veronika出生，经常听证会，她的左耳聋了3年半。18年来，她与她单面耳聋生活过，思考她类型的听力损失没有解决方案。在获得21岁的Med-El Cochlear植入物后，Veronika现在无法想象没有它的生活。六年以来，自从她的人工耳蜗植入物以来，改善听力有助于生命的各个方面，从她的工作作为职业治疗师，并在她的初创“Holzspecht”，打钢琴，赶上朋友和家人。这是veronika的十大件事，当她得到她的CI时惊讶她。
1.有这么多的声音。
I will never forget when I went to a cafe right after activation. I took the water glass and placed it on a table—it was on a stone table. I could hear the glass hitting the table. I was almost in tears because I could now hear this with my left ear, which I hadn’t heard anything with for over 18 years. I remember being in the kitchen or my regular surroundings and I would hear something new and become so excited. For example, I would open and close the cupboard five times just because it was so amazing to hear it with my left ear.
2. I was tired quite a lot.
After I got my CI, I started rehabilitation, and had half hour sessions with a hearing professional to learn to hear with my CI. It was exhausting I have to say. After the half hour sessions I was very tired because I tried to concentrate really hard as I wanted to learn as quickly as possible.
3. I didn’t hear all sounds straight away.
I found the activation experience really good because they gradually activated more levels of hearing each visit, so not all frequencies were loud immediately. Because of this, I had time to adapt to each new frequency which was very helpful to me. However at the beginning using metallic cutlery was uncomfortable to me. I initially couldn’t stand it with the CI. So I got together with my MED-EL technician and we looked into how to make it better, which he was able to do for me! I think the fittings are so important and I think the audiologists and technicians do a brilliant job.
4. Electric stimulation and natural hearing go together just fine.
I know that previously there were concerns about whether natural hearing on one side and electric stimulation on the other side can work together. I can only speak for myself, but I found out that for me, they go together nicely. Some sounds, when listening to them only with the CI and without my right ear, do sound different than on my right natural hearing ear. However that does not bother me at all, as when hearing sounds together with both ears it works out nicely. Also I don’t mind the differences from my CI to my natural hearing ear as it even helps me in sound detection and localization, which was impossible before the CI.
5. The importance of fittings.
With using the CI every day and having rehabilitation sessions, my abilities to hear with the CI grew. But I noticed that, in my case, I was hearing metallic noises a lot louder than other sounds. That’s why I got together with MED-EL technicians and we worked on fine-tuning each frequency, especially focusing on high frequencies, so that I would be comfortable also with these sounds. We developed different programs for different hearing situations and I can switch between these programs with a remote and also do fine adjustments within the programs.
When I changed my job, there were swinging doors that were really making a metallic noise. I couldn’t stand that sound so I always had to switch my processor off which is not a good solution. So I got together with my MED-EL technician to adapt a program for the new hearing surroundings and he managed to fix my problem with the swinging doors, which is great! I think CI fittings, the fine-tuning of frequencies, is so very important because that’s what helps you in a lot of different hearing situations and makes them enjoyable.
6. Some things I didn’t realize I was missing out on before.
这么多人认为“哦，你有单面耳聋，你怎么能做所有这一切？”但是我对听力损失做得很好，从而学习了如何睡觉，在其他事情中，如何阅读脑子语言。然而，现在在植入物中，我知道我正在做得更好。
我永远不会用植入留在合唱团中的第一次。我唱Soprano等等，在我的合唱团中，我总是站在右侧。我总是听到另一个声音的部位，因为声音在右边的好耳朵行驶，但声音并不充实。只有当我去合唱团时，我的植入物可以听到我意识到有多少声音，以及合唱团真正的贡献是多么的贡献！我以前一直错过了这一点，并且能够体验现在真的很棒。
当我弹钢琴时，它也会有所不同，因为我现在可以听到更好的是我在左侧所做的事情。当我和他们一起玩时，我也可以更好地听到别人。它改变了我播放音乐的方式。
7. I had very minimal pain after the surgery.
在手术过程中一切都很顺利。我醒来，觉得准备好了，有点！虽然当我在手术后三天回家的时候，我有点睡过了未来两周。我的身体需要从手术中恢复过来，所以我给了自己。Of course the area around my left ear was a little bit sore because I’d just had the surgery and the muscles in my neck were aching for some time, but it would be a wrong expectation to think anything else—of course there would be a little bit of pain when having had surgery. The scar healed beautifully, and the hair came back quickly and nicely too.
8. There can be improvements to all aspects of your life that you don’t expect.
Before the implant, when I would turn around to leave a queue, I would bump into the person behind me because I didn’t know there was anyone there. That’s doesn’t happen anymore, or very rarely. Also, at times, people were getting annoyed with me because it seemed like I was ignoring them, but actually I just couldn’t hear them. The cochlear implant has not only affected my social interactions with people, but also how my body functions because I can have an upright posture and don’t have to tilt all the time, which affects my body.
单面耳聋,我记得我was always very aware of where I was sitting. In school or university for example I always made sure that anything important being said was always on my right-hand side. I also developed some issues with my posture because of it—I would always turn my head to the left to get the input on my right ear which had good hearing. This affected my posture and my muscular-skeletal system. With the cochlear implant I don’t have to do this as much anymore.
9. There will always be ups and downs.
If you have a disability there will always be ups and downs. In fact, that’s just life, no matter whether you have a disability or not. So it’s ok to sometimes maybe feel frustrated with your disability but to know that “disability” still contains the word “ability” and that after “a down” there will be “an up” again—that’s just the way it is. Also I think it’s important to have an open mind when getting a CI—it was a process of learning. It’s important not to expect anything too soon and I think over time you’re able to adapt, to learn, and to be patient with yourself. I think of course it is always an individual decision whether to go for a CI or not. For me, the biggest deciding factor was that I saw a chance of improvement in quality of life for my whole future. I was only 21 when I got it and had my whole life ahead of me, so to me it was a huge improvement.
10.把它视为一个机会。
I feel that in my life there have been people who think, “Oh you have single-sided deafness, how can you do this” or, “How can you attend a regular school”, or, “How come your speech is good—you’re deaf in one ear?” To me it’s important to learn from being deaf. My boyfriend of three and a half years doesn’t treat me differently because of my deafness or cochlear implant. It’s not like he thinks, “Ok, she’s a good personalthough她在一只耳朵中聋了“。我觉得在他的眼中，他认为我是一个更好的人because我有一个单面耳聋和一个ci，因为两者都教我这么多。如果没有我的单面耳聋，我就不会学会嘴唇阅读，我不会像阅读肢体语言一样擅长。能够阅读肢体语言如此良好，是我作为职业治疗师的职业的重要力量。没有我的CI，我就不会参加今年的Beats of Cochlea festival, which I truly enjoyed. I feel that having single-sided deafness and a CI helped me grow as a person, so I wouldn’t change a thing.
I want to encourage people to do what they love, whether it is music or something else. Don’t let single-sided deafness, other people, or even you, limit yourself. See your hearing loss, and a cochlear implant, as a journey and a chance!
Thanks, Veronika!
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