It Gets Better

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Readers may recall an earlier item on this website entitled " Work at Your Hearing" in which I described my experiences in applying for and ultimately being operated on for a Cochlear Implant. In that article I emphasised the need to do a lot of research and to prepare oneself fully for the operation and importantly, the great impact that the new implant would have on one's life. This article is to describe the growing experiences that I had since I was implanted in November at 2002 and I can assure readers that it does get better.

I was actually operated in October 2002 and switched on in November 21st, 2002 and my earlier article was written just a matter of six weeks later. In the following months I continued to use audio books to develop my word recognition and I also used headphones for listening to the radio. I was given a present by my family of a wireless FM transmission system so that I could use headphones and roam round the house and garden while still listening to the radio and the television. These accessories were a great benefit to me and helped my conversational performance improve during the spring and summer of 2003. I also fitted a headphone connection to my mobile phone that I use for any potential emergency in the car. I intend to get a headphone jack socket fitted to my car radio as well.

But just in case readers think that one spends all the time in headphones and/or with cables, let me reassure you that is not so. The three instances I've quoted are my solutions to specific situations. For 99% of the time I'm hands free with my BTE unit, living a normal uncluttered life. I use the phone constantly and it is only the rare accent or mumbled speaker with which I have any difficulty. I watch TV news directly and only use the sub titles for entertainment programmes when I want to completely relax.

I continue to go for regular tuning sessions with my audiologist at the CI centre and my internal dynamic range has been progressively increased from 40 dB in stages up to my current level of 70 dB. Adjustments were made to the high frequency and low frequency boost filters and my speech recognition learning curve has continued to improve and after about a year has effectively topped out.

I'm completely confident with conversations indoors and even outdoors with just a few other people but I must admit that conversation among a large group of people with background noise, as typical of so many social occasions, remains difficult. I understand that I'm not alone in this and that continued reliance upon lip-reading remains although it is an unconscious act.

To date I have not acknowledged the actual equipment that I'm using. It is necessary now to state that I made a personal choice of Advanced Bionics and of their Clarion CII BTE processor with a HiFocus electrode. Having researched the subject so thoroughly, I had asked for and was fortunate to receive as my first programme the new HiRes® speech technology system that was introduced into the UK in the winter of 2002/3. I also was fitted with the new Tmic so I began my implanted life with the latest of Advanced Bionics equipment at that time.

Just under a year later Advanced Bionics then released their new Auria system into the UK market and I was most fortunate to be upgraded on to this in February 2004. Readers will be able to examine elsewhere on this website all the features of Auria and I'm very pleased with my own experiences. The hardware is more attractive, lightweight and cosmetic considerations have been taking into account. It carries the same, state of the art HiRes speech processing technology. The Tmic is now a snap on unit which is much more secure and the full range of accessories regarding Telecoils and FM accessories continue to be featured. A simple switch achieves the 3-programme selection and the volume control is now a rotary dial, all of which gives one much more control. A very important development in conjunction with Auria is its new range of long-life rechargeable batteries in which the recharge life is expected to be at least 25 per cent better than previously and my own experience is in fact some 65 per cent better. I can now go a whole waking day on just two batteries with confidence.

I'm really pleased that I chose AB for my implant equipment. I've benefited already in the space of just 16 months with new ranges of equipment and will continue to be able to be upgraded as time goes. The whole process of living with my implant has become completely natural now and whilst at times I may think back to when I was listening person, I make a point of not living on one's memories and concentrate instead on my current hearing experiences which continue to improve. I'm confident that I will continue to be fully supported by AB research and by their technological advancements and have began now to relax more about this new world that I'm in. As with all changes in life one must adjust oneself to accommodate them. Change is inevitable in life and it is better to accept it rather than fight it.
AB has helped me to do just that

April 16,2004