“When I was 6 months old, my parents suspected I had a hearing difference. I had missed a few developmental milestones and would sleep soundly through the cries of my brother, a typical noisy toddler at the time. One day, Mom banged a pot and pan over my crib and I didn’t flinch. She brought me in to see a pediatrician who dangled shiny keys in front of my face. I reacted to the light and he declared my hearing intact. Mom got a second opinion and discovered that I had profound bilateral hearing loss.⠀
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The next logical step was to get a cochlear implant but our insurance company disagreed. Cochlear implants in children were not FDA approved and were costly. My family played along, and I wore hearing aids for a year. Eventually I got into a clinical trial and at 19 months old I was the youngest person in North America to be implanted. ⠀
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My mom, a family physician, immediately plugged me into Callier Center for Communication Disorders to start speech therapy. Only my left ear was implanted and I did well. I was always busy with sports, school, and friends. I didn’t yet have the presence of mind to really think about how everyone around me had bilateral hearing. My success was a true testament to medicine and technology, my hard effort, and my parents who were unwavering in their belief that I could do more than just react to a sound.⠀
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However, challenges began to emerge. I had to sit in a certain spot or lip read to compensate. Last year while shadowing general surgery, I could only pick up every 4th word in the OR. This issue permeated into spending time with friends or being out at a bar or in a crowd. I have no trouble self-advocating and saying, “Hey, I have a hearing difference, I would love to get to know your story but in order for me to do that, you’ll have to work with me a little bit,” but I started thinking of how I could make things easier for myself, maybe bilateral implantation?⠀I found a wonderful ENT doctor in San Antonio. And to my pleasant surprise he connected me with Dr. Evans, an audiologist who has bilateral cochlear implants. He demonstrated a deep level of empathy about my experiences because to some extent they were his as well. This June, just in the knick of time, the surgery center reopened after being closed due to the global pandemic and I was able to get my right ear implanted. My mom flew in from Chicago to take care of me. One more thing on the list of reasons why I’m so grateful for her. After the two weeks of recovery are up your ear is ready to be “turned on.” I was able to squeeze in my visit the last Friday before starting MS2 year. Dr. Evans ran an audio test playing a series of beeps with increasing intensity, the first sound I heard with my right ear. My first thought was, “Hey! This is really cool. There’s hope for my right ear.”⠀
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I wouldn’t classify it as hearing just yet, but I can recognize different rhythms. I disconnect my left ear since it’s more dominant and let my right practice by watching TV with the captions on. This morning, my roommate knocked on the door, and I was like “is that a knock?” That’s pretty spectacular only 3 days out. Now I’m at the point of being patient, putting in the work and letting my brain rewire itself. I’m so excited that my right ear is finally awake and I can’t wait to see what we’ll do together.”⠀
Story: Claire Schenken, Photos: Sujaan Lal, Emily Tranchina
Learn more about Dr. Evans and Cochlear implants: https://www.cochlearhearingcenter.com/
Other stories by Claire Schenken:
Temi Adejuyigbe: https://www.instagram.com/p/CByd_IkDabb/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link
Nmeli Anene: https://sapeopleproject.org/nmeli-anene/