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About 15 or 20 years ago, I noticed a sudden decline in my ability to hear with my right ear. A couple of years later the situation again suddenly declined to the point that my right side hearing was drastically impaired. Hearing tests confirmed that I had lost substantially all hearing on the right side. I tried, unsuccessfully, to use several types of hearing aids. None of them helped to any degree. I thought I was adequately compensating to “get by” in handling this problem by turning my head to the right so that my left ear could more adequately hear the voices of people to my right.
As a transactional attorney, I spend a great deal of my time in meetings and invariably one or more people are seated to my right. One day I finally realized that I had reached the point where I was turning my body 90 degrees with my back to whomever was seated to my left in order to hear those people on the right and I was using the words “What did you say?” too many times each day.
With the assistance of my internist and a helpful ENT specialist, I learned that someone at KU Medical Center was utilizing a relatively new device to help people with my problem – I had sustained severe damage to the cochlear nerve which enables the brain to receive sound messages from the body’s hearing apparatus. I met with the audiologist staff and Dr. Ator, who sampled the external Baha test apparatus and was amazed at the result.
After many months of considering the cost, the fact that I would have a screw permanently inserted into my skull and knowing I would wear a little box attached to this screw, common sense prevailed and I scheduled the surgery. I survived 3 months of wondering if time would ever pass and if it was all going to be worth it in the end. The time passed, the little box was attached to the screw and I began to truly enjoy life once again. I am now happy that the daily frustration of struggling to hear is gone.
My hearing is not what it was when I was in my 20’s but I’m many years older than that now. However, “What did you say?” is no longer a part of my everyday vocabulary and I can participate in client meetings and negotiations without twisting my body almost in a circle. I can enjoy a movie or play wherever I am seated in the theater and conduct a conversation in a restaurant. It works and it is wonderful. I can sum it all up best by recalling that the day the device was attached to the implant. As I made my way down from the ENT Department to the front door of the KU Medical Center I noticed that almost everyone seemed to be smiling at me. I looked around for a sign proclaiming that it was “Greet everyone with a smile” day, only to realize that people were merely returning the huge grin I had on my face as I was able to enjoy the simple act of walking down a hallway and hearing 360° of the everyday sounds of life.
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