Lindsey's Story

Hi! My name is Lindsey Wilmshurst and I’m 15 years old. When I was 2 years old, I went from mild to moderate deafness To profoundly deaf (which I am now). The doctors didn’t really know why I suddenly went deaf and why it was getting worst, so they put it down to bad genes in my mum and dad that was passed on to me. I wore hearing aids in each ear, which were very helpful.

I remember hearing well with my hearing aids when I was little. I didn’t lipread like I did when I was getting deafer as I grew up. I didn’t have to have subtitles on the television like I do now, and I could even hear on the phone.

It all changed though as the years went by. My hearing gradually went down, and I had to get stronger hearing aids.

Where it went wrong

Even though my hearing continued to go down it never really bothered me. I would just turn my volume up even louder. BUt soon the volume was to level 4m where it couldn’t go any higher. I must admit, it was depressing, but I didn’t let it get to me.

I don’t remeber hearing background noises when I was little, but I know I had through my family. I heard less and less noises in the backgroud, until it all became forgotten.

Me and my mum started thinking about cochlear implants because my friends have them and say they’re brilliant. Even though I had loads of postitive views of the cochlear implant from people, I didn’t really feel that it would help me. I didn’t encourage the idea to go further, as I didn’t exactly think I wanted to have one.

The sudden loss

I’ll never forget Year 9 at Neville Lovett School (2002-2003). It was a year I will never forget. It was the worst year of my life. It wasn’t school or my mates or anything, it was my hearing.

In February 2003, I had a dizzy attack in my classroom. Everything looked like jelly and was spinning around. I couldn’t hear my friend talking to me. All I could hear was this horrible noise!

This, later found out, was due to fluid imbalances in my ear. In plain English that means sound makes me dizzy. How unfair was that? sound in my right ear made me dizzy. So I had to stop wearing that hearing aid. My hearing wasn’t that good anyway, now I only had one hearing aid to rely on and it made me feel alittle depressed.

4 months later, just as I was getting back on track with very poor hearing in just my left ear, just as I was learning how to cope with hearing voices only, I had another dizzy attack. This time in my left ear.

I cannot describe the 6 months I went through hearing absalutly nothing. I had to lipread 100%. Luckily, I’m a good lipreader, so as long as the person faced me, I could make out what he was saying. But it was tiring having to concentrate on lipreading, so I gave up lipreading in the end.

Helping Me Hear Again

I was given some serc tablets to help control the fluid in my inner ear and after 6 months of not hearing-( I’d even gone on a week long holiday in those 6 months) I began to try my left hearing aid again. It was horrible. I’d go dizzy, and it sounded so horrible that I couldn’t stand it. But I was determined to hear again, even if it was only a little bit!

After 3 long weeks, I was so happy, I could hear!! Only voices of course, but I was out of the silent world.The tablets didnt help my right ear though and I was never able to wear a hearing aid in that ear again.

Because I was scared of getting dizzy again and having to go through that very depressing time, I turned to cochlear implants.

I knew I wouldn’t hear everything as much as I wanted to, but at least I’d hear more than I did.

Me and my mum saw Huw Thomas- A man who has been in my life since I was 2.

I had loads of tests! Some were dull, some were quick, some were long, but most of them were really interesting! These tests were to see if I was suitable for a cochlear implant.

I missed alot of school, so it was a good thing I started it when I was in year 9 and year 10, and I wasn’t starting my GCSE’s like I am now!

My mum, being the mother she is, looked into as much information she could on cochlear implants. Me? I didn’t need to ‘study’ like my mum was doing, I knew what I needed to know- and it was all from this website>>> www.ci-4teenz.com

The Operation (2004)

I was so shocked when in March I was told that I’d have my operation on the 28th May. That was 2 months away. It was so soon!

I didn’t feel scared or nervous. I felt worried. I wasn’t worried about the operation, I was worried about the tune-in. I didn’t think I’d like the sound. Thought I’d never keep it on and it would take me months to get used to it. I remembered how I’d gone throught weeks of agony trying to wear my hearing aid again.

I went into the hospital Thursday 27th. I was getting cold feet, and kept thinking that I wouldn’t like the implant. But when the nurses warned us that the operation might not go ahead due to shortage of beds, I suddenly relised that I really wanted it. I wasn’t gonna let this chance slip away from me, not after all those years of not hearing other than voices, not after all those months of tests. Noway.

I was pleased that the nurse who was lookin after me, Heather (she’s insane I tell you!), put thumbs-up when I woke up! It was GOING AHEAD!

They gave me a gown to put on and asked me health questions (Which I let my mum answer). Soon we were on our way to the operation room…

My mum had to put on the gown and hat things that the doctors wear during the operation. While my mum was worrying about me, I was wishing I had a cambra! My mum looked hilarious!

About 10 minutes later I layed on a bed while some liquid was put in the blue block on my hand. I didn’t even feel it going in. I had a gas mask on…….

I don’t remember anything actually. I can’t even remember closing my eyes. All I remember seeing is my mum standing there holding my slippers.

When I woke up I was lying on my size and someone was holding my hand. I was scared they’d operate when I wasn’t properly asleep. I tried to keep my eyelids open but they were so so heavy(I didn’nt know the op was over)

I managed to keep them open for long enough to see the nurse (who was the person who was holding my hand) mouth that it was over. It was so wierd, because 6 hours had passed, and it felt like I had blinked.

I was sooooo tired, and I kept falling into deep sleeps on and off. My nan was there, and Sarie Cross too. I couldn’t lift my bandaged head, as it felt so heavy. Sarie gave me a kowala bear, and I was trying to keep my eyes open to say thank you and look at it properly.

At the end of that day, when my visitors had gone home and it was just me and mum, I was up and about! I sat up, holding my head in both hands as it was so heavy. And after that, I was feeling alot more like me!

It was great in the hospital. I loved the staff, they were so caring and funny. I even got a subtitled TV with DVD! Specially!

When I had the bandage off, I was so scared that I’d go dizzy and it’d hurt. BUt I was shocked that it didn’t do anything, it just released the pressure off my ear, which had been killing me!

It was absalutly fine, the only problem was that it had made my hair stick up the rest of the visit! There was a cute guy in the bed opposite ya know!

The operation was a massive success. I loved the stay, it was alot less scary then I thought it’d be. The only thing I didn’t like about it was the food. Blech. How disgusting. Smells and tastes gross!

The Tune-in

I continued to wear my left hearing aid after the operation. But the 28th June was drawing near !! That was my first ever tune-in. When it was first placed upon my head it felt so weird. The coil was flat against my head, it felt like a force was pulling it to my head! I was so shocked. But I was more shocked when it was switched on…. it was like hearing a loud deep PING and I jumped!!. My mum and sarie were talking and it sounded like they were beeping. It was beep -talking. The sound wasn’t unbearable, so I continued to wear it. It gave me a headache though. Every sound would cause my brain to thump. I wore my hearing aid with it too. Half way through the tune-in’s, I was begining to like it. Everyone sounded half robotic and half normal (the normal part was because of my hearing aid) The fact that I have my hearing aid made it easier for me to get used to the sounds.

I kept wanting the processor, 1 and 2 maps to be turned louder!! I’d go ‘louder’ louder” heehee!

After about a month, I’d been wondering if the robotic sound would ever sound normal to me, soon it did. The tune-ins have finished for now, and I can hear so much that its unbelievable.

ME NOW

Its mid- August now, and I’ve had my implant for 7 weeks. Its so amazing. Everyday i’d hear everyday noises I never knew existed before. Absolutely everything you can think of -I hear it. I hear things far away, I hear the tiniest sound.I’m so happy, you’d never know the way I feel until you experience it too. Whenever I hear a sound, I always investigate. I look around and see whats moving/switched on etc, I stop what i’m doing (like opening a bag of crisp) then if the sound stops too I know its the sound of my crisp packet making the noise, so the next time I hear that sound I recognise it straight away.

Some new sounds can be alittle scary too on first hearing them, like the time I sprayed myself with deodarent, I heard this loud hissing noise and it frightened me so much I ran out of my bedroom, when I told my mum she laughed and said it was the sound of my deodarent, It’s now became her favourite story to tell and one of her best memories of my new life with a cochlear implant.I like to distinguish the sounds I used to hear with only my hearing aid to now with my implant, I hear sounds like the rain on the window, then I pull the coil away from my head and the sound stops, when I replace the coil.

I HEAR AGAIN!!

My cochlear implant makes me realise what I’ve missed from the world. I’ve missed so much background noise. My wishes were to (1) hear the birds, (2) hear people without lipreading- which also means hearing on the telephone. While out walking with my family I heard the traffic lights beeping to let people know it was safe to walk across the road, then i heard the stones crunching under my feet as I walked along the beach, then I heard this awful sound above me “ee ee ee” It was SEAGULLS, I HEARD THE BIRDS!!. I was so over the moon! at that moment, surrounded by the sounds – the crashing of the waves on the beach, the sound of the seagulls, people laughing and the stones beneath my feet- that was the moment when I realised I loved my cochlear implant so much. And as for my second wish, i’m getting there. I hear sentences without lipreading. Each day the sentences get longer.

Having to change the batteries every couple of days don’t bother me, and do you know why? Because I can still hear a little with my hearing aid, so to me, sound doesn’t stop background noise does.(Its a pain having to take of my processor in the rain or when I,m swimming though). I think I’m lucky really having both a cochlear and a hearing aid because I get to do loads of activities for hearing aid people and loads of activities for cochlear implant people. Plus, I can see from hearing aid people’s point of view as well as cochlear implant peoples point of view.

And do you know what? cochlear implants beat hearing aids by miles.

If anyone took my implant away from me I’d be really really upset. Its the best thing I’ve ever had given to me.

I’m glad I had it. My only regret is, that I wasn’t offered it sooner.

I NEVER KNEW IT WAS SUCH A NOISY WORLD…………

By Lindsey Wilmshurst, aged 15,

28/8/04.