Sudden deafness became sudden hearing
Jeff's hearing loss started when he was in his late 20's due to bone growth (otosclerosis) and continued when the nerves in his cochlea began to die. This is Jeff's story. Contact Jeff via email
Jeff Flood - April 2008
I was born in 1944 in Perth WA and did all the usual things that one does during the childhood and teenage years to my mid-twenties and I had no noticeable hearing problems in that time. There are two things which probably contributed to my hearing loss. As most others growing up in my era, I listened to loud music in my teen years, but I also worked in printing, a very noisy environment. As my hearing loss increased I managed using lip reading more and more until by the time I was in my thirties I was struggling in a hearing world and had to do something about it.
A series of tests were conducted which led to me having a stapedectomy. This surgical procedure was done because the small bones in my ear (the stapes) had become fixed (otosclerosis) and therefore they couldn't conduct the vibrations of sound to my inner ear. Under surgery a small wire (piston-like) prosthesis was inserted into a small hole in the bones and this helped conduct sound vibrations to the cochlea. Having this operation in both ears brought me back into the hearing world and I probably got 3 to 4 more good years worth of hearing.
But one day I sneezed and blew my nose and suddenly one ear went totally deaf. I had a third operation to find out what had gone wrong. This showed that my stapes were in the correct position but all the fluid had gone. Enter the hearing aid era. At this time hearing aids were large (behind the ear). They worked ok for me but as my hearing loss continued I had to upgrade them every two years or so.
By 2000 I was over 55 and my hearing loss had became dramatic. I could only use one hearing aid, a big cumbersome gadget that had an earpiece and wire connected to a processor sitting in my top pocket. This beaut gadget lasted about 18 months when it, my hearing and me parted company.
It is amazing just how quickly my social life deteriorated once I had a dramatic hearing loss. I would get invitations to friends' homes but I made so many mistakes in conversation that I wondered why I ever went. After awhile I would knock invitations back because I knew I wouldn't be able to participate in conversations because I heard only half the facts. I hated making a fool of myself.
In April 2005, it took just 3 hours for me to go from a little hearing to absolutely nothing. When this happened I simply couldn't lip read enough to carry on a normal conversation and my poor wife spent her waking hours writing, writing and writing. She hated it. It was frustration personified for the both of us. We explored all the options to help me communicate better and this included checking out sign language but I could not come to terms with learning that. I figured I would be no better off as my wife/family would have to learn as well and since most of our friends and acquaintances would not know sign, I would still be isolated in a room full of talking/hearing people sitting there like a stunned mullet.
This has been one great emotional experience and worth going for
I knew of cochlear implants from radio and television but I had never seen one and no one ever suggested to me that I should be going down that path. I was put in contact with CICADA in WA and they were most helpful but as my wife and I were both working it was inconvenient to travel to Perth for their meetings. Looking back now CICADA should have been our first contact. My GP referred me to the Lions Hearing Institute and Professor Marcus Atlas who was fully conversant with cochlear implants.
It only took six weeks from my first consultation with Professor Atlas to my first implant in my right ear. WOW!! I'd been deaf for over 12 months and switch-on day was just magic. Sound!! Some of it not nice, but I was told it just gets better and better and it did. No more writing for my wife. Was she relieved. I could hardly wait to get my left implanted. This operation was in July 2007 was even better than my right ear as all electrodes were able to be inserted and activated.
This has been one great emotional experience and worth the whole trip. People who have lost one of their senses and then had that sense restored find it hard to explain in words just how wonderful it is. Anyone contemplating a cochlear implant should do their sums and get to it as soon as possible. The rewards are worth going for.