I've known about cochlear implants for several years from reading the Pacific Northwest Cochlear Implant Club newsletters and other sources but seriously didn't consider getting one until last fall. I thought I did fairly well (most of the time) with my two Widex hearing aids, using speechreading skills, coping skills and communication strategies. However, friends and family noticed I was having more and more difficulty understanding them. I was evaluated in November of last year and tested at a score of 6%. Boy, what a surprise. I forgot how much I was "seeing" speech, not hearing it.

After doing a whole lot of research, soul-searching and networking with other implantees, I decided to take the leap and scheduled my surgery for February 2. This was later pushed back to February 9th. My surgery was performed by Dr. Sean McMenomey of Oregon Health Sciences University at St. Vincent's Hospital in Beaverton, Oregon. I choose to be implanted with the Nucleus 24.

The surgery took about 3 hours and I ended up staying overnight after feeling a bit nauseous and dizzy (I'm a lightweight with anesthesia). I went home the next day and spent that weekend resting and feeling pretty comfortable. My friends and family were very supportive which really made a difference in my speedy recovery.

March 8th was the *big H* day (hookup!) and one I will never forget. I was excited and hopeful and a bit apprehensive - all at the same time! My audiologist, Dr. Don Plapinger (also of Oregon Health Sciences University) explained the process of the mapping, created a program for me and then turned on my processor for the first time. He said "can you hear me?" in an incredibly high-pitched & squeaky voice (think Munchkins on helium). I then spent the next 2 days learning to identify new sounds - which came through in the form of beeps, whistles and chirps. Wow! Does it sound *normal*? NO! Was I excited? YES!

Although I wasn't understanding people's voices, I was having fun with each new discovery of the day. Imagine tap-dancing on the floor, switching the lights on & off, testing all of the timers/buzzers in my house - it's like being a 5-year old kid again!

A few weeks ago, I was feeling a little less than positive - part of this was due to my need to learn PATIENCE as in "How come I'm not understanding speech that well? It's already been TWO weeks!!". Along with my own impatience, I was dealing with well-intended comments from people who were puzzled by my inability to understand them better with a cochlear implant in comparison to my hearing aids. I experienced feelings of needing to "perform". I've worked through this by getting clear with myself and others about the progress I AM making - small, but sure and that I needed to focus on the long-term goal to better hearing by recognizing and celebrating the "baby" steps.

I will have my 3rd mapping on the 14th so a lot can still happen before then. In the meantime, I've discovered sanding wood sounds like I'm playing a violin, I can hear the second hand of a clock ticking and my comb as it goes through my hair (giving new meaning to the saying "squeaky clean" (grinning). The few things I've found that makes me want to climb the walls are the sounds of plastic bags being crumpled and running water. Yikes!

Our 5 year old daughter McKenzie was implanted with the Nucleus 24 by Dr. Sean McMenomey at OHSU. Her surgery went very fast and no problems. She has healed beautifully. McKenzie's implant was activated on January 10, 2000 by her audiologist at Tucker Maxon Oral school.

That very fist day, after three maps were set, she wanted to show her classmates her implant. Her teacher took her a very noisy classroom and she just stood there in the middle of the kids with a huge smile on her face and lifted her hair so everyone could see, all of the noise did not seem to bother her. That night at home she would giggle at the different sounds she was hearing, in particular, slurping from a cup. This brought tears to our eyes. It is now April and she has had the implant for almost three months. Her speech is changing, she is saying sounds that she could not identify with her hearing aids. Her language is also expanding at a fast rate. McKenzie can hear us outside when we call her name. She is constantly asking us to tell us what she hears as there are so many sounds she is hearing for the very first time. This experience has been so much more than we ever imagined. McKenzie has started to DANCE TO MUSIC! Before the implant she would cover her ears and tell me to turn it off. We are so thankful and thrilled, our little girl is happy.

Enjoying Clarion
By Ed Donnelly, Portland, OR

I was implanted in November by Dr. Sean McMenomey. There was nothing to it. But coming out of recovery, I was dizzy for a couple of days. After that there was no problems and I had no pain. I have just had my third mapping and have received some improvements. I told Sherry Dickie at OHSU that I was standing by a counter reading the paper and started hearing a noise behind me. "What the hell is that?" A machine was printing out a credit card slip. What a surprise and there were a lot more to come! The name of the game is "patience." My CI is the Clarion S-series. I hope to use the phone again and would like some advice on the type of cell phone to get. It is a mystery to me after all these years. By the way, I am 64 years old and very active. I had to get a stronger magnet. I received your phone letter from Sherry Dickie. Thanks for any help you can give about the Cell phone. [Editor's note: There are few things I get more questions on than the cell phone. It seems everyone wants one. Also apparently the rates are much cheaper by using the digital over the analog. See story by Emily Mandelbaum. Hers is not the answer - it is the beginning in search for the answer. If you are using a cell phone regularly, please advise if it is analog or digital and the accessory you are using to patch into your implant. Also advise the type of implant you have as the patch cord for one, might not be the patch cord for all. Some do use a cell phone direct with their implant, but from my mail, most implant users prefer to use a patch cord..]

Five Year Old Girl Receives Clarion
By Michelle Welch, Bend, OR

Our daughter Riley was born profoundly deaf and yet it took 15 months until we were aware of this. She was such a happy, content baby just as our son. So why would my husband nor I think she was any different? But then we started noticing little things like how loud she was when she babbled or that she was not walking after her first birthday or that on the 4th of July we were able to put her to bed with 50 people at our home and fireworks galore. We thought "that's our good girl".

After Riley was diagnosed, she was fitted immediately with BTE aids and we even learned some sign language. After 6 months we decided to go strictly oral due to the notion that she only had a "moderate to severe" hearing loss and she was gaining wonderfully with her aids. The next year was so very difficult. Our happy content toddler was a ball of frustration and our household was disrupted many times a day with temper tantrums. All along though, her audiogram stayed the same at about a 30-35 dB loss across the board .

The next year we started "Total Communication" again and Riley just flourished. She religiously wore her hearing aids and sign language was so natural to her. Still in the back of our minds we were wondering "why don't we see her responding to our voices"? Or why is her audiogram scoring high, yet she can't even hear a car horn honk?

When Riley turned 4 we had yet another audiogram done with her regular audiologist. Then 3 weeks later we went to OHSU (Oregon Health Sciences University) Portland, OR. for a second opinion, finally! Much to our surprise Riley basically didn't have an audiogram. She was down into the 90's and that is when we came to the realization that our daughter Riley was born with a Profound Hearing Loss.

On the way home, Riley's grandmother cried as her heart was broken, but I, her mother, was so relieved because I just knew deep down inside that Riley was listening - it was that she could not hear. This news opened the door to so many things.

Right away we were told of the Cochlear Implant and how Riley was a perfect candidate. We did our homework, called other families with an implanted child. We heard great news from them and also heard of some downfalls. We were very aware of the controversy with this device and the deaf community. We were especially concerned about this matter because Riley really had mastered sign language in her short 4 years. We endured the long testing with the psychologists and with the many trips over the mountains. Phone calls to Don Plapinger her audiologist and waiting for the insurance approval which was the longest 2 weeks of our lives. With the ball in our court, Riley was set to be implanted on Sept. 23 , 1998.

The surgery was performed by Dr. Sean McMenomey at Doernbechers Hospital in Portland, Oregon. She was implanted with a Clarion S series. Everything surgery wise was a success, with full insertion and minimal stitching. Riley was very upset with her Dad and I though. She laid in that hospital bed for 2 days hardly opening her eyes. When she did it was a look like "why did you do this to me"?? that about killed us.

Riley was all hooked up on October 30, 1998 by Don Plapinger. I can't even express what a miracle it has all been. Our daughter CAN HEAR NOW!! I can't tell you how many times a day she will sign to us {What's that sound}? We have to beat her to the phone when it rings, because she wants to answer it. She hears her name being called down the hall probably to answer our wrath, due to the stubborn independent side of her. Her speech sessions always prove great strides in her awareness of the speech around her. Although we still use sign language with her our hope is to start fading it out slowly after the new year.

We just recently had another audiogram done and she was at 30-35 dB, imagine that!! That was a result we can trust. We often wonder about the quality of Riley's speech and whether she will believe enough in herself to use it in the public. Knowing our daughter though, she will continue to move full force ahead and cross these barriers with minimal thought. As her parents, giving her the implant has enabled her to travel any path desired, with all of the tools of speech, hearing and sign language. I am somewhat troubled though by the fact that summer is here and we are constantly outside in the water, at the park and enjoying all the things that make summer fun for kids. She isn't able to wear her processor during many of these times and we are worried this may hinder some of the progress she has made in these early months. I sure would be very appreciative of any and all advice, also we are struggling still with comfortable way for her to wear her hardware. We have tried the harness. Yet she does not like the feel of it on her bare skin under her clothes. We have been also wearing a fanny pack, but many times a day her head piece is coming off because of the distance of the wire from the processor to her head. She also feels the need to take the fanny pack off completely when she uses the rest room. All advice graciously welcome there too. Just last month Riley had her 4th mapping and it was the best one yet. She was right on cue and knew what was expected of her. We are all looking forward to Riley starting kindergarten in the fall and feel she will do wonderful with all her typical peers, using tons of spoken language. We will keep you posted and thank you for providing such a great resource. We look forward to each and every publication.