Hearing Loss

As many of you may or may not know, I have hearing loss. I wanted to talk about it today since it's a very important part of my life.

When I was 4 years old my teachers noticed that I wasn't hearing as well so my parents naturally took me to the doctor to get it checked out. They thought that it was just a big mistake and that the doctor's would prove my teachers wrong.

Yea, that didn't happen... I had hearing loss. I was given hearing aids and over the first couple of months everything was fine.

Then, I noticed that I was no longer able to hear out of my left ear. I tried changing the battery and my mom tested my hearing aid to make sure it was working properly, which it was. She had to take me back to the doctor's to get tested again.

What they found out was that I have malformed cochleas. Cochleas are the hearing part of your ear. You're supposed to have 2.5 spins (like a snails shell) and my ears only had one.

My options were to either learn sign language or get a cochlear implant. My parents wanted me to be able to hear them so they chose the cochlear implant. I was then scheduled for surgery with Dr. Young.

I went in for surgery and what was supposed to only take about 3 hours ended up taking 6. I was having fluid come out where it wasn't supposed to and so I ended up having to get a spinal tap. It was not fun at all. I was awake and the doctors were stitching up my back. Not something every parent wants there child to go through exactly.

I was extremely nervous before surgery!

After surgery while I was in recovery.

My Grandmother came to visit me after surgery.

I ended up having a longer recovery to make sure that everything was okay. I just remember asking my mom every day when I could go home.

The ironic part is that even though both of my ears have malformed cochleas only my left ear ever went completely deaf.

Even though the experience wasn't all that great it definitely proved to be a good decision on my parents part. Without having a cochlear implant I would never have been able to improve my speech, vocabulary, or listening skills.

If you have a cochlear implant or may be getting one soon, just know that it really opens up so many more opportunities for you. I can do completely "normal" things like play soccer, go swimming (just be sure to take off your cochlear implant and hearing aids before going into the water!), and most importantly it doesn't interfere with my day to day life. It may be tough in school because you're likely to be the only student to have hearing loss or a cochlear implant, but answer people's questions! It makes it so much easier if your friends and teachers understand what it's like. Encourage people to ask questions about it, it's unique and a part of who you are so why should you be ashamed of it?