It all started in 2001 when I thought about Cochlear Implant and didn't know how to go about it and needed someone to talk with about it. So one day I spoke to my cousin in Napier about this. She said, "Yes and go for it" whether I was successful or not. So she contacted one of the Audiologists who was in the Cochlear Implant team and they advised her that I must visit my Audiologist and get a new up to date Hearing Aid first. So I spoke to my Audiologist about the Cochlear Implant and she arranged for the information is to be sent to me to read about it. Then she referred me to the ENT Specialist. At the same time Elsie Beale came forward and offered to support me with the Cochlear Implant Program as a Communicator/Guide. We visited the ENT Specialist and then he referred me to the Cochlear Implant team.

A few months later I received an appointment to attend the introductory meeting at National Audiology Centre in March 2002. Elsie and I went to Auckland to find out about the Cochlear Implant and how it worked and to talk about my deafness and sight etc. It was a very interesting meeting. In May I got an appointment to have an assessment at the National Audiology Centre, it was three days of a lot of tests. The Audiologist, Denise Farrington, did it. There was a lot of concentrating by listening to the sounds and it was very tiring. In the end I was very tired. The entire test I had done looked positive. So I waited nearly two months for the results and then I was informed that I was a suitable candidate to have the Cochlear Implant that I was eligible to have the surgery. I was so overwhelmed with the news and also I was very nervous about having the surgery. It was a big decision I had to make to go ahead with surgery and knowing there was a lot of hard work ahead of me.

On 17th of September 2002 I was admitted to Greenlane Hospital in Auckland for Cochlear Implant surgery. It was done by the surgeon Dr Bill Baber and it took 21/2 hours instead of 3 hours. It went very well and was successful. Elsie talked and showed the nurses and staff how to communicate with a Deafblind patient. This was very helpful. I stayed in Hospital for 2 nights then 1 night in the Motel before we flew home to Palmerston North. I stayed at Elsie and her husband's home for 10 days to recover before I went to my home.

Five weeks after the surgery, Elsie and I went back to National Audiology Centre in Auckland for the switch-on. I was nervous and didn't know what to expect.

Before I was switch-on we did MAPping first. They connected my processor to the computer and I had to listen to the very low sounds then let them know that I could hear them, it was hard work. There were about 20 sounds. Also the very loud sounds and I had to tell them to stop when sounds was too loud.

When I was switched-on it was awful to hear my own voice as it sounded very strange, I thought 'that is not my voice'. I was so overwhelmed that I could hear clearly, and it was successful.

Then we went to the Hearing therapist to learn to listen with my processor and did it very well.

At the end of the day, Elsie and I went to the Parnell Rose Gardens to relax and to listen. For the first time I heard the wind blowing through the palm tree leaves and then heard the water playing in the fountain, I also heard three birds singing. While we were out driving I heard a lot of different traffic sounds.

The first evening I was amazed to hear the meals being prepared, like cutting up vegetables, clatter on the bench, butter sizzling in the frypan and fish cooking in the frypan. I couldn't stand the rustling sound of the plastic bag and the water running from the tap. I even switch-off before I flushed the toilet.

My first three days were spent learning to hear new sounds, sounds that I had never heard in my life, especially the high frequencies sounds,

I was so overwhelmed that I was able to hear a lot more than I was ever able to before and it happened very successfully. In the first three weeks, I began learning to listen again with new sounds and the conversation with a group of my friends. Also I did have a lot of listening lessons with Elsie at home. One day I suddenly used the phone to ring two of my friends to give them an urgent message, which was quicker than sending the fax. When I hung up I just couldn't believe what I had done.

My friends were very surprised to hear from me and I was surprised that I could hear them quite clearly. They were so happy to see it happen,

Three weeks after the switch-on we went back to National Audiology Centre in Auckland for more MAPping (by adding more soft sounds and loud sounds into my processor) and more hearing rehabilitation. The Cochlear Implant team were blown away and amazed with my progress. When I saw Dr Bill Baber, he was very pleased with my progress and I told him that I used the phone to ring Elsie. He told me that I was a naughty girl. We all laughed.

For the first three months after the switch-on it was very tiring and I had to switch-off and rest every day because of a lot of concentration and also some of my brain cells had been dormant and not used to the high frequencies sounds. We made four trips to Auckland for more MAPping and Hearing rehabilitation and I made very good progress in those three months.

My very special thanks to Elsie for the wonderful support she has given me all the way through the Cochlear Implant program.

Now I am getting out a bit more by going to Gym and finding I am able to communicate with people better. Also recently I celebrated my 60th Birthday with my family and close friends. They were amazed to see me communicating with everyone. Now I get a loan of talking books from the Foundation of the Blind and I am able to hear them very well.

Now I have a lot of confidence and ring up my family and friends and able to have a good chat on the phone and answer the phone. One day I rang my Sister who lives in U.S.A and spoke to her for over two hours. Now I am enjoying listening to the music and I am able to hear the TV better.

The Cochlear Implant has given me a new lease of life.