I received my first cochlear implant on my left side in June 2007 and it was activated in July. I had great success and it was absolutely amazing to hear and listen to voices and environmental noise, and not have to rely on lip reading. I scored 98-100% first time on speech recognition and discrimination tests; prior to the implant I had only scored 0-1% with hearing aids on both ears. The ability to listen to the car radio/television/people talking behind my back/music was great!

By the next year, I was seriously considering getting my right ear implanted; this ear had been profoundly deaf since birth. I was aware of the long rehabilitation ahead and looked forward to the challenges that awaited me. I received my second implant on my right side on 11th November 2008, and on 1st December the processor was activated. The switch-on was again a success - I was able to hear four or five words at a time and 10-15 short sentences with 95% correct. I am now coping with new sounds and an improved sense of direction of sound, but it has still been a huge learning curve.

No two cochlear implant switch-ons are alike - each is different and I must say that I agree fully with this statement. What greeted me at switch on were bloody awful sounds, robotic with a ‘jingle bells’ type theme and lots of high pitched squeals and whistles; some were like two squirrels fighting. My brain is trying hard to adapt to hearing new sounds, and so far I am loving it. My audiologist explained to me the pros and cons of bilateral implants. I can confirm the main benefits:

• Better sound awareness and improved hearing performance
• The ability to tune in to important sounds and tune out interfering sounds
• Better hearing in background noise
• More natural, balanced sound quality
• Better ability to know where sound is coming from
• Improved speech understanding

The best aspect of getting the cochlear implants have been restored detection of everyday sounds in the hearing environment, improved face to face communication and the ability to understand speech through hearing alone. Pre-implant time with family and friends had been rewarding but exhausting. Now that I am fitted with bilateral implants, I focus less on trying to hear and more on other activities, leaving me feeling more energised than before.

Rob Dobson is an active member of the Cochlear Awareness Network (CAN) and a member of Better Hearing Australia. You can find his online blog here.