HH/Beck: Hi Betty, thanks for your time this morning. Would you please review your hearing loss and hearing history history for us?
Coombs: Sure. I was born in 1919. My doctor believes my mother had german measles amd that's what caused my hearing problems. I got my first hearing aid in 1937 at age 18, it was a body aid. The only test I had for hearing loss was if I could hear a pocket watch ticking. There were no binaural hearing aids at that time and the batteries were crystal which had very short life.
HH/Beck: Oh my! That must have been very difficult. What was the best thing about hearing aids back then?
Coombs: When the batteries were working I was able to hear things I had never heard before. I cried myself to sleep for many nights until I became accustomed to noises like paper rattling, water flowing from a faucet, riding in a bus. My HA salesman warned me to never turn the volume down and to wear the hearing aid all day everyday. I could hear what people were saying to me and I could understand what was said on the radio. Those were the best things.
HH/Beck: When did you get your cochlear implant (CI)?
Coombs: My operation was on December 27, 2002 at age 83. I had been trying for several years to get one. By that time, I relied completely on lip reading and I had zero understanding of speech, even with my hearing aid. Two doctors told me I didn't qualify for a CI because I read lips too well. The doctor that operated on me saw my audiograms from 1997, 1998 and 2000 and he was amazed that I had been turned down for an implant in 1997.
HH/Beck: Betty, what did the world sound like (initially) when you got your cochlear implant?
Coombs: I never knew the world was so noisy. Train whistles sounded like cows in heat! I can't ever remember hearing birds before I got my cochlear implant (except crows) and I am enchanted with birds now. When there are a lot of people talking in a room, it was very confusing. I still do better if I can have a one-to-one conversation but I have done well in excessively noisy rooms speaking with one person at a time. As time goes by it gets easier.
HH/Beck: How long did it take for the sounds to normalize ?
Coombs: That's a hard question for me as I don't remember what normal sounds like. People's voices sounded normal to me as soon as I was hooked-up. My own voice was horrible. I hear sounds like s and sh and t which I can't remember hearing previously.
HH/Beck: What does the world sound like now?
Coombs: Well, today, we had a hail storm. I was in my living room watching TV and I could hear the hail. That's a first for me. I can even hear rain. I wont ruin so many carpets and furniture with open windows when it rains suddenly now! However, with all the building going on in this area, I am not enjoying the back-up noises the earth movers make. I can hear the hammering on the roofs of the new houses going up in my neighborhood. Those are noises I'm not accustomed to and could live without! I walk my dog every morning right past where the building is going on. With the cochlear implant I hear the cars coming from a long distance and that gives me a great feeling of security. Before my implant, cars were right beside me before I knew they were coming. The road is narrow and busy, so it was scary.
HH/Beck: Can you understand radio and TV with the cochlear implant?
Coombs: I don't own a radio. I have a captioned TV and yes, sometimes I can understand what people are saying on TV. I wish they would just speak a bit more slowly! I especially like This Week in Washington as I can understand the words when George Stephanopolous is speaking -- even If I don't know what he's talking about! George Will is easy for me to understand too. I don't watch a lot of TV. Mostly news. I understand Peter Jennings very well and Fritz the weatherman.
HH/Beck: Can you hear clearly on the telephone?
Coombs: I wish you hadn't asked that one. I have a long time hate for the telephone. I can hear and understand my daughter and thats about it.
HH/Beck: What's the best thing about the cochlear implant?
Coombs: Where to begin? Having it behind my ear instead of in my bra is great! Free at last! Not having to ask people to please repeat endlessly is also wonderful. Hearing a person speaking, and understanding every word, even when I don't have a seat up front, it's just amazing. Even the warning sound I get when my batteries are about to give up is great. The cochlear implant saves me so much embarrassment. I just really am grateful.
HH/Beck: OK then, what is the worst thing about the CI?
Coombs: The wind sometimes whistles through it. I am not used to having this thing behind my ear, and sometimes it hurts. Someone said it's because I turn my head to the left to watch TV and they may be right. I have turned my chair so it directly faces the TV and that helps. At night, I take it off and read the captions. A smaller, more rounded device might be more comfortable.
HH/Beck: Did the cochlear implant meet your expectations?
Coombs: I honestly didn't know what to expect. At age 84 I had about given up on expecting miracles. I just felt that it would help and I sure needed help. I am delighted with my cochlear implant and I'm hearing things I never expected to hear. For a while, music, no matter if it was Pavarotti or Snoop Doggy Dogg, sounded awful. It is gradually getting so I don't flinch when someone sings Happy Birthday and I never expect to enjoy rock and roll or rap. I do hope to enjoy
Barbara Striesand and Julie Andrews.
HH/Beck: What does your family say ...can they tell a difference when you have
the CI on?
Coombs: My family consists of a stepson and stepdaughter and their spouses and their kids and their kids kids. I am the last on my side of the family. No stepmother ever had a more loving, supportive family than I have. Of course, they brow beat me into getting a hearing dog and they encouraged me whole heartedly to get the CI. My son and his wife and my daughter were at the hospital while I got this done. They take me to my audiologist and show intense interest in the mapping and they take me to the doctor for check-ups. They love the difference in me. I seldom have to ask them to repeat and that's a real plus. They tell me my speech is so much better than it was, and I didn't know it was that bad! Yes, they know when I have it on. They don't live with me so they only see me when it is on. My niece came from New York in August to find out how I was doing and she was very interested in how much easier it was to talk to me.
HH/Beck: If you had to do it again - would you?
Coombs: Yes. And if I could afford it I would have the other ear done too!
HH/Beck: Thanks Betty. It has been a pleasure visiting with you.
Coombs: Thank you too, Dr. Beck.
Click here to visit the Cochlear Americas website.
