I'm Ellen and was diagnosed with otosclerosis at 26 years old. Now at 55, I'm excited I received the Nucleus 5 as my first implant. My loss has been gradual in both ears and although aides have kept me wonderfully attached to the world I've slowly lost the ability to enjoy many things.

I'm incredibly anxious to enjoy understanding my 3 young grandchildren talk with me, to hear the birds and nature when my husband and I walk our dogs and hike, sing in the church choir, and converse more easily on the phone with family and friends. This new device will re-open my work world as well, to comfortably engaging in conference and phone calls, business meetings and I can regain my confidence that I once had in business settings.

I was fortunate enough to receive the new Nucleus 5 technology on 9/10/09 and just received my second implant (8/19/10) so am now bilateral. I was activated on 9/9/10 and am overwhelmed by the enhancement in speech discrimination, hearing in noise and overall quality of hearing with two ears. I never expected to see this much improvement.

After a year working for Cochlear Americas as a consumer marketing manager, I am now looking forward to a career change. I'm committed to helping others learn how to improve their lives by addressing their hearing loss and experiencing the ability to renew their lives through cochlear implantation.

P.S. I grew up in Oklahoma and am now a Colorado transplant.