Cochlear Implant Success!

Dale Henry

Our son has now had his cochlear implant for three months and the results are outstanding.

Born with a severe to profound hearing loss that was bilateral ie, one ear heard loud sounds, the other quieter sounds, he had struggled for years to communicate effectively in high noise environments eg, hotels.

He wore two hearing aids from the age of nine months, both of which gave him a very minimal level of hearing, but it was sufficient to enable him to communicate using lip-reading and the little bit he got from his hearing aids.

Fortunately, he was able to struggle through school gaining a good grounding in mathematics, computing, and English. 

But, over the years, the hearing in his right ear weakened, and eventually even with hearing aids, he couldn't hear.

His cochlear implant was fitted at the Royal Darwin Hospital ENT Department on 2 March 2020 and the outcome has been far better than anticipated. For a considerable time, he had not been able to communicate via telephone or mobile phone but several months after his implant, we can now talk on the mobile and use Facetime.

It's a wonderful outcome for which we are very grateful.

When you are hearing impaired and wear hearing aids, people expect you to be able to communicate normally as though the hearing aid resolves the problem. But unfortunately, that's not the case.

Hearing aids simply amplify sound. All sound. 

Our son's quality of life has now improved substantially because he can communicate almost normally, something we all take for granted.

To the designer of the cochlear implant, Cochlear Australia  and the Australian and Northern Territory Governments who made this implant possible, plus the medical and audiology staff, we say a heartfelt thankyou.

My son's cochlear implant

My son Dale was born hearing impaired because his mother, a midwife, picked up a German Measles infection while she was pregnant.

The prevailing medical wisdom in the mid-70s was that if you have already had the measles, you wouldn't get them again. Either my wife was misdiagnosed when she had a measles infection during her teen years, or the prevailing wisdom was incorrect.

Whatever the case, at 9 months of age, Dale was fitted with two hearing aids and despite a profound hearing impairment, managed to learn to read and write and communicate reasonably well with the help of many wonderful people.

During the last decade, one ear, the one with the implant, lost all of its hearing. Even his hearing aid didn't make the situation any better.

We heard about cochlear implants and with his sister's encouragement, convinced Dale to get an implant to see if any improvement could be made.

Recently Dale, me and my wife drove from Alice Springs (Central Australia) to Darwin to get the implant surgery. The photo herein shows Dale with the implant.

Inside his head a surgeon implanted the internal component with 22 electrodes that go into his cochlear. The external fitment has a magnet that attaches to the internal component.

It's several weeks since Dale had his implant and now he can hear noises he hasn't heard for decades: birds singing, the whirr of his DVD in his DVD reader, his feet making a noise on gravel. Soon, once his brain becomes accustomed to language sounds again, he may be able to use a phone for the first time in years.

By all measures, the implant has been a remarkable success and will be life-changing for Dale.

We are so fortunate to live in a country with an excellent medical system and numerous dedicated surgeons, nurses, and audiologists.