Hi Everyone,

By now most of you probably know that I have been honored to be the new Cochlear America Network Manager for the Central Region.I started on June 26,2011. What an exciting two weeks it has been with two trips to Denver. The first week I was in the corporate office for a new employee on-boarding event. This past week was the Customer Care event. It was exciting meeting so many of our Cochlear leaders and employees during the past two weeks. I have never been around so many enthusiastic and sincere people who all love their jobs and how they help others.

I want to thank all of you in the community that have been so supportive and encouraging to me in the past year since my activation on April 4, 2010. Had it not been for all of my community friends I don't think I would have made the decision to have had my CI done last year.By sharing your stories and "paying forward" through your concern and sincere caring about others you not only helped me make a life changing decision but also helped me reach my "dream" job.I have learned so much from all of you as well as from so many of our local volunteers. We as a community have a HUGE impact on so many hearing challenged lives just by sharing awareness.

My goal is to keep sharing my story as well as encouraging more volunteers in our region to get more involved in doing what we all do BEST......... SHARING AWARENESS !!!!!Please reach out where ever you are and share your hearing stories with anyone and everyone .

I have left my original profile below for anyone who would like to read where my CI hearing journey began just a few months ago.What a wonderful year this has been for me and my family.We are all so blessed to have our"magical" ears and need to shout it out so all can hear again.

Thank you all for your friendship. Happy Hearing and Happy Sharing!!

Wayne

Hello everyone,

I have recently joined the Cochlear community as someone who is researching cochlear implants . I have an appointment on 02/25/10 to see if I qualify . I have spent the last couple of weeks reading many of your stories and learning so much from all of them . I no longer feel alone in my hearing challenged world . Here is my story........My name is Wayne P. and am the Dad to three college age sons and the husband to a wonderful wife of 26 years . I am a Floridian by birth but have lived in the mid-west for the past 25 years . I have had hearing loss for as long as I can remember . My family has nerve ending loss on my mother's side of the family. Luckily all (3) of my sons have their Mom's great hearing . I had a very normal (if you can call being raised with (3) sisters normal ) childhood but I knew early in school I needed to sit close to the front of the class to be able to participate . I was active in many sports and school activities and clubs throughout high school . My biggest challenges were hearing in large groups or when someone would try to whisper to me . When I started attending the University of Florida my hearing loss did affect me more . The large auditorium type classes were always the worst but luckily I had friends in the classes who would share their notes with me  . After graduation I just tried to work harder to listen and watched people's body language closely to pick up cues. A few years after college I met Sandy(my wife) who talked me in to seeing an audiologist to have my hearing checked . I was told my right ear (my good ear ) had about 45.0% hearing loss and my left ear about 65.0% loss . The audiologist was amazed I had gone as long as I had without hearing aids. Thus began my life with hearing aids. This was about (30 ) years ago  and after wearing almost every brand and model I am ready to try Cochlear implants. I had been working with my hearing aid specialist for about three months trying to find "new & better" hearing aid when he asked  me to consider Cochlear implants. He even arranged for me to meet a Cochlear Americas' representative in his office to learn all about Cochlear Implants . Needless to say this was a very memorable  meeting and opened my mind to a whole new world of hearing. At this time I have 0.0% comprehension in my left ear and about 30.0% comprehension in my right ear. I hope I can get a CI in my left ear. Last Thursday night Sandy and I attended a Community Awareness meeting hosted by Kara M. in Columbia. This was the first time I had ever met or spoken to anyone with an implant. What an experience it was to talk to a group of people who were able to share their personal experiences with Cochlear Implants and how they have changed their lives.