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The scheduled date of my cochlear implants, June 26, is rapidly bearing down on me. YAY! After months of waiting, it is starting to feel like it might actually become a reality. Will become a reality. In just four days… this time in four days, I will be in hospital, post-implant…!

Pre-implant appointments

Audiologist

A couple of weeks ago, I had a pre-implant appointment with an audiologist at the Ear Science Institute. One of the things we discussed was the choice of speech processors, and the differences between the two on offer. Gawd those Cochlear brand ones are big and ugly. How depressing. The MED-EL brand were still much bigger than a hearing aid, but far more slimline than the Cochlear brand — however they require a remote control for changing any of the settings, which I know from past experience with hearing aids is a darned nuisance. Still, it is a really difficult decision to make. The “man in the street” just doesn’t know enough to judge, in my opinion.

We talked about what to expect from the surgery, including the size of the scar behind the ear, and how much hair would be shaved off. (The shaved area, where the implant sits and where the magnet attaches, is apparently only about the size of a 50c piece. The surgeon mostly cuts immediately behind the ear where there is no hair anyway.)

I was given documents to sign, for me to acknowledge that I understood what was going to happen relating to the surgery, as well as afterwards. When I read the document about expectations of the outcome of the implants I smiled wryly at the audiologist and said, “It paints a grim picture, doesn’t it?” It included such encouragements as:

  • The rhythm of speech will be easier to detect and you will be able to tell the difference between long and short syllables;
  • You should be able to learn to control the level of your voice with practice;
  • You will be able to hear the difference between some but not all voices;
  • Music will not sound “normal” because the implant processor is designed to transmit speech; and
  • You may be able to identify a simple song.

The thing is, they need to establish a worst-case scenario because everyone is different and some gain more from cochlear implants than others. That is fine by me.

Switch-on is scheduled for July 9, 2008, and after that I have a couple of months of weekly re-mapping and rehabilitation appointments, petering out over time.

When I saw the scheduled appointments, for the first time I felt that this thing is real. It is going to happen!

Surgeon

A couple of days later, I saw the surgeon, Dr Marcus Atlas. I had been really concerned about this, as I knew I had to choose the brand of implant at this meeting. He is just lovely, and acknowledged how hard it is for the patient to choose — but he is obliged to let the patient know that there is a choice. He said that the MED-EL brand is longer and fits deeper into the cochlea, therefore theoretically offers more frequencies (though in practice this is not always the case) and also rehabilitation seemed faster in patients with the MED-EL brand, and if I was unable or unwilling to choose, that would be his recommendation. Yay! Dilemma over.

Apparently I am to expect to not work or drive for a week due to balance and dizziness issues. Fortunately management at my workplace are being super-supportive.

As I left, I was given a folder with information about hospital pre-admission, blood tests I needed to obtain (HIV amongst other things!), and an appointment with the anaesthetist that I needed to arrange. I went to have the blood tests right away while I was at the hospital, and saw the anaesthetist the following week.

Anaesthetist

The anaesthetist has rooms at the hospital where the implant surgery will take place — St John of God Hospital, Subiaco — and the appointment took 5 minutes, if that. I was asked the standard questions about family health history and my own health. The anaesthetist gave me a prescription to bring to the hospital with me on the day, for an injection to be given to me an hour before surgery. He told me he’d give me further prescriptions before I left the hospital for painkillers.

“Painkillers?” I exclaimed. “No one said anything to me about pain!”

He looked at me as if I was quite mad, started to say something, and thought better of it. :-)

He warned me that I will have tubes and oxygen for 24 hours. My first ironic thought was that I was only in hospital for one night, so as soon as they perceived I was no longer at death’s door they’d chuck me out! My second, far more serious, thought was, “If I am wearing an oxygen mask, how will I eat?!!!!”

I shall let you know my devious ways and means, after the fact!

Now… to wait…

Tuning in

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I came across this little slideshow on the interwebs (as ya do) and found it extremely interesting. It is from the Scientific American Frontiers show, and demonstrates in both audio and correlating images what a person with a cochlear implant will hear.

Amazing to think that a human ear has 30,000 neurons and a cochlear implant (which uses electrical impulses to stimulate the auditory nerve) currently has 24 electrodes! (The slideshow says 22 — it is clearly not the most recent data but gives a useful representation anyway.)

Obviously, because I don’t hear, the associated audio means nothing to me — I can’t tell what the quality is like or how easily distinguishable the words are. But the accompanying images, with their varying degrees of pixellation, gave me (as a future cochlear implant recipient) an interesting and valuable insight into the relative quality of what is heard with cochlear implants.

What a difference a week makes

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I have had the best week!

I’ve had a huge amount of support from friends and colleagues after I learned I could definitely get cochlear implants — and after a relationship ended where I was apparently meant to feel grateful the feller put up with my deafness. Everyone has rallied around and I feel stronger and happier and less alone than I’ve done in a while. Thank you, me mateys!

I’m enjoying my new job and the people I work with are fantastic. In my (albeit limited) experience as an employee, I have never been in such a supportive workplace. There are also some exciting and challenging things coming up, workwise. I feel very fortunate.

On Thursday evening, all of the kids plus Andy played tennis, then came back to my place and Andy cooked a family favourite, his version of Szechuan Chicken. Between the yummy food and the happy people around me, it left me feeling peaceful and happy myself.

I also had a lovely dinner at the Little Moorish Restaurant with my friend and colleague Steve on Friday night. The food was to die for and the service was great. As always, I enjoyed Steve’s company and friendship. Great food, great company — definitely an experience I’d love to repeat.

When I had the cochlear implant assessment, the audiologist sent me the email address of a woman who has had cochlear implants. During the week, I finally got around to contacting her and we have corresponded a little and this afternoon we met for coffee at The Wild Fig Cafe. Diana was born deaf and received her implants one at a time, so her situation was a little different to mine, but it was fascinating to talk with her, see her implants (well, the speech processors anyway — which were totally invisible under her hair) and to just discuss anything that came into my mind at the time. She is a lovely, warm woman and I really appreciate her being willing to take the time out to talk to me.

I’m heading out shortly for dinner (again! Yum!) and altogether it has been a most satisfactory week. Onwards and upwards!