My Story - A journey to 'Stereo Sound'
email: katrina.oliver@ozemail.com.au
Katrina went deaf around age 4 due to Meningitis. She had Cochlear Implant in her late 20's and 8 years later in 2006 had a second implant making her the 1st bi-lateral implantee in South Australia.
Read Katrina's bi-lateral Switch on Diary
"I was a normal happy go lucky little girl until I was 4 years old when my life changed completely by contracting meningitis in December 1974. Gone was my life as I knew it, only to be replaced by a world of silence.
"My earliest memory was of throwing a portable record player across the room because I could not hear my favourite Disney stories which I so loved. My hearing loss at this stage was severe in both ears, and between the time of going deaf and receiving my hearing aids my speech started to slip. It was only by chance when my mother was reading a magazine she read about Dr Shepard and his speech methods that I got my speech back on track - we spent hours and hours practising each and every letter by feel.
"I was fitted with two pocket hearing aids, and poor mum had to spend a lot of time redesigning my wardrobe so my pocket aids would fit on the front of my dresses, shirts, jackets etc. I really grew to hate those dreaded pocket hearing aids!
"In 1975 I started to normal mainstream school, which was as much a difficult time for me as it was for the teachers. I was one of the first hearing impaired children to attend a mainstream school in South Australia and the teachers had yet to learn how to deal with the problems of me not hearing everything that went on. Unfortunately, I have to say not many of them were very sympathetic or understanding of my situation. These days teachers are so much better educated and understanding of children with special needs.
"I struggled through my early years at school; I wasn't at the bottom of the class; I just had to make sure I sat at the front all the time so I could see (lip read) what the teacher was saying, but once she turned to the blackboard or turned her face away, I would miss it all.
"My hearing gradually deteriorated and in 1978 for no reason the remaining hearing in my left ear went completely. At the same time I lost a little more in my right ear and was now classified as profoundly deaf. Playing in the school yard was often filled with the kids' taunts of 'deaf head', 'dumbo', 'deafy'. The kids played whispering games which I could not be included in because I had lost my ability to listen. Sometimes they simply didn't want to play with me because I was 'different'. More often than not I went home from school very, very frustrated. I would scream at my family for no reason and spent a lot of my time reading books isolated in my own little world as I knew it.
"But I hated being deaf - absolutely hated it and always daydreamed about "what-if I could hear" or "if only this hadn't happened to me".
I hated being deaf and tried to hide my hearing loss.
"During 1985 my dad was sent to America with his work for 4 months and we were allowed to travel with him. It was such a fun experience, I even attended a Senior High School in Michigan and was in 10th grade, but I kept a HUGE secret, I did not tell anyone I was deaf . Oh sure the teachers knew, but I really felt so cool, being able to be one of the 'normal' kids. But now looking back I know that people must have thought I was rather weird because they there must have been times I didn't respond when they spoke to me. Or perhaps I slipped up in conversations by saying something wrong or just simply not understanding what had been said. Thinking back, this happened an awful lot, but I used to try and brush it off as the Aussie girl not understanding the Yankee lingo!
"But, all in all I look back at my school days and realise I was not the only one the kids picked on, and I am quite proud of what I managed to achieve at school. I finished Year 11 in 1986 with one or two A grades, and a few B grades, but it was only through sheer hard work and determination that I achieved such good results. I also came to the realisation that I had to work a whole lot harder than the average person to get to where I wanted to go, just to make up for what I didn't have.
"Finding a job was extremely difficult! I worked at my local department store while I was still at school, but was placed out the back in the garment hanging area because my hearing was an issue. I also attended Business College once I finished Year 11, and on completion went looking for a job. I attended hundreds of interviews which always went really well, I was just what they were looking for, until I mentioned my hearing loss and you could really see the dismay on their faces. I couldn't use the phone and that was one of the main forms of communication in offices in the late 1980's - way before email!
"I finally got a job; well shall I say a 'special placement position' within the State Public Service. I was an archivist and would go through stacks of files everyday - very boring and monotonous, not what I had envisaged for myself at all. One of my supervisors realised I was not 'deaf and dumb' just hearing impaired and gradually gave me other more challenging tasks - which I did to the best of my ability. I soon developed a reputation as a reliable, and dependable worker (I just couldn't use the phone, or take minutes of meetings and over the years I worked my way up to become a supervisor in my area.
"I became the boss's favourite: always there, always on time, always meticulous and by working so hard to make up for not being able to use the phone, actually dug a huge hole for myself. It was always Katrina will do this or Katrina will do that. I started applying for a other jobs within the public service to better myself, but was always knocked back when my hearing issue was raised. It didn't help when my boss said I shouldn't apply for 'that' job because they wouldn't employ me because of my deafness. (Discrimination wasn't yet against the law!)
"So I pretty much gave up after that, although I did manage to get a job in another area of the Public Service. However, was for only 3 months and I found this position was a real shock to my system. The work was easy and no demands were placed on me like they were in my previous position, but alas once my three months were up I had to return. However, since I had now married and was pregnant I ended up leaving on maternity leave anyway.
"I always considered myself a bit of a tough nut/tomboy and as I hit my late teens I really wanted to be a jillaroo. My parents always used to take me and my brother on caravanning trips around Australia and later they got a 4WD and we experienced lots of camping adventures. I also wanted to join the Army or the Police Force but I was barred because of my hearing loss.
"But I really did want to experience outback life and so during my time as an archivist in the State Public Service I managed to get some 'leave without pay' and I took up an opportunity to become a jillaroo on an outback cattle station. What a life - riding horses all day chasing the cattle and bringing them into the stockyards, camp cooking, driving the chuck wagon and those wonderful wide open spaces.
"There was one serious problem I encountered during this adventure. When I sat around the campfire at night with the stockmen there were no lights. This meant I was unable to lip-read and therefore would miss out on the discussions for the next day and what was going on. I also couldn't use the two way radio - so being more of a hindrance than a respected co-worker I had to leave when my time was up. I really hated leaving and felt defeated. I could think of nothing worse than going back to work as an archivist.
"When you're deaf, meeting guys was an interesting challenge. A lot of them didn't want to know me because they didn't have the patience to repeat themselves when I didn't hear or understand. It was also pretty hard on them when they had to talk to my mum on the phone because they wanted to organise a date. This was a real turn-off. (SMS came a bit late for me).
I got lucky and met my husband Scott
"But I got lucky. I met my husband Scott in a pub in August at a stage in my life when I was profoundly deaf. I wore a very powerful hearing aid in my right ear but the only benefit it provided to me was noise. My situation was something Scott (and his family) had never encountered. I was 25 and Scott was 28. But being a special man, he was very patient, he didn't mind repeating what he'd said and he was quite happy to keep a trim and short beard simply because there was absolutely no way I could lip-read him with a big bushy beard.
"In 1998 after much consideration, and consultation with my wonderful ear specialist at the time, Dr John Rice, I decided to have a Cochlear Implant. I still did not really believe it would do anything for me, but I was willing to 'give it a go' as I wanted to better myself and realised if I wanted a family of my own one day I had to try and improve my hearing.
"My operation was in February 1998 and Dr Rice implanted my completely deaf left ear with the Nucleus 24 implant. My processor was activated (switched on) at the Cora Barclay Centre by Robyn Shakes in March.
"From the outset, it was absolutely amazing, I could not believe what I was hearing, by week 4 I refused to wear the hearing aid in my right ear because already I was hearing more with my implant. I was so glad to put the annoying, whistling, beeping hearing aid to rest!! Within 10 weeks I was talking on the phone - something I had never done, I could listen to my partner Scott, without having to look at him - it was just unbelievable, life was certainly looking up.
"Scott and I announced our engagement in December that year, were married in May of 1999 and our first child, Reece, came along on March 2000 (he was our honeymoon baby)! Then Ryan our second was born in September, 2001. Can you imagine the joy of hearing my babies cry?
"Having the one implant really opened up my world. I am actively involved at my boys' school; I help out with reading. Prior to having my implant I could never have heard the children read, let alone understand what they said as little kids don't move their mouths or say their words correctly.
Being a Mum is so important to me and I want to hear where my boys are
"As a mother, my implant has helped me communicate with my children - I am able to hear them when they call, I am able to listen to what they are doing or may be up to, they are able to tell me their needs/wants and most importantly I am able to hear them tell me all about their day.
"Over the last 18 months I have been hearing about bilateral cochlear implants and my interest intensified. I needed to know more! I met with a bilateral implantee over a coffee earlier this year and was so interested and impressed to hear how that person did with two implants versus just one. So my reasons for going bilateral are to improve my hearing from 'mono' (or one-sided sound) to 'stereo' (or both sides) sound! I am hoping the outcome will result in better discrimination when I'm in background noise, finding social settings easier, localising sound better (rather than trying to identify which direction it is coming from), and not having to twist around I will always are hearing with the other processor until such time as I can replace the batteries.
"I met with my current Ear Specialist Dr Robert Morrissey and the wonderful audiologists at the South Australian Cochlear Implant Centre (SACIC) and we explored and discussed the benefits a bilateral implant could do for me. Given that research has demonstrated significant improvement for hearing and communicating with a bilateral implant I feel I have nothing to lose but everything to gain.
"The surgery for the second cochlear implant was performed on the 5th October, 2006 and on Monday 6th November 2006, my second processor was activited at SACIC. I became the first elective bilateral cochlear implant recipient in South Australia to be able to hear with two ears and hopefully enjoy the many benefits of "stereo" sound.
"Now both my children in school I look forward to returning to the workforce with more confidence than ever before.
"In September 2006 I was invited to become an advocate for Cochlear, and I have become part of the Cochlear Awareness Network, which aims to let people know about the benefits a cochlear implant for potential recipients by simply telling our stories."
Other articles by Katrina:
- Mum hears her boys at last - in Stereo The Advertiser 7/11/06
- Bi-lateral Cochlear Implant Better Hearing March 2007