Hi, I am 34 yrs old, married, but no children yet, unless you count my now retired hearing dog Reebok.  I initially lost my hearing at the age of 20 quite suddenly.  I became ill and over the course of a day or so, it was gone.  I was fitted for BTE aids, but wore the right aid for a very short time.  I was told that eventually the left ear would continue to decline also.  At the time all this was happening, I was attending university as a music major.  I did learn a few things along the way.  I had had issues with my hearing for years, but it went undiagnosed, as due to my music skills, I compensensated very well.  Hey, I thought it was normal that there were some people when talking, regardless of volume, you just couldn't hear them! LOL  I also found out that I had the skills to lipread.  I had been doing it for years.  What luck, as it turns out I was really going to need this skill in the upcoming years. 

 

Instead of devices, we along with Key Companions service dogs, trained my best buddy.  I think she may still be the smallest service dog in Canada.  She's a Shih Tzu, weighing 8lbs, named Reebok.  She is now retired as she will be 15 in Dec, and ironically enough going deaf!  I have included a pic of her. 

 

I had my first cochlear implant Oct 30/08 on the right ear.  It was a Med-El device.  Unfortunately, we encountered facial stimulation issues.  I have sounds, but no speech recognition.  As we have had to turn off electrodes and keep the volume low to keep the stimulation issues minimal, I will probably never have speech discrimination.  After much deliberation, we decided to try the left side as the hearing had deteriorated by this point.  Since I live Canada, getting one cochlear is a long waiting list.  Having the option to possibly try again, is nearly unheard of.  I had a choice of using the Med-El device again, or trying the new Nucleus 5.  I decided to try the Nucleus.  I was given a 50-50 chance that the stimulation issues would happen again.  I decided to try and hope and pray for the best.  At worst, I would have bilat hearing, which should help me determine where sounds are coming from.  I had my second surgery June 3/10.  Watch my blog for updates!