Janine's story

Janine is in her 50's and is an academic and leading author who gradually lost her hearing as a adult.

My life has made a complete about-face since I had my first cochlear implant in 1998 and not a day goes by that I don't stop and think what a miracle it is. The world needs to know that a not-so-quiet revolution is taking place in the treatment of deafness in young and old alike.

Who am I?
My name's Janine and I’m totally deaf in both ears. Thankfully, I am the recipient of two cochlear implants, the first when I was 46 years old and the second less than a year ago.  I am married to a man with normal hearing and we have two grown up children. I am also Professor in Human Nutrition at a leading University and the author of a popular series of diet books that have collectively sold 3.5 million copies world wide in 12 languages. These achievements have only come about since my first cochlear implant.

How did I lose my hearing?
I lost my hearing gradually from early teenage years onwards. I was born with apparently normal hearing and no one detected anything amiss until I realised myself that I missed words that other could hear. Although there was no-one else in the family with premature deafness, I was diagnosed with ‘congenital sensori-neural hearing loss'. I was 26 years old before I wore a hearing aid consistently.

The impact of hearing loss on my career and the difficulties I faced
I started my career as a lecturer at a leading University at this time.  My ENT specialist, who prescribed my hearing aid said I was crazy to accept such a job and that I should find something less challenging.

The decline in hearing was a long drawn out and emotionally painful process. I was excruciatingly embarrassed and I dreaded being considered stupid in a world of intellectuals at the university. I started to avoid difficult hearing situations. Any gathering of people, any meeting, any noisy environment, was stressful. The telephone became a source of great torment. People's names escaped me and transcribing numbers, addresses and dates became impossible.  I gradually lost the ability to enjoy television and movies.  Public address announcements etc were impossible. 

I needed stronger and stronger hearing aids.  Eventually one ear went completely deaf and could no longer benefit from a hearing aid. In time, one to one conversations in quiet surroundings became difficult too.

For 20 years I lived under a black cloud knowing that my gradual but sure deterioration in hearing would one day mean I'd have to relinquish a career I truly loved. 

How did I feel about a cochlear implant?
I had been following the cochlear implant stories in newspapers and I knew they were getting better and better.  I felt very positive about having such an operation.  I wanted one before I went totally deaf.  My friend Judy told me that they were implanting people who were deaf in one ear but still had some hearing in the other. She went first and me second. Professor Gibson performed the 4 hour operation and I was in and out of hospital within 24 hours. I was back at work a week later.

My first impressions
When I was first switched on, I knew not to expect too much.  I told my audiologist that she sounded like a robot, a really lousy robot.  I walked out of her office thinking I would have to adapt to living in a world that seemed like Toronga Zoo's aviary.  Lots of high pitched squeals and whistles. People's laughter sounded like squirrels fighting. But I loved every minute of it.  Every day I saw distinct progress and I'm still aware of improvements over time.

What it has meant to me and the people around me
My life has completely turned itself around.  Before the implant, I was seriously considering resigning from my job. But my career was literally jump-started. I am now in the prime of my career and thoroughly enjoying it.  I accept regular invitations to give seminars and conference papers nationally and internationally.  I give TV and radio interviews. I go to meetings and conferences and enjoy them. My husband can't believe the miracle either.  Life is much easier on me and those around me.

A second implant 
When research showed that two implants worked better than one, I was implanted on the other side, 9 years after the first. Now I wonder how I coped with only one!  Having two ears is a bit like having 2 eyes instead of one. The volume of sound is distinctly higher but in a very comfortable way, not like turning up the volume on side.  Music sounds much more melodious and it’s easier to hear in very noisy situations.  With two implants, I don’t have to listen as carefully, I say ‘pardon’ less often, and life seems more relaxed.

Why does the implant make so much difference?

• I can now hear clearly on the telephone, even mobile phones and public phones.
• I can hear the person's accent, I can hear whether they are young or old, male or female.
• I listen and enjoy TV and cinemas again
• I listen to radio in the car, especially ABC News Radio.  I repeat to myself in wonder all the names and numbers, even long strings of numbers like share market prices.
• I enjoy music, especially all the old songs they play on radio. I can understand the words to songs better than I ever did.  I play the piano, I have a subscription to the Australian Ballet.
• I can hear public announcements in train stations and airports
• I can have a normal conversation in a car, even with those in the back seat
• I can hear sweet nothings that my husband whispers in my ear.
• In short, it's like being re-connected to the world, to other people, and free to be myself again.

My husband says it's like I have normal hearing. I don’t agree entirely, but I'd give it 90 out of 100.  There are a few tricky situations, like conference tea breaks but they are no longer so bad that I shun them. 

I often think of Professor Graeme Clark who invented and developed the cochlear implant. His struggle for recognition inspires me in my own career… to keep going when the going gets tough, when papers are rejected, when research funding is not forthcoming. 
I think of how lucky I am to have had the benefit of not only of ‘Graeme’s nifty little gadget’, but of Professor Bill Gibson’s unsurpassed surgical skills and the world class services offered by Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre.  I know that Monica Bray, my audiologist at SCIC, has played an instrumental role in giving me the best hearing possible.

I don't think people yet appreciate how successful cochlear implants are, especially for adults like me.  I don’t think it's realised how well we can hear and how much our lives have been enriched as a result.  To me it's the greatest medical advance in the last 50 years, to be equated with the prevention of polio, small pox and similar diseases.  Only an operation stands between deafness and hearing.

Thank you Cochlear Ltd and SCIC. Thank you for the gift of hearing.