| Jane Wright (60), who works for the city council’s social work department, began losing her hearing around four years ago and was forced to give up working full-time as centre manager at the Lochee Family Support Centre.
She was fitted with hearing aids for a while, but hearing in both ears continued to deteriorate until she was left completely deaf and had to use sign language and lip-reading to communicate.
Then, just over a year ago, A Ninewells Hospital specialist suggested she might be a suitable candidate for a cochlear implant.
It was discovered that Mrs Wright no longer had hair cells inside her ear. These relay sound waves to the cochlea which, in turn, sends them to the auditory nerve. This nerve then transmits nerve impulses to the brain, causing it to recognise the sound.
Mrs Wright initially underwent tests in Edinburgh and was then referred to Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock, where the Scottish Cochlear Implant Programme is situated.
The operation in May, which required Mrs Wright to be under anaesthetic for five hours, resulted in her having a processor placed above her left ear, which, when she is wearing the correct equipment, bypasses the cochlear and stimulates the auditory nerve.
Despite suffering from deep-vein thrombosis for over two weeks as a side-effect of the procedure, Mrs Wright was determined to get her life back on track.
Doctors warned her not to expect to be able to hear immediately when the implant in her left ear was turned on a month later, as the brain had to “learn” again how to recognise sound.
Mrs Wright’s daughter Julia McCarthy explained, “It took only a couple of days and she was able to hear again. She’s still not great in group situations and is better with one-to-one conversations, but this will come with practice.
“It was a hard time for all the family, especially my father, Doug, but we’re so pleased mum is able to hear again.
“We all learned sign language so we could communicate and Mum actually started to attend lip-reading classes.
“When she started losing her hearing, the council found her new adepartment where she worked part-time, and one of her colleagues was great — she even learned sign language.”
Mrs McCarthy added, “It was her idea to have the Happy New Ear party as she wanted to celebrate with all the people who supported her — and to try and raise money for the charity.”
For 30 years, cochlear implants have helped many profoundly deaf children and adults.
It is unclear why the hair cells in the ear die out completely, and one theory is the condition is genetic.
Crosshouse Hospital in Kilmarnock performs only 14 adult and 22 children’s cochlear implant operations each year, and Mrs McCarthy said that, although her mother has had to endure a lot over the last four years, she was lucky her hearing could be saved as many other people aren’t as fortunate.
“We’re going to have a raffle at the party and there will be lots of dancing,” she said.
“My husband, Mark, also raised money doing the Glasgow 10K run recently.”
The party will take place at Discovery Point next Saturday and all funds raised will go to charity Help to Hear. |
