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A Journey Back to the Hearing
World
My Hearing Loss History
I was diagnosed
with a hearing loss when I was very young, at about 10 years old. As my
hearing problem was not very obvious, I went through mainstream education.
However, as I grew older, my hearing deteriorated. I resorted to hearing
aids at the age of 21. About 3 years later in 2000, my hearing ability
dropped further suddenly. It started with my left ear. I found even more
difficulties listening. Then, my right ear’s hearing also deteriorated. I
was so worried and the doctor could not find the cause of my hearing loss.
It was recommended that I use Behind The Ear (BTE) hearing aids. Since
then, I have been experiencing a great deal of tinnitus (ringing in the
ear) in both ears. I had lost the ability to use the telephone to
communicate effectively. In addition, I faced great difficulty handling a
conversation with more than one person at a time.
My
Career Crisis
Luckily my
superior and boss had not treated my hearing loss as a main problem. They promoted
me in spite of my hearing problem. I felt so relieved as I believed I need
not let my hearing loss become a major obstacle in my career path.
Nevertheless, the company was closed down in May 2003. I lost my job.
Although I was experienced and qualified, I was unable to get a job. I had
problems handling the recruiters’ queries over the phone. I could not even
get the address correct when they called me for an interview. Eventually
most of them would just hang up the phone because of my “poor communication”
skills.
Besides that, I
also encountered communication problems with my friends and family. As I
was thinking of starting my own family, I pondered whether I should allow
my hearing problem affect my relationship with them. I had read stories of
some hearing impaired parents who had difficulties in the process of
bringing up their children. For example, sometimes they could not hear
their children’s cries when they fell down or were in danger. This was an
example of a risk that I could not afford.
My Decision - Cochlear
Implant
I was determined to seek a solution for my hearing loss. I
started to search on the Internet and asked my audiologist friend for
advice. That was how I got to know more about the Cochlear Implant. I
realized it might be the only solution for my profound hearing loss. I
began to check the details with doctors and found that the Singapore General Hospital
(SGH) offered the best solution to me in terms of fee and services. After
some preliminary tests, A/Prof. Low Wong Kein arranged for the surgery to
be done on 29 December 2003. I was implanted with the Nucleus 3G. The
audiologist had also helped to arrange for me to meet with other cochlear
implant users. My confidence was boosted after seeing them as they were the
best proof of the successful implantation.
On 28 December
2003, I was admitted to the hospital. My mind was a mixture of worry,
excitement and uncertainty. I did not know if the operation was worth the
while, and I was worried about the complexities that might arise after the
operation. Although A/Prof. Low had mentioned that the chances of
complications were slim, I just could not stop worrying. However, my
determination to go back to the hearing world was so strong that it
superseded all my other concerns. I was advised not to drink or eat after
midnight until the operation in the next morning, which was scheduled at 10
am. I was brought to the surgery room at about 11am and after the
anesthesia, I lost consciousness until 2 hours later. However, I did not
feel much pain when I woke up, except that I kept vomiting due to the
effect from the anesthesia. Although it was quite uncomfortable, I felt
accomplished as I had passed the “ordeal”. I felt fortunate that my surgery
was completed successfully. There were no complications after the surgery.
It was not as terrible as what I thought it might be. After staying in the
hospital for 3 days, I was discharged.
My Hook up, Mapping, and Therapy.
My “switch on”
date was on 15 January 2004. The audiologist helped to switch on my
implant. He also performed the first MAPping for me. After the MAPping, the
sound I heard was very artificial, very different from what I heard in the
past. I felt a bit giddy as it seemed too loud for me. I was advised to
keep it on all the time as to train my brain to adapt the new sound. My
therapy was scheduled 3 weeks after the switch-on date. The purpose of this
3-week period was to enable my brain to receive substantial training of the
new sound, before I could start my habilitation.
When I walked home
after the switch-on, I felt quite uncomfortable with the surrounding
noises. I even misunderstood the vehicles’ noise as firecrackers. When I
reached home, my family tried to talk to me but I found their voices very
different. Their speech sounded like it was being compressed. However, I
could still understand their speech with some concentration. I did not
switch on my implant all the time, especially when I was alone at home as I
felt that the only purpose of it was to let me communicate with others and
nothing else. I carried on this mistake until I attended my first therapy
session. My therapist had advised me that I should keep it on all the time
to train my brain to get used to the surrounding sound. For instance I had
to find the source of the sound as I heard it. It was quite effective.
Slowly I felt that I could comprehend people’s conversation better. While
my family called me from far away, I was able to respond promptly. Although
I still had some difficulties understanding all the speech, I felt
delighted with my improvement. I was also trained to discriminate similar
sounds during the therapy sessions. It also helped to improve my
pronunciation. I started to appreciate that with the cochlear implant,
sounds were different from what they were with hearing aids. Hearing with
hearing aids was somewhat passive, the sounds were amplified and I heard
them. Hearing with a cochlear implant was active. I must learn to hear with
the implant. I knew I must be more patient and put in more efforts so as to
gain maximum benefits from the implant.
Then I tried to
use telephone with my implant. Nucleus 3G was the only cochlear implant to
have built in telecoil in the speech processor. With a flick of a switch on
the bottom of the 3G, the telecoil was engaged, and all I heard was the
speech signal from the phone. No interference from background noises. Thus,
I could communicate with people over the phone with little difficulty.
However, I found it harder to understand men’s speech, which was mainly due
to their lower pitched voices. Slowly I was able to talk to the recruiter
over the phone. It was very encouraging, as my “switch on” was only 5 weeks
ago. I felt quite surprised that in such a short time, I was able to enjoy
the advantages of the implant. I had trained myself to make inquiries for
job openings and it worked. I gained more experience in learning to listen
during the process. My confidence came back and then I tried to listen to
the radio. Also, I tried to listen to an educational CD to train my speech
discrimination.
I still had to
go back to the hospital for MAPping regularly. The cochlear implant was to
be “MAPped” regularly. The MAPping process was essentially a tune-up. The
audiologist varied the 22 or so threshold levels (the loudness level at which
I was first aware of a sound) and the comfort levels (where sounds became
comfortable and/or too loud) with each mapping to determine the “MAP” that
provided the best sound. Finally after three months, my hearing was on par
with what it is now.
However, when I
started my job, the interference recurred when I tried to use phone with
the telecoil.
My
Appreciation
As a deaf person
I am constantly frustrated at not being able to understand what was going on
around me. Deafness is socially isolating. It becomes easier to just stay
home, rather than to follow conversations with minimal hearing and lip
reading cues. When you no longer hear, it is easy, and perhaps natural, to
withdraw from the society. Even your friends and family get tired of having
to repeat themselves or write things down so you can understand. But the
implant allows me to hear again and to participate fully in hearing world.
The first three
months of my experience with the implant proved to be extremely rewarding
and validated my decision to get implanted. It gave me back so much
confidence, freedom and enjoyment of sound that I am in awe of and
extremely grateful for. Although the implant is not as good as normal
hearing and is very different from hearing aids, it is real hearing and it
is nothing short of a miracle for those of us who can hear again. Being
independent again is just a gift. Now, I have received a job offer to work
as the head of administration and accounts department. A lot of challenges
await me, but I believe I can manage well. People around me also feel that
I am more cheerful and confident now. It is just a fantastic experience
being able to hear again.
I appreciate the
SGH team, namely A/Prof. Low Wong Kein, Steven, Olivia and other hospital
staff for their efforts in helping me hear again. Also, I appreciate my
friends and my family, especially my husband and my parents who have always
supported and encouraged me when I was rejected. Thanks to their love and
concern. I can stand tall again.
Sia Chai
Har
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