An Octogenarian's Cochlear Implant Journey: I Can Hear Your Lovely Voice

Millions of people are hearing-impaired. For many older folks, hearing loss is progressive, slowly getting worse, year by year. Hearing aids, which may have provided sufficient help a few years earlier, are of little help. Voices sound muted and muddy; conversation-especially with loved ones--is difficult and frustrating. Understanding anyone over the phone becomes almost impossible. Social events, now a chore and no longer enjoyable, are often avoided. Life is being lived in isolation, alone, and often depressed. That last paragraph describes me several years ago. Even with hearing aids I was close to being totally deaf. But I decided to do something about my unsatisfactory life: At age 81 I got a cochlear implant. I kept a journal as I went through the process: the decision, evaluation, surgery, first days with the implant, and later adjustments in the following months. I now have near-normal hearing. You can read about my problems getting the implant, my initial struggles getting adjusted to it, how it has brought my wife, Joy, and me closer together, and my greater involvement in community affairs. The cochlear implant has changed my life. The American Cochlear Implant Alliance liked what I had written and published it as a blog on their website. They want to emphasize that nobody is too old to get a cochlear implant. By making the blog available as a short e-book on Amazon, they hope, and so do I, that it will be read not only by possible cochlear implant recipients and their spouses, loved ones, and friends, but also by those curious about cochlear implants and want to learn more. Read this book. It may change your life.Bruce Sloane