Sudden Hearing Loss, Deafness, Cochlear Implant Journey

thank you for your testimony your courage I have been deaf in my right ear for 20 years and the left is starting to go out as well. I am from Belgium and 58 years old...!! Your comment is very encouraging and interesting, thank you very much.

I am seeing this video after my cochlear implants surgery. I had same experiences as you almost. There were so many times I feel like I was so alone. Now it is recovery time for me and waiting for activation day ❤️

Thanks for sharing your story. I also lost my hearing in one of my ears suddenly.They claim it was a virus that did the damage. I went 11 years with no hearing in my right side. I tried a Baja with little success. Last April I had to postpone my cochlear implant surgery for two months due to COVID. I finally had the surgery and two weeks later it was activated. After two months of therapy I ended up with 80% hearing in my right ear. Stunning, man does this work. Always stay positive!

Thank you so much Katie for sharing your journey with us . I can totally relate myself to what you have gone thorough. I am yet to get my cochlear implant, but I can see the hope through you! Thanks again!

Thanks so much for sharing your story! I’m waiting for my CI eval currently and am both excited and nervous, it was nice to hear the details about your experience.

Thank you for sharing, great details.

Thank you for this video! I’m getting my surgery this month!

Hi Katie. Thanks for sharing your story. I also randomly went deaf about a year and a half ago and received a cochlear implant. I'm in the UK so the process of getting a CI is a bit different and I've made some videos about my experience which might be useful to anyone going through this in the UK. :)

It has to be fate I found your story! I am in the process of deciding if I want to do CI or stay with hearing aids for a few years before I can’t…. I’m already feeling they aren’t helping me comprehend words/sentences. I lost my hearing(not completely but a majority) when I was 25 & I’m 30 now. It’s been a struggle to accept myself, not going to lie haha. I’m so happy to hear yours! Thank you for sharing and giving me piece of mind while I’m on my journey! 💜💜💜💜

I’m also death and I also have Cochlears thank you so much for this story and I can lip reading so yeah I love this video but stay safe 🥰👍❤️

Thank you for this. I have progressive hearing loss and hearing aids are slowly not cutting it anymore. This helped a lot.

It was interesting to hear your story. I was born profoundly deaf, I wore hearing aids until my early teens (12/13 years old) So I finally could have bi-lateral cochlear implants (I am with Medel Sonnet brand) I live in the UK. I agree with you, it's the best thing to happen. I am so grateful for technology because I can be included since the people I meet is all hearing I only have 3 deaf friends and speak to one regularly. I ended up getting a Hearing Dog (assistance dog that alerts me to sound) I don't know if America have assistance dog like that so maybe worth checking out if you're interested? Having hearing dog helped me for bed time mainly or busy/ loud environment because I can't always pick up some sounds. Thank you for sharing your story!

I wore hearing aids most of my life. Got too deaf in my right ear and also started getting extreme vertigo last two years. Been dealing going to doctors appointments and things. They assume it’s Ménière’s disease and extreme senorineural hearing loss. I have my cochlear implant evaluation in two weeks so I’m really excited :)!

I've had Menires disease in my right ear and had surgery 25yrs ago so I've been deaf since. At the end of June of this year(2021) I had a major heart attack and was in the hospital a month. About 2 weeks after the attack I woke up and couldn't hear in my right ear and totally deaf. I have a lot of noise(tinnitus) and dizzy to the point I had to learn to walk again and I just turned 58. Was in good health, so I thought. Seeing an audiologist on November 5th to get an evaluation for the cochlear implant. I have never felt so alone not being able to hear.

Hi Kate thanks for sharing your experience , I have the same experience, its been 2months since I lost my hearing and I was devastated, I am going through several test and doctors and hoping my hearing will come back..

Thanks for sharing!

I was born profoundly deaf in both ears, and hearing aids helped me for 16 years straight until I lost my hearing COMPLETELY in both ears. I lost my hearing in my left ear back in 2019 and got surgery in July. After surgery. It was activated a month later. I was still wearing a hearing aid on the right ear until January of 2024. I lost my hearing COMPLETELY in that ear due to an ear infection. Now it April of 2024, I’m in the process of getting an another cochlear implant on my right ear and getting my left ear replaced with another implant for stronger magnet. I will be getting Cochlear America’s or Advanced Bionics. Iam currently using an Med-EL in the left ear since 2019. This device helped ear a lot better than hearing aids did. Now it started to drain and not work anymore. If I’m being honest, I actually had residual hearing in my right ear while I still had the ear infection, but it slowly started to fade away and now it just gone.

Kathryn - Thank you for your video. It is very helpful. I lost hearing in my left ear 8/1/2019. The ENT diagnosed it as Labrynthitis, and with intense treatment similar to yours, there was no improvement. I tried hearing aids for about 3 years with the left aid broadcasting the sound to the right, hoping some hearing might come back. But the left still tested at 0%. So we decided to go with a unilateral (single side) cochlear implant- surgery 8/16/22; activation 9/14/22. It is amazing! Still a long way to go for understanding sound on the left, but it is certainly making progress. Thank you for the encouraging video. I look forward to seeing your Instagram posts.

Thank you Katie For sharing your story... I am deaf on my left ear, I don't hear nothing and my right ear comes and goes. I was recommended to get thw implants but I am very scared... But I want to hear... Lost my hearing about 6 years ago... Thank you

Thank you for sharing your story. I became suddenly deaf as well. I just scheduled an implant. I'm nervous.