CT & MRI Scans

I attended at Southampton General Hospital for my CT and MRI scans. I was feeling really nervous but thankfully my mum came with me to support me. The CT scan lasted about 10 minutes and the MRI was 20 minutes long. The MRI was a horrible experience for me as I had to keep still and not move an inch. It felt like being in washing machine!! I was so relieved when it was all over.

Day Two - Meetings

I attended a user group meeting and met 2 other ladies who had been implanted successfully. They told us their stories from the moment they had their operations and the important day when they had a switch on. It was really interesting to hear and it gave us the opportunity to ask them questions.

Day One - Assessments

This morning I met with Nikki Stephens who was the Hearing Therapist. She wanted to hear my background and every day situations on how I currently cope. She confirmed that I was good lip speaker.

I wasn't looking forward to taking the next assessment which was the audiology repeat assessment. I did better than the last time but I still struggled to understand the words from the speakers. Yvette said that she felt really bad for putting me through this difficult test!

After lunch, Yvette carried out another test by putting the electrodes on my head so she could see the brainwave and responses. I had to keep still for 20 minutes.

Afterwards I met the Speech and Language Therapist, Sarah. She was getting to know me and how I was taught to speech from young age. She explained that I spoke really well and that she was confident that I would be eligible to have a cochlear implant.

Finally I met Mr Peter Ashcroft, the surgeon who would be operating me if I was successful on having a CI. He looked inside my ears and looked at my audiograms. He said that my hearing was very poor. Having looked at the latest audiograms and the various tests carried out, he offered me an implant.

The whole day was positive but tiring and tomorrow I will be back for day two assessments.

Audiology Initial Assesmment

I was met by Yvette who was the Scientist Audiologist and she carried out some hearing tests in both of my ears. I had to listen to the sounds per ear with the headphones (without the hearing aids) and responsed any sounds I could hear.

The next task I was asked to do was watched a tv screen and understand what the man was saying by not wearing hearing aids. I had to repeat this procedure with my hearing aids on. It was very tiring having to concentrate. Yvette explained that I did well with my aids on because I can lip read better as well as the sounds.

The last task was very hard to do. Yvette asked me to listen to the sentences coming out from the speakers. I managed to pick up at least a word or two. The result came out 6%.

I was very pleased to get home as I felt so exhausted. Unfortunately I was told I had to repeat those tests again in a fortnight time.

Introduction to Assessment

I met with the SOECIC team for the first time and I had my first assessment which was the introduction part. Two other hearing impaired people came along and we were given an overview on how the whole process works. We were shown the choices of the cochlear implants and what to expect overall.

Assessment dates

I received a letter from the SOECIC that the funding has been approved for me to take part in the assessments. I was happy to hear that it was going ahead. I was given several appointments to get started.

Referral for Assessment at SOECIC

I met with Dr. Melanie Collins, the ENT Consultant at Salisbury District Hospital. I explained to her that I would like to explore my possibility of having a cochlear implant as my right ear has worsened. She agreed to refer me to the South of England Cochlear Implant Centre, based in Southampton. Funding was required for me to take part in the assessment.