Yesterday it was one year ago that I had cochlear implant surgery and my left ear implanted.
What a year it has been! I just spent six days on the West Coast - visiting my older sister and meeting two paternal first cousins for the first time. I also gave a talk at a meeting at my sister's home about what my year with a cochlear implant has been like.
I am still hearing new sounds, a year later. My older sister has an Apple Mac laptop, and when she would send an e-mail from her laptop, it made a "whooshing" sound. I also met some delightful people from the business community at my sister's home. Many greeted me as one would an old friend. My sister has talked about me and so many of her friends feel they know me. I could not have felt more loved or welcome.
My paternal grandmother gave birth to a son who my two sisters and I did not know was my father's half brother. My older sister and I were delighted to meet our paternal first cousins, as we thought most of the family on that side of the family had long since died. We told our stories and pored through pictures. My older sister, our cousins and I were able to identify shared family photographs and there was no mistaking the family resemblance. It was an emotional, joyous visit, meeting other extended family members, and getting to know each other. I wish my younger sister had been able to make the journey, but I know there will be other opportunities.
We paid a visit to a veteran's cemetery to pay our respects to a cousins' son who died in the First Gulf War. As there were no remains, there is just a marker. We all brought flowers. Our older cousin said her son had been a real family man and he would have been so happy we found each other.
I know this - my life has been enriched by this visit and hearing journey. I met an audiologist who gave a presentation of the particular implant I chose. My sister remarked later that she could tell the audiologist had a heart and passion for her work. I told my older sister that the entire cochlear implant community network had that same heart and passion for how life changing, enriching a cochlear implant can be.
I could not have envisioned what this hearing journey, the sound flavorings, would be like for me. It has been a wonderful blessing and I have made so many new friends. I am making plans to have my right ear implanted in the near future and look forward to what I call surround sound.
Last night before I left for the airport to return home, I had an interesting experience. A gentleman introduced himself and said that I could have been "helped" by a behind the ear hearing aid he had brought with him. He fitted it inside my right ear with a in the canal earmold. The ear mold wasn't custom made to my ear, but I could hear noises and amplification. What I didn't tell him, was that the gain in hearing with that behind the ear hearing aid was probably one-quarter of what I was hearing with the cochlear implant sound processor. The cochlear implant sound processor I wear far exceeded the fidelity, quality of sound of the behind the ear hearing aid I tried on for him.
That experience gave me a glimpse of what binaural cochlear implantation will be like: having a miniature bose stereo sound processor in each ear. The only way I can describe it is like this - an analogy I have used before - I am hearing in technicolor, high definition - HD. The quality of the cochlear implant sound processor far exceeds what amplification of a hearing aid is like.
I am still a deaf person with a cochlear implant. It isn't brain surgery. The technology of this cochlear implant has truly enriched my life. I am looking forward to having my right ear implanted and experiencing more sound flavorings.
Hearing is such a gift.
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