I was thinking about my first visit to the cochlear implant audiologist. She showed me several implant sound processor models. I was looking at the headpiece part of the processor. I was thinking that the diameter of the headpiece looked about the size of a nickel. My father, years ago, when I was about maybe eight, told me that someday hearing aids would be the size of a dime. He wasn't that far off the mark - as far as components of a cochlear implant sound processor are concerned.
I thought of lazy summer evenings when my father and I would sit out on the deck of my parents' house in the country - listening to the frogs croaking. I still couldn't hear birds. My father would try to replicate the sounds of the birds so I could "hear" the bird calls.
The decision to undergo a cochlear implant as an adult has been a deeply personal one. My father has been with the angels a long time now, and my mother joined my father nearly five years ago. My mother knew I had to be the one to decide or reject having a cochlear implant done, and wisely knew I would be living with the consequences of that decision. Thankfully, cochlear implants and surgery have come a long way since the FDA first approved cochlear implants in the United States in 1985.
It has been a real emotional roller coaster, going through this process. I am all too aware that my parents are not here to witness this important event in my life. My two sisters will be with me on Activation Day. That will probably be sometime in November. My older sister remembers my deaf school days. My younger sister wasn't even born yet.
I would hope that no family member of a deaf adult (let's say 24 and older) would use emotional blackmail to persuade that person to undergo a cochlear implant (such as, your mother and I may not live long, so please get this done before we die, speech). Don't do it. I know you are tempted, but don't do it. The same goes for hearing spouses of deaf adults. You could break up your marriage that way. It isn't worth it.
I know every hearing person on this planet who is reading this blog thinks he or she is "doing the right thing" by wanting that deaf adult family member to get a cochlear implant and to "finally hear." It STILL TOTALLY has to be the deaf person's decision.
There is scientific evidence showing that the area of the brain dealing with decision making, is not fully mature until about age 24. I know there are exceptions. We all know someone who was born going on 40 and is mature way beyond his or her tender years.
I am a person who has worn hearing aids since age 2 1/2, and my hearing aids are the first thing I put on after taking a shower. I can't function very well in the Hearing World WITHOUT my hearing aids.
There are some deaf adults who, somewhere along the line, make a deliberate decision not to wear hearing aids anymore. I am not one of those people. I do have deaf friends who choose not to wear hearing aids, and who prefer to use ASL as their language instead of spoken English, even if they were initially taught to speak and lipread. That person may have been teased as a young child about how their voice sounded, what hearing people call "deaf speech." I respect my deaf friends who have chosen to do that. That is their choice, and I am not about to get into an argument whether that choice to be deaf in every way is the right "choice." There are some deaf friends of mine who are oral deaf adults like myself who speak and lipread, but have decided that a cochlear implant "is not for them," or, "they are not interested." I respect that, too. You don't know what life experiences that deaf adult may have had which influenced the decisions they made regarding deafness.
It took awhile before deciding I was psychologically ready to undergo a cochlear implant. This was not a decision that was made within 24 hours. I did research. I put money away in savings, I saved up leave. I kept researching health insurance plans, asking if they covered cochlear implant surgery, cochlear implants, and how much did that insurance plan cover? I prayed a lot. As a Christian, I am just humbled by how God is making this possible, and the timing of it all. I am totally at peace with my decision to undergo a cochlear implant. I am ready, in every sense of the word.
I don't "fault" my parents for making the decision to send me to a private school for the deaf where I could learn to utilize hearing aids, learn lipreading, and speaking. My family is entirely hearing. My parents honestly did what they truly thought was the best decision for me. I'm grateful they did.
There are those who think hearing aids are the cheaper option. It is not. My mother always called me her "million dollar baby," and my parents paid for the equivalent of two college educations. Going to a private school for the deaf was not cheap. It still isn't. Hearing aids are expensive, along with earmolds, tubing, batteries and repairs. You still pay close to a million dollars by the time the deaf person leaves this earth. Hearing aids were not covered by my parents' insurance plans when I was growing up. My parents, and later, me, had to come up with the money to pay for the hearing aids.
The beauty of a cochlear implant and a sound processor is that you only need ONE. As I have worn two hearing aids for the longest time, I wanted both ears implanted all at once. That didn't go over well with the cochlear implant audiologist, who said insurance would not cover two implants at the same time. If parents with a deaf baby are considering going with a cochlear implant, I'd fight tooth and nail for binaural implants. Your child will be better off for it.
I would like to be implanted in my right ear eventually, but if you implant a deaf baby or child, that surgically implanted processor is a lifetime investment. Sure, you can upgrade the sound processors as technology improves on the product. Some people choose to do that. I also know that I am not going to be able to "hear" with a cell phone using a cochlear implant overnight. It took me six months to get totally comfortable with wearing digital behind the ear hearing aids. I still wasn't 100% sure I liked them, even after six months. It took a while. I know I will have to be patient, and I know I will go through some "growing pains" in using a cochlear implant.
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