“My hearing loss started when I was 26 years old. When I was pregnant people began noticing I couldn’t hear properly. I managed it until I was 30 and then started wearing hearing aids. With my type of hearing loss, I struggled. I couldn’t understand speech properly, even though I knew people were talking to me. For a time my specialist kept referring me to get stronger hearing aids. Until I finally said to him, look these aren’t working for me. It was then we looked at other avenues and I was referred to Neurosensory for a Cochlear Implant.
Having one has given me my life back. I can manage life very well. Being switched on with one – it was life changing almost straight way, just wonderful. When you have an implant, voices do sound funny in the first few weeks, and then your brain kicks in and you realise you remember sounds. There are things you hear, that make you realise what you missed. Within a month I was hearing really well. You do have to work at using them – that’s one think you need to realise, a Cochlear is a tool, and then it’s up to you.
I managed really well with one, but after about six years, I decided to have the other side implanted. it was wonderful once I got the second one. I really could hear so much better and its turned everything around. I was quite isolated before, now I have grown in confidence and can mix with people, have a hit of tennis and go to restaurants. Before that, the noise factor was too hard.
