Cochlear Implant Journey

Hello to all. My name is Susan and this is my Journey to Sound. I started losing my hearing in my mid-twenties, now have a profound bilateral sensorineural loss. On Jan. 18,2005 I was implanted with the Nucleus 3 cochlear implant. I had my surgery done at Children's Hospital by Dr. John Little.

Two and ahalf years ago I went through all of the evaluation processes to get an implant and at that time I was told to wait until my hearing and understanding dropped just a little more.
Over the next two years, I met more people with ci (cochlear implants) who where doing so well that I decided to try again. Yeah?? I had lost more hearing and now could get the implant. I had a months wait, in which time I did a lot of thinking, stewing, and drove my family crazy.
Some of my fears were the obvious; death, bleeding, pain, facial paralysis, and so on. Then there were other fears that seemed abstract and weird. I wondered if others would feel the same about me, or if I would feel the same about myself. Was I sidestepping God? Were there things I needed to learn that I had not? As a few close friends had told me, I was thinking way to much.

Jan. 18th. Tuesday we arrived at the hospital at 8:30 am, Mark drinking his Starbucks while I longed for my Chai Tea Latte (NPO). I knitted and bounced of the walls till about twelve when they finally came for me. I felt such fear, words can not express! Then the tears just fell while I tried to apologize to my family, I was just so scared. The next thing I know it's over!! No dizzyness, no balance problems, things were not to bad. They brought me something for pain which I soon learned I was allergic to. I got sick to my stomach a few times in the hospital and once on the trip home. We changed my meds and I was soon resting nicely.

The next day I saw Dr. Little to remove my big turbin bandage. Wow it felt good to get that thing off, it is put on very tightly. I was told I could wash my hair on Friday of that week. Monday, one week after surgery the steri-stips were taken off and the incision looked very good. I would not say I had much pain: it was more discomfort. It was very hard sleeping. My implant is on the right side which is my sleeping side. My neck and jaw ached for about three weeks. Even now when I open my mouth wide; it sometimes hurts. The incision site has a dull ache with numbness.

My residual hearing in the implanted ear is now completely gone. This has not affected me as much as I had feared, but has made sound direction even harder for me. I have to be looking at you, to hear what you are saying. All that will hopefully change tomorrow when we finally turn the implant on. I am starting with the 'behind the ear' - 3G processor. People are telling me not to expect much at first, things will sound really weird.

That's all for now, I will keep everyone posted.

Love,
Susan