Four years later

Four Years later

(September, 2009) I've now had a cochlear implant for more than 4 years. It is working very well, and has proved to be very reliable.

The only time it stopped working was in May, 2008, when I rode the Tour of the Scioto River Valley (210 mile, 2 day bicycle trip) in the rain. I was wearing a balaclava (sort of a thin ski mask, with one big opening for the eyes, nose, and mouth), and had my rain jacket hood up. This created a warm sweaty environment that seemed to overwhelm the implant, and it stopped working. I stopped at a McDonalds and dried the processor at a hand-drier in the men's room. That worked nicely.

My hearing is not perfect, but I'm still amazed at what I do hear. I'm now able to answer the telephone many times a day at work. It took me a few months to progress to that point. At first, once a day or so, I'd have a hard time hearing on the phone and ask a coworker to help. As the months progressed, this happened less often, and now I go months between calls where I need to ask for help.

My improved hearing has opened interesting professional opportunities for me. I've represented hospital pharmacy at an FDA public hearing, joined a team that did a medication safety consulting visit at a hospital in another state, and flown to Philadelphia to serve on two medication safety advisory boards.

I still discover new sounds, even now. Earlier this year I started to recognize the sound of our garage door opening when I'm inside the house. Ryan is now 7 years old, and I enjoy being able to talk with him while he's in the back seat of the car.

I enjoy music, including songs that my son Alex records. Angie has graduated from college. I greatly enjoyed being able to hear her wedding ceremony. Emily is away at college, and it's wonderful to be able to talk with her on the telephone.

Sadly, my father passed away in early 2006. I treasure the long conversations that we had in the months before his death, and I treasure how much he marveled at the technology that made our conversations possible. I'm glad that I had the implant while Dad was alive.

I still go on many long bicycle rides, including two weeklong tours this year. I enjoy the sounds of leaves crunching under my wheels, birds singing, and wonderful conversations with my cycling friends.

The implant has far exceeded my expectations, and has enriched my life. For me, it was the right decision.

Thank you for sharing this wonderful experience with me. If you've enjoyed this story, I'd love to hear from you. Please contact me

Home

Journey out of the muffled kingdom

Page 12

For a collection of other cochlear implant stories, see

http://www.listen-up.org/implant.htm

If you'd like to read about some of my weeklong bicycle tours, see

http://www.hot-tamale.org/bt/bt.htm

If you'd like to learn more about how a cochlear implant works, click here for a wonderful page of information from the US FDA.

Table of Contents

Page 1: Why an implant?