Audiogram and Predictions

Short post tonight! Shocking, I know. :). This is a picture of my audiogram from 12/19/11. This is the "beep test." The dots on the graph show the softest sound I can hear 50% of the time at each frequency (PTA) when I am in a soundproof booth. The bottom line shows my unaided hearing, the middle line, my scores with hearing aids and the top, approximately what they should be with the Esteem. Three of those frequencies are in the normal range! Pretty incredible. :)

The Journey

Some (Ok, most) of what I plan to say tonight may seem over dramatized to anyone else reading this, but I want to show how carefully God led me to this place. :)

Right after college, I got a wonderful job teaching kindergarten. I loved it!!! My students were precious, their families were involved, my boss was the greatest and my coworkers were some of my favorite people. I wanted to stay there forever. The only downside to the job was the low pay (Christian schools don't pay well, but it didn't matter at all). But some things changed and I felt that I needed to find a new school. It was a very trying time for me. I prayed and prayed and prayed but nothing seemed to happen. Finally, two weeks before school was to start last August, I was offered a new job. I was so thankful but scared, too!

This job is wonderful! I had no doubt that God led me to this exact position when I signed the contract but never dreamed I would love the job this much. My kids are great, the administration is supportive and I love my coworkers! I was on cloud nine! I was thankful for a better income and insurance as well but it didn't really matter.

Then in October, a high school friend told me about the Esteem. At first, I couldn't imagine being able to pay for the device but God is so faithful! Before I even knew this was a possibility, He paved the way and made it possible. I didn't have a clue how much this job would affect my whole life.

Long story short, as soon as I heard about the Esteem, I called my mom and my best friend. They were excited too. I sent my audiogram to Dr. Shohet and he called that night to say my scores showed I'd be a great candidate. I scheduled a CT scan and waited a LONG two weeks for results thanks to an imaging center error. Finally I got word that I was good to go and scheduled my preop testing. After that, I started sharing the news. It's been overwhelming and wonderful to feel so much support!! My pre-op was Dec. 19. Hearing Dr. Shohet say, "you're a perfect candidate" was incredible. Since then it's been a waiting game. :)

To be honest, I can't believe this is really happening. I never in a million years dreamed this would be possible...but it is! How great is our God!

The Esteem

First off, THANK YOU for being so sweet about this whole blog idea. I'm amazed and grateful for all the support I've received through this Esteem journey so far. Tonight, I'll try to explain how the Esteem works.

I had no clue that clinical trials for the Esteem took place 6 years ago. In fact, I didn't know any research on implantable hearing systems was taking place. I thought I would always wear hearing aids and that was fine with me. In fact, a few years ago, I found out my hearing loss is generic. It hit me hard. A friend told me, "So what? By the time you have kids there will be some new technology and it won't matter anymore.". While I appreciated his outlook, I thought he was crazy. :)

Then in October, a girl I went to high school with asked me if I'd seen the YouTube video of a woman getting a hearing implant. I assumed it was a cochlear implant (which is for the profoundly deaf, which I am not) and didn't watch the video for a few days. When I did, I was amazed to find that this implant is for people like me - those of us who aren't severe enough for cochlears but are too severe for hearing aids. Amazing!!

My hearing loss is due to nerve damage. Basically, when sound waves enter the ear, they hit the eardrum. It vibrates the bones of the middle ear, which carry the sound to the cochlea. Inside the cochlea there are tiny nerves called the hair cell nerves. They change the sound wave into an electrical signal that the brain interprets as sound. My hair cell nerves did not develop correctly. As a result, it takes increased volume to make the nerves do their job. Hearing aids amplify sound to the point that I can hear them. The Esteem is completely different.

When Dr. Shohet implants the Esteem, he will place the sound processor between my skull and skin just above my ear. He will then put a sensor near my ear drum and a driver near my cochlea. Then, when sound waves reach my ear drum, they will be carried to the sound processor which will turn them into electrical signals my brain can understand. In essence, the Esteem does exactly what my ear cannot. There is no way to regenerate nerves (yet!) and even with the Esteem, I won't hear like a person with normal hearing, but this is by far the closest anyone with a severe hearing loss is able to get at this time.

I'm new to blogging so I don't know if this will work, but I'm trying to imbed a picture of how hearing works and a video of my surgeon explaining the Esteem. He explains it with much greater clarity than I do. :)

Here goes nothing

Starting a blog is very strange. I've never wanted one because I certainly don't have anything of value to say, but I do serve an incredible God and I have an opportunity to share what He is doing, something that is "immeasurably more than all we could ask or imagine." If you know me in real life, you know that I'm a talker. :) I could talk to a brick wall and can usually find something to say about anything, but it really is hard to put into words all that I am experiencing. So, if you're stuck reading this, bear with me. :)

I was born with a mild-moderate-severe bilateral sensorineural hearing loss. That means that I have nerve damage in both ears. At some low frequencies (pitches), I have a mild loss (20-40dB, like a whisper or library). As frequency rises, I require more volume. In my right ("good") ear, I can hear most frequencies at 60-65 dB, which is considered moderate/severe loss. In my left ear, my threshold is 80 dB (like a piano). My comfortable listening level is 75 dB in my good ear and 110 dB in my bad. For reference, 80 dB is the danger zone and 120 is the pain threshold for people with normal hearing. Yes, my loss is that bad. :) When I find a copy of my audiogram, I'll post it. Please don't think I am complaining, though! I have been very blessed! Basically, I do have some hearing and am very fortunate that I'm able to hear quite well with hearing aids. My aided scores are nowhere near the normal hearing range, but I can live a "normal" life with the help of hearing aids.

In less than 3 weeks, I will receive the Envoy Esteem, a surgically implanted prosthetic hearing system. While it's not a "cure," it could actually allow me to hear in the normal range. The procedure has risks, of course, and there are no guarantees. I will have to learn how to hear and process sound naturally, but it really is possible for me to hear without hearing aids. The whole idea is still overwhelming and I can't imagine what it will be like, but I'm beyond thankful for this opportunity. See, with hearing aids, I'm able to hear and talk to people and listen to music most of the time, but I can't keep my aids in 24/7. At night, anytime I'm around water or when I'm exercising, I cannot wear hearing aids. With the Esteem, I'll be able to hear ALL the time. It's mind blowing, really. :)

This is quickly becoming a novel and that is not my intent. :). Reading blogs of other Esteem recipients has been helpful for me so I hope to do the same for other people who are considering the implant. I'm not a writer or a medical expert. I'm just a very blessed girl experiencing something amazing and hoping to share it to glorify God. So here goes nothing. :)