Gael Hannan - The Way I Hear It
Hearing Loss Advocate, Writer, Speaker, Humorist
How’s my life going with a cochlear implant (CI)? Well, for starters—although I can’t speak for other recipients—it’s a lot LOUDER. But at only 32 days since activation, most familiar sounds bear little resemblance to how I hear them acoustically through my hearing aid. The voices of strangers sound curiously alike, as if they’re crying … Read more
As we human beings grow up, we get bigger, hopefully better, although never perfect. Nature likes to throw curve-balls, forcing us to adopt exercise or medicine or body adjustment changes to recover and improve our well-being. Some of us actually transform into semi-technical creatures. In order to hear, I’m a battery-operated person with my hearing … Read more
A group of geese is called a ‘gaggle’ and cows form a ‘herd’. So what do we call a group of cochlear implant users? A “cockle”? A “CI-heard”? I don’t know, either, but recently I attended a very large gathering of electrically-operated people who, like me, have electrodes inside their heads and processors on top … Read more
February 6, 2017, just one day out of my life, but with so many expectations hanging on it that I was reluctant to get out of bed. Three weeks and four days after my cochlear implant (CI) surgery, this was the day of “switch on”, the activation of the device – and potentially the dawn … Read more
Are you one of those people who never looks back, who never second guesses a decision? Well, I’m not. In the 14 months between saying let’s do it and actually having my cochlear implant, I did not regret my decision. But when people asked me if I was excited about the cochlear implant, I always … Read more