💬 "My name is Sara Catherine, and I am 15 years old. When I was 3, I was diagnosed with bilateral progressive sensorineural hearing loss. At first, the hearing aids were enough. But by the age of 9, my hearing was severe to profound and hearing aids alone were no longer enough. My aided speech recognition was only 30%. My left side was worse, and we made the decision to get a cochlear implant on that side.
When deciding on which CI company to go with for, it was pretty easy. First of all, the AB implant paired with Phonak which is the company I used for my hearing aids. I still wear a hearing aid on my right side. The AB implant also worked perfectly with the FM system my teachers were using at school. Second, we really liked the Neptune and the fact that I would be able to hear when swimming. Before the AB Neptune, I could not hear at all when swimming.
I have been dancing since the age of 3. In fact, that was one of the ways my family knew something was off with my hearing. I was always a beat behind and had to watch the other girls to see what to do. Having a cochlear implant means I can still do what I love…dance! Without my cochlear, I don’t think I would have continued to dance because I wouldn’t have been able to hear the music to keep time and would have become very frustrated. I am thankful for the amazing technology of a cochlear implant and cannot imagine my life without it. Two months after activating my AB cochlear implant, my speech recognition had improved to 97%. Today it is at 99%. I have always felt like I would use my story to help and encourage others and am excited to see where dancing with a cochlear implant takes me."
Advanced Bionics
17 May 2022