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.
Sue Smith learned all she could about cochlear implants, then made a decision leading to the best Christmas ever for her.
Working as the executive assistant to an Arizona state senator is a job that requires Sue Smith to keep her ears open for everything from legislative pronouncements to political whispers. That’s hard to do without the ability to hear. In 2001, Sue received a cochlear implant so that she could. Here, the 50-year-old Phoenix grandmother describes her choices on the journey to sound.
“Before I made any decisions about cochlear implants, I did a lot of research into them. That’s just the way I am—I check out the claims, the pros and cons, very thoroughly before I do anything major. And cochlear implant surgery certainly was something major, as far as I was concerned.
“I should point out, though, that I wasn’t born deaf. I first noticed my hearing was going away in 1988. I then was fitted for hearing aids. As time passed, the hearing aids worked less and less well for me. It got to where I couldn’t hear at all.
“I was scared. I was afraid this would mean I could get fired from my job if I couldn’t perform all duties expected of me. You can’t imagine how relieved I was to be told about cochlear implants.
“In the end, I chose to go with the Advanced Bionics CII Bionic Ear with the High-Resolution 90K Auria Processor. I became convinced that the CII had the ability to collect and process more sound signals than any other. I also chose the CII because I knew that it would not soon become obsolete—it would be possible to keep upgrading the externally worn processor for many years to come as better technology and mapping strategies became available.
“My life has changed so incredibly much since I received the implant. I hear everything. I can talk on any phone, including my cell phone—even in a noisy restaurant or on the bus. I can do my job.
“Christmas is a very important time of year for me. And my first Christmas with the cochlear implant in place was amazing. I heard everyone's voices and spent the entire day listening to my favorite Christmas songs. My implant was the best gift ever.”
(Interview by Rich Smith)