The following quotes are from adult cochlear implant recipients served at the Boys Town National Research Hospital Cochlear Implant Center:
After 40 years of normal hearing, I suddenly lost my hearing. My family and I had a difficult year until I was able to have a cochlear implant at Boys Town Hospital. Dr. Harker and the staff were wonderful.
I had my cochlear implant in September 2001. I am so glad to be able to hear again, but I am now hearing sounds I never heard before I lost my hearing completely in 1986. It is an amazing adventure into the world of sounds. Music is so delightful. I started listening to oldies I had liked when I was young and hearing, but now find I like classical, too! I am sure I will always find new sounds that I never suspected like ‘walking on a carpet’! The first time I heard car tires on a paved street I was in awe about how noisy they were.
Losing my hearing at age 62 was devastating. The opportunity to receive an implant within six months of loss provided me a new lease on life, and I feel so blessed to be able [to] hear as well as I do. Everyone at Boys Town is like family and have taken very good care of me. Also, Clarion has provided me with excellent services in ordering parts. Always very helpful and understanding.
It has been neat to talk to my wife without her yelling at me. The changes in my life [have] truly been amazing. I didn’t realize how many sounds I was not able to hear.
After 10 years of total deafness in my right ear as a result of bilateral Meniere’s disease, my cochlear implant essentially restored my ability to hear and communicate. I heard and understood speech from the moment the external processor was turned on and was surprised and relieved that the sound and speech sounded very normal, not synthesized or artificial. I know that I will not be totally “silent” as my hearing in my left ear continues to dissipate. This is truly a life altering event which I would strongly recommend to others who are deaf or who have lost hearing which is not restorable with conventional hearing aids. The staff at Boys Town were wonderful throughout the process and continue to be very supportive as I adapt to my implant.
…It was the most wonderful feeling inside and happiness to experience – hearing all to hear. How wonderful [a] cochlear implant is to me!
My cochlear implant has changed my life style in many ways. I can now talk on the telephone like a normal person. Words have much more clarity than hearing aids and I can change a setting and shut some background noise out. It’s wonderful but not as perfect as normal hearing, but I’m blessed to have it. I am amazed of the technology that has helped me so I’m overwhelmed for what that technology has done for children and adults that have never heard.
I am very happy with my cochlear implant. At first it was very hard to get used to it after wearing a hearing aid for about 30 years, but with my clinician’s patient adjustments I am doing a lot better.
The sound of my daughters (at hookup) was priceless! Hearing the little things after 55 years it is beautiful! A pen gliding across the paper, computer keys clicking and the pencil rolling across the table are my first moments of amazement.
