). This is a nonprofit organization and the first of its kind to provide information and financial support to individuals and families who are struggling with the costs of cochlear implantation. In 2006, the foundation delivered more than a half-million dollars in direct financial assistance and ancillary services for these families.
“In February, 2005, a major company that makes hearing aids named me its Inspirational Deaf Person of the Year. That same year, Microsoft®, the maker of the Windows® computer operating system, chose me as first-place winner of its nationwide ‘Start Something Amazing’ campaign in the category of culture and community.
“For all of this and much, much more, I can thank the tiny cochlear implant in my ear.”
(Interview by Rich Smith)