Who's who: Angela Wieker
Angela's Hearing History
We discovered my hearing loss in first grade when my class visited the school audiologist for a round of hearing tests. The audiologist detected a slight hearing loss, and recommended we get a second opinion. My stunned parents took me to an ENT doctor who confirmed a mild hearing loss was present, but predicted that it would not progress. However, each year the tests showed that it was progressing and with each year I was hearing less and less.
I was one of those who vowed they would “NEVER” get a cochlear implant mostly because I had been disappointed with hearing aids so many times, and I really didn’t understand how differently the cochlear implant works. Fortunately, after I had to give up using the telephone, the encouragement of my family made me investigate CI’s.
I have had my first cochlear implant for more than 8 years now. Within the first 6 months I scored 89% for speech understanding without lip reading. I was stunned with the results! The cochlear implant has helped me get my life back. I have freedom, independence, a career and no longer fear social interaction with friends and family. After all these years, there are still times when I am amazed by some of the things that I hear and understand, like jokes on the radio during my morning drive.
It's Better with Two
Bilateral Recipient
I always thought that I was doing so well with one cochlear implant, so why would I need two? I had the opportunity to talk with several people about their bilateral experience – people like me who were doing great with one, and had gotten a second one. They were saying: “You can’t believe how much better it is with two!”
I wanted to have the best hearing possible, and the results from Cochlear’s Bilateral Clinical Studies were inspiring – so, I went for an evaluation. I scored 100% on the HINT test during my bilateral evaluation with one cochlear implant, so my desire for a second one was not because I wasn’t doing great.
On the day we activated my second cochlear implant, I could tell an immediate benefit, which was an unexpected surprise. Over the next several days I could tell an improvement in my understanding of speech in noisy environments and also from further distances. I was able to localize sound much better and even started experiencing “surround sound.” The feeling I had after receiving the second CI can be compared to walking around with one contact lens in. I would have NEVER said that before having the second one. I realize now that I was still working pretty hard to understand during business meetings and in noisy settings. With bilaterals, I can just simply enjoy a meeting and take notes without having to pay attention to who’s talking. I can understand much better in those noisy environments.
I have always gotten great music appreciation and carry my iPod in my purse. But with bilateral cochlear implants music sounds even better— I’m understanding even more lyrics than before!
Within three months of being bilateral, I scored 100% in quiet on the new side alone. I had been worried about how well the 2nd side would perform because that ear had very little sound and no hearing aid/stimulation for about ten years. It’s been quite a journey to lose something as significant as a sense and essentially get it back — I can think of no better word to describe this technology than a “miracle”.
Marketing Manager
I work for Cochlear as a Marketing Manager. In this role I am able to help people who are considering a cochlear implant. The best thing about this is the hope that we bring to people. Many times when you meet people who are considering a cochlear implant it’s a dark time in their life. For parents, we know that most babies with hearing loss are born to parents with normal hearing, so it’s an unknown world. We provide the hope and reassurance that they can live a very full life. When a person gets a cochlear implant it usually changes their lives in a very positive, significant way. It’s an amazing feeling to be a small part of that process.