Patient Testimonials

Melissa Benton, Secretary of the Board of Dallas Hearing Foundation

"Hello, my name is Melissa Benton. It is a privilege to share my experience with deafness and the cochlear implant.

I was diagnosed with a hearing impairment at the age of three. Doctors believed the nerve damage was caused by a severe case of mumps and high fever when I was two years old. At the time of my diagnosis, I was found to be completely deaf in my right ear, and had approximately 40% loss in my left ear.
In spite of my hearing impairment, I was a happy, outgoing child. I was also an energetic tomboy who earned the nickname "Tiger" because of my fondness for playing football and picking on boys.

I attended a mainstream school and had no difficulty making good grades. Although I was a good student, my classmates sometimes made fun of me because I talked funny and said "what?" all the time. Some of the children avoided making friends with me, probably because I was different and they didn’t understand why. I did form some friendships; however, by the time I reached the 4th or 5th grade, my hearing loss was already having a significant impact on my self esteem; I was beginning to experience feelings of self-consciousness and inferiority. Although I had always enjoyed interacting with other children, I was gradually becoming shy and withdrawn and was spending more and more time by myself. When not in school, I could usually be found hiding behind a book.

In the 5th grade, I had a teacher who would have made a better drill sergeant. The first time I missed an assignment because I didn’t hear it, he accused me (in front of the whole class) of using my hearing impairment as a crutch and an excuse to get out of doing homework. Although my parents set him straight, I will never forget the humiliation I felt that day. Up to that time, there had not been a definite or obvious need for a hearing aid; however, soon after that incident, my parents bought my first hearing aid and I enjoyed improved hearing….. for a few years.

When I was thirteen, my hearing suddenly began to decrease. After diagnostic tests ruled out a medical cause, the doctor explained that nerve deafness is often progressive and told me that I would probably be totally deaf before I reached adulthood. Needless to say, I was terrified of my own future. One night, as I prayed for a miracle, I became very emotional and threw my hearing aid, smashing it against the wall. Of course, I didn’t mean to hit the wall with it. Fortunately, my parents were understanding, and the hearing aid was not damaged beyond repair. My mother looks back at that night and says that God answered that desperate prayer when I received my cochlear implant –He just answered in His own perfect timing.

During my teenage years, my hearing continued to decrease, and I became increasingly withdrawn from my peers. Although I managed to maintain honor roll grades throughout high school, I felt that I wasn’t good enough for other teenagers, and I made few friends. My hearing decreased to the point that I was considered legally deaf by the time I graduated from high school. The small amount of residual hearing was just enough to be amplified with a very powerful hearing aid. Although a hearing aid increases the volume of sound, it does not provide much clarity. Therefore, I was forced to rely on lip-reading and guessing. I dreaded social situations and kept to myself most of the time. My ability to communicate on the telephone was limited to just a few family members. The lack of independence and self-confidence was a challenge I had to confront every day throughout my young adult years.

I first heard about the cochlear implant in the ‘80’s, but at that time, the reports were not very favorable, and I was told by my former ear doctor that the implant was only for people who could not hear with hearing aids. During the ‘90’s, I occasionally asked my doctor about new developments with the cochlear implant. His answer was always the same: he didn’t know whether I would be a candidate or not, because I was "getting by" with a hearing aid and lip-reading. When he did give me some information about the implant, that information was less than impressive. I threw it in the trash and resigned myself to a life of deafness. It never occurred to me that maybe there was more current information that reflected the positive facts about cochlear implants.

In September of ‘98, I went to the Deaf Action Center to find out about assistive technology to help me with telephone communication. It was there that I met Esther Kelly, who showed me all the special telephones and assistive devices that help hearing impaired people cope with their hearing loss. Ms. Kelly also told me that she was deaf, but could hear with the cochlear implant. My first reaction was astonishment that she could hear and speak so well. I was even more pleasantly surprised when she told me that she thought I might be a good candidate, because she was just like me before she had her implant. I was so excited! I even told her "forget the special telephone, I want the implant" and when I left there that day, I knew that I was going to have a cochlear implant and hear on the telephone again. I did some research of my own, and a lot of praying, and by the time I met Dr. Peters and he confirmed that I was a candidate, my mind was already made up. Any questions that I had were trivial. I just knew that the cochlear implant was going to be the answer to a lifetime of prayers.

Dr. Peters performed my implant surgery in November ‘98. I went home the same day, with no complications, and there was just minimal pain from the surgery. After a four week healing period, the audiologists fit me with the external components of the device and programmed my speech processor. At first, everything sounded strange and distorted, but became more natural sounding within a few weeks. This is because I was suddenly hearing sounds that I had not heard since I was a child, and my brain was interpreting those sounds as strange. As I began to hear the new sounds repeatedly, the sound quality became more natural. This is the reason the clarity with the implant continues to improve for two or three years. Prior to my implant, my ability to understand speech was only 12% with a hearing aid. One week after my initial programming, this had already increased to 76%. On my most recent hearing test, my speech discrimination score was 92%. This is without lip-reading, but in a quiet environment. I hear sounds at 30 decibels, which is considered just a mild hearing loss. Background noise and group situations are still somewhat difficult, but I definitely do much better in these situations than I did with hearing aids. My speech and quality of voice have improved tremendously, although I still have the nasal quality that is a characteristic of years of profound deafness. After two months of auditory telephone therapy with Linda Daniel of HEAR In Dallas, I communicate on the telephone with little difficulty. I enjoy music and television once again. I hear the birds sing and the rain falling. My life is less stressful, and I have more confidence. I now look forward to the challenges of each new day.

I thank God every day for granting the miracle of a new life and restored hearing ability, through cochlear implant technology. Although the degree of success with the cochlear implant varies with each individual, this is proof that very dramatic results can be achieved, and I give God all the glory for mine. I truly believe that the reason I received such good results from my implant is that my God-given purpose in life is to help others who are hearing impaired. It is because of my gratitude, and desire to help others receive the wonderful gift of hearing, that I became involved with the Dallas Hearing Foundation. My heart overflows with joy when I see deaf people hearing and speaking with the cochlear implant, and the memory of a child’s face when she heard for the first time is priceless.

I am forever grateful to Dr. Peters, not only for performing the miracle of cochlear implantation, but also for giving me the opportunity to work for the Dallas Hearing Foundation – first as a volunteer, and now as an employee. The Lord has opened the doors for me to help the hearing impaired as my full-time vocation as the administrator for the Dallas Hearing Foundation. I am still amazed and overjoyed that the Lord has not only restored my hearing ability, but has also blessed me with two very rewarding jobs.

The cochlear implant and my involvement with the Dallas Hearing Foundation have changed my whole life, and that’s why I tell my story – to help increase awareness of the success of present day cochlear implants, and to promote assistance, through the Dallas Hearing Foundation, to those who are financially unable to afford the help they need. It is my prayer that others, through their own compassion for the less fortunate, will continue to become involved and demonstrate their support of the mission and goals of the Dallas Hearing Foundation."

Randy & Blaine Moore

Our worse nightmare turned into a dream come true thanks to the help of a local surgeon and a cochlear implant. The following story is a journey into the life of Blaine, before and after this amazing surgery.

As with all expectant parents you hope and pray that you give birth to a healthy child, and as soon as it is born you find yourself counting to make sure that they have ten fingers and ten toes and that all their other parts are intact. I was never concerned that I may have a deaf child.                                 

We had only been home a few minutes when the phone rang. It was the neonatal pediatrician calling from PICU wanting to speak to the parents of Blaine Moore. Our hearts sank. We just knew that something horrible had happened to Blaine. When I got on the phone the pediatrician said "Mrs. Moore, I have some bad news about your son. We did a hearing test on him today and he is deaf. He cannot hear anything. The audiologist will be in tomorrow morning to talk with you."

The whirlwind of emotions, questions, and anger over how this had all been handled is difficult to explain even to this day. Randy was devastated because he knew the hardships that would lie ahead for Blaine. I was so relieved they had not called to say that he died, that being told he was deaf was actually a relief. The full impact of it did not really sink in until later that evening when we went back to the nursery to hold and feed him. As I was rocking him and singing to him and trying to comfort him with soothing words it hit me that he could not hear a thing I was saying to him. He could not hear the musical teddy bear we had brought for him. I felt like he was in pain and all alone and there was nothing I could do to help him.

The next morning we met with the audiologist. We wanted to hear words of encouragement or at least be given some hope that our son could be helped. We asked about the cochlear implant at that time because we had heard about it several months ago thinking that maybe Randy might could be a candidate. We were told that it was not an option. She gave us the name of a hearing center and their phone number and said take him there. He will be fitted for hearing aids. Learn sign language as soon possible. Start finger spelling and signing.

Immediately we took Blaine to this center where his hearing was tested again and he was found to be profoundly deaf. He was given the strongest hearing aids made for a 4-week-old baby. We asked them about the cochlear implant. They said we will look at him when he is 2. We will not know until then if he is even a candidate. It varies from child to child they said. He has the strongest hearing aids available. Learn sign language and finger spell. Then we were referred to our school district. We called them immediately and scheduled an appointment for the teacher to come to the house. They worked with Blaine, helping him learn to crawl, sit up, and be more aware of his surroundings. They also communicated with him (using sign language and finger spelling). We would always ask her about cochlear implants and she would just brush us off and said it was not an option. Finger spell and continue to learn sign language.

By now Blaine is 16 months old and is not communicating at all and he is not responding with hearing aids. We learned sign language and we finger spelled. We continued to ask the hearing center and the school district and even the pediatrician about cochlear implants and the same reply was always given to us. He may not be a candidate wait until he is 2, continue to use sign language and one-day he will just pick it up and sign back to you. We never knew that there was a speech therapist or audiologist that worked with deaf children outside of the school system. We did not know that had he been seen by a physician who specialized in children's hearing problems that he would have already been in speech and would be making sounds and would be in the process of being readied for a cochlear implant for which he and all other children may be potential candidates.

We learned this by accident when my mother started working for Dr. Peters at Dallas Otolaryngology. Randy and I brought Blaine in for a consultation. Not only did we find out that Blaine was a candidate but Randy was also. That was the first day of a new life for Randy and Blaine. Now they would have the chance to hear. Randy and Blaine both had their surgery on July 1999 and are making fabulous progress. The entire cochlear team that works with them weekly has been a blessing to us. Their lives have definitely been changed. The anger is sometimes overwhelming when I think of the time we lost and could have continued to lose in helping not only Blaine but also Randy be able to come out of a world of silence because we could not get any information from any source about the cochlear implants.

If you have a hearing impaired child please, please check into the cochlear implant yourself. Don't let the school district or deaf community try to influence a decision as important as your child's hearing. There are so many myths about the procedure and surgery that people are afraid to even approach the subject. Whether your child reads lips or signs or has a cochlear implant is your decision. Contact the Dallas Hearing Foundation if you have questions or call one of three surgeons in this area for a consult. The first time that we said Blaine's name and he turned and smiled, we knew we made the right decision. The first time Randy heard birds singing he knew he made the right decision. And we are eternally grateful for turning a world of silence into one of beautiful noise for our family.