Focus on what the cochlear implant (CI) technology can do for you. You risk missing out the wonder of the technology if you ruminate on blemishes, like how the behind-the-ear (BTE) speech processor will look on you and the surgical scar (which is very subtle, if visible at all, thanks to increasingly advanced surgical technologies). That is the key message cochlear implant user Richard Pocker shared over a Skype interview.
Pocker Spent 35 years in Total Silence Before Getting Implanted
Pocker is a 68-year-old bilateral CI recipient based in Florida. He first experienced hearing loss after contracting scarlet fever at age 5. He relied on hearing aids since then. Just before his 30th birthday, his hearing loss turned so severe that hearing aids were no longer effective. CI technology was still in its infancy then and was not known to Pocker then. He spent the next 35 years in total silence. He relied on lip reading throughout the years. It was very challenging — try lip reading a movie with no captions or sound.
He Built A Business in the 35 Years
Pocker was building his business, which involved managing a few dozen employees and attending trade shows — all by lipreading. The internet, which enables text-heavy communication, was not in the mainstream yet. That was in the early 1980s. He had to rely on others to make every phone call for him. He even made every one of his business suppliers purchase a fax machine, which was new and fairly expensive then.
It Was Hard Due to A Lack of Social Support
Social support was not very accessible. Many of the people around him just faded away, unable or unwilling to cope with the new accommodation needed to communicate with him. Besides, he had to accept that his hearing could no longer afford the music experience he once relished. He loved listening to Frank Sinatra, a jazz and pop singer and Luciano Pavarotti, the most famous opera singer of his time.
He Learned About CI By Bumping Into A CI user
He had a chance encounter with someone wearing a new style single-unit CI processor after living in total silence for 35 years. He found that he was a candidate for CI. He jumped at the chance to be implanted in both ears. He underwent the surgery in December 2015 and the switch-on in January 2016, which was a few days before his 65th birthday. Three years later, his life has never been better.
Pocker could now hear his son’s voice. His son was 3 years old when Pocker lost his residual hearing. Imagine watching your child grow while you lived in total silence.
Life Has Since Been Different
He no longer needs to turn his head when driving to lipread his wife of another passenger. He and his wife have been married for 44 years. He had to resort to lipreading his wife for 35 years out of the 44 years. He can make phone calls, which an activity he previously had to rely on others’ help. He no longer feels the need to isolate himself in group meals.
He even enjoys music again. He streams swing (a kind of jazz music) and classical music directly from his iPhone to the speech processor. It took several months of listening after the surgery until the music began to sound like he remembers them. They are still not 100% but not too far from there. He can recognize bird songs he never heard even when he wore hearing aids. He can even distinguish a cardinal from a pileated woodpecker. New problems arise too. He once found himself waking up in the middle of the night to the noise of door hinges. He had to fix it with a precision oil pen. That was a happy problem.
He’s On A Mission of Helping CI Candidates
Like many cochlear implant recipients, he regrets not having been implanted sooner but is grateful for the opportunity to enjoy life to the fullest again. He is on a mission of helping CI candidates move forward with their CI journey. He understands the anxiety and doubts over the uncertainty that loom large when it comes to making the leap of faith to receiving CI. He dedicates himself to be the person whom others can turn to when they find themselves in such a situation.
Pocker sharing about CI to an audience of high school students.
You could find more cochlear implant user stories here.
CI Project collects cochlear implant user stories. I’d like to invite you to join the private Facebook group. You’ll receive an update of each new story (about once a month) and will get to interact with the characters of each story there. I’m also looking for more cochlear implant user stories. I’d appreciate it if you could nominate a cochlear implant user (including yourself) for me to write a story about!