THERE are perhaps no words to adequately describe the significant loss of hearing.
With a cochlear implant, however, patients can regain a sense of hearing, enabling them to continue living a rich and full life.
Offering an option when hearing aids can no longer provide any benefit, cochlear implant recipients require numerous post-operative appointments to assist in mapping (programming) their device, while they learn to process electrical stimulation as sound and speech.
When Joe Barker lost complete hearing in his right ear due to Ménière’s disease, he was forced to travel over the next 12 months to the Royal Victorian Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne for post-operative care; a repeated journey that Joe found not only arduous but time consuming and expensive.
Offering convenience and local expertise, Goulburn Valley Hearing Clinic in Edward Street now offer all post-operative cochlear care, mapping and consultations for regional patients, alleviating the need to travel and saving costs.
Completing her cochlear implant training last year, experienced audiologist Elizabeth Webster said, “The GV Hearing Clinic now offer cochlear assessments, consultations and everything patients require post-surgery, saving patients from having to commit to travelling a dozen times to Melbourne over the course of 12 to 18 months.”
While his hearing will never be what it was, Joe said that having an implant has enabled him to stay social, where many people who suffer severe hearing loss withdraw.
“It’s lovely to see the positive impact of an implant and how someone who is isolated by their hearing can start communicating again with family and friends, a cochlear implant is really a game changer, Elizabeth said.
