The Gift of Sound

The gift of Sound

Indeed, sound is a precious gift.... specially for someone who had profound deafness due to illness or accident and for those who are born deaf. We tend to often take things like these for granted and its value can only be understood by someone who never had it or has lost it.

A Cochlear Implant is a device that helps the profoundly hearing-impaired perceive sound meaningfully, when the most powerful hearing aid fails to provide benefit. The implant is beneficial to adults who have lost their hearing after acquiring spoken language skills, as well as children who are born deaf. The surgery involves a high degree of skill but requires just two days of hospitalisation.

After having lost my hearing sometime in December 1996 or January 1997, life was nothing but silence... My close ones had tried hard to perk me up by saying that all is not lost, I was after all the lucky one to get a second chance at life. Was I? Wasn't I the unlucky one? I asked this question to myself and the almighty. It would have been so much better if my life would have come to an end, I didn't want to live in this silence....doomed to a life of silence & loneliness!

I had been walking on the busy roads with vehicles zooming by, with noone really knowing that this is a deaf person going by, trying to lead as normal a life as possible. Since deafness is an invisible handicap, nobody really understood my problems or frustrations. I believe, if you aren't hard of hearing or deaf then it's pretty hard to understand what I or people like me feel. I was yearning to get back sound in my life, but knew that it was next to impossible due to the high cost of cochlear implants.

We came in touch with Dr. M V Kirtane of PD Hinduja Hospital once in the year 2000, but due to the high cost of implants (about 10 lakhs), we were disappointed, but could never give up the thought of hearing again. We got in touch with Dr. Kirtane again in December 2007 and this time came to know that the cost of the implant had reduced a bit. He and his team of doctors, audiologists and social counsellors gave us proper guidance and after a few tests, it was confirmed that I was an ideal candidate for a cochlear implant. They were amazed with my confidence and communication skills, despite the fact that I had been living in silence for 11 years. We were adviced to raise funds with the help of employers, charitable and religious trusts, family, through advertisements.

Thankfully, we were able to raise the amount soon and Dr. Kirtane conducted my cochlear implant surgery on 23rd Feb 2008. The dressing stayed for about ten days, after which the sutures were removed in the clinic.

Post implantation, there is a process known as "switch-on" or "mapping" which, programs the maximum and minimum volume and the frequencies that can be heard by that particular individual. I was feeling quite irritated and frustrated after the switch-on initially, as I was just hearing some noise, like a radio station, also got a nagging headache due to the same. By about a week, I noticed a change, the noise seemed to have reduced and I began to hear some sounds. I could hear the running tap, the door bell, the phone ring. I began to hear my child's voice... that was the most memorable moment of life.

For someone who has been without sound for a significant period (11 years in my case), it took some time for the brain to become accustomed to the linguistic stimulation provided through the cochlear implant. I am able to understand when someone speaks without looking at his/her face. Its been 1 year post surgery and although I am still not able to hear as per my expectation, I am really thankful to Dr. Kirtane & his team, for giving me this gift of sound and bringing lots of happiness and music in this life which had otherwise, been doomed for silence.

There had been a function at the IMC, Churchgate, Mumbai, India on 19th April 2009 to felicitate Dr. Milind V. Kirtane and his team for completing 650 cochlear implants. I am attaching some photographs of the function. I would like to convey my best wishes to Dr. Kirtane & his team. May you continue to bring many more gifts of sound in lives such as mine.