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My Cochlear Implant Journey

You can follow my current journey before surgery & after surgery via my blog posts by viewing my Cochlear Implant posts

I am currently in the middle of my Cochlear Implant Journey, so most of my posts are about that at the moment. I hope that it will give the hearing world & my friends & family some idea about what I am going through in this journey.

No journey is ever simple & straight forward. No journey is the exact same, so I can't say that my journey will be your journey. But its just an indication of what could happen & what I have experienced during my journey.

I do need to point out that all of this is my opinion. Anyone is entitled to their own opinion. I know this option is not right for everyone. I know that not all deaf people WANT to actually hear. I know there is nothing wrong with being deaf, if that is how you choose to live your life.

My reasoning for having the Cochlear Implant, is that I had hearing. I grew up with hearing & had a very slow decline of hearing up until 2000. It went downhill very rapidly after that & I pushed myself into a world I didn't know. I became isolated (my own fault, I know). I hid away from things, which is not something I enjoyed doing, but that is what I did. During this time, I also met my hubby online in an internet chat room. I moved from NZ to Australia in 2001 around the same time that the hearing went downhill fast. This is the main reason why I haven't made any friends in the town I initially moved to in Australia. Why I never tried to join a sports team when I had practically lived for my sports a few years prior during my college years.

When we settled where we are now, I finally found myself a job nearby & made great friends with my workmates. I still miss not working there (the shop isn't there anymore but still lol). I had to give up my job soon after I became pregnant in 2009. For some reason, my pregnancy lost the last little bit of my hearing. I had nothing left. My hearing aids were the top ones. The loudest, best ones you could get at that level. I could not get ones any higher volume etc.

So that is when I completely lost my hearing. In saying that I went into mourning would be somewhat accurate. A few years before then (maybe 2007 or 2006), I was told I was ineligible for a Cochlear Implant. So that was a massive blow, so fast forward to 2009 & losing my hearing & not being able to wear a hearing aid to any benefit anymore, along with remembering being told about not able to have CI, I worried i'd never hear my baby. I mourned that. I think I suffered my depression hugely during that time. I hated being pregnant. I felt that I was no longer able to be a good parent because I wouldn't be able to hear her. Stupid - I know that now! But at the time, emotions are at an all time high. I was struggling with morning sickness for so long, I was struggling with all the extra appointments I needed due to being a type 1 diabetic & having a not ideal HbA1C record.

Then when lil miss was born in May 2010, she was born via emergency c-section at 36wks due to toxemia. It was a horrible time. First time mum, completely deaf, no family or loved ones around except my poor hubby who left after the nurses gave the OK. He then traveled 1hr home, only to just get there & get the phone call saying that they were going to induce me. Nothing sounded very urgent then apparently, so he took his time coming back down again (feeding the pets etc). Meanwhile here is me lying in bed not fully understanding what is going on. Numerous medical people rushing all around me. The initial people that where there when hubby left, had been told to write down instructions so I could fully understand what was happening. Due to the urgency of situation at the time, that rule got left out / forgotten.

Anyway, in conclusion, all that experience in the hospital scared me. By being deaf, which is not my first language so to speak lol. I was used to hearing when in hospital situations & frightening situations.

I used to cry myself to sleep thinking I would never hear my baby. Her first word was "Mummy". I never got to hear that first word. I didn't get to hear my "baby" when she was a baby ... but hells bells, she's 3yrs old now & full of beans, non stop chatter & the first week after my switch on, I cried again ... but not of sadness :) Pure happiness! That completely sums up for me, why I chose my Cochlear Implant journey. My daughter!

History: 

Coming Soon!

Points of Interest:

  • 31st July 2013 - The day I had surgery to implant the device into my head.
  • Associate Professor Melville da Cruz - the man! My surgeon who made this all happen.
  • BUPA - my private health insurance, which allowed me to get my implant without forking out around $30,000.00 for the Cochlear Implant
  • 28th September 2013 - My 'Switch-on' date 
  • SCIC - Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre. This is the place that makes it all happen for me.  Please take a moment to view their website here & find out what they do. This is only for NSW, ACT & NT in Australia. Other states have different places (I will try & add them to here soon so you can see places that are available in your own state & even other Countries if I can).

Interesting Links relating to Cochlear Implants:

Making a Donation towards Cochlear Implants

These places have helped me so much, so the least I can do is promote them in any way that I can & hope that someone else can help keep these places open & allow them continue to do the fantastic work that they do.

Public hospitals with Cochlear Implant funding in Australia

  • NSW
    • Royal Prince Alfred Hospital
    • Children's Hospital Westmead
    • Sydney Children's Hospital
    • John Hunter Hospital
  • ACT
    • Canberra Hospital
  • VIC
    • Royal Eye & Ear Hospital
  • QLD
    • Royal Children's Hospital
    • Mater Hospital
  • SA
    • Women's & Children's Hospital
    • Flinders Medical Centre
  • TAS
    • Royal Hobart Hospital (Surgery is performed in Melbourne)
  • WA
    • Princess Margaret Hospital for Children
    • Royal Perth Hospital
    • Sir Charles Gairdner Hospital
    • Fremantle Hospital

Non-profit Cochlear Implant Clinics in Australia

 Regional/remote outreach programs

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