Meet Peter Robertson

I have had the implant since May 2004. Prior to that I wore hearing aids in both ears and I now get by much better with using just the cochlear implant.

Having had progressive deafness from the age of 5 I first lost my high tone hearing, then slowly but surely lost my low tone as well, meaning I was profoundly deaf.

My doctor told me this was due to a tube in the inner ear that is meant to drain out ear infections having a pocket not allowing infection to clear. I only learnt this in 2004. I had visited many specialists prior to this who had never been able to tell me why I was losing my hearing. I also learnt the hearing aids I had been wearing were the wrong type for my deafness.

I first read about the cochlear implant in 1997 and was put on a waiting list the same year, although it took some 7 years before I actually received the implant due to clerical errors it was well worth the wait.

There was a 12 month counselling period before the implant, where test were conducted to decide if I was compatible for the implant and to gain insight into how the cochlea worked.

I went into hospital on a Friday morning for the operation and went home the following morning, I had the switch on aprox. 2 weeks later.

I was amazed to hear sound yet wasnt able to identify what the sounds were that I was hearing but given time to fine tune the incoming sounds and to adjust, I am now hearing without having to lip read.

I feel that with each day I get a little more hearing and cannot imagine how I got by before the implant. I am communicating so much more without becoming exhausted from lip-reading.

Being a single parent of 3 children for the past 15 years the implant has offered a quality to not just my social life but my family life more importantly, I had never heard my children voices.

I would one day like to get another cochlear implant but am happy with what I have now, I am unable to wear a hearing aid due to infection created from having a plug in my ear but did try for a while after receiving the implant. I find I get by very well with just the one implant, when I take it off I have no hearing at all but when I put it on I can instantly hear the sounds around me and identify what they are and where they are coming from.

Although certain background sounds, such as rain drops on the roof can droll out the sounds I am trying to hear. For some reason the sound of water tends to drown out other sounds.

I am still unable to hear music with the cochlear implant, but maybe in the future there is possibility for me to appreciate music again.

I can use a mobile phone when in quiet places. I have never been to a deaf school nor did I have any friends who were deaf throughout my life, so tended to live in no mans land prior to receiving the cochlear implant.

My life has taken a giant leap forward ever since, the process towards obtaining the implant and learning to live with it has been the most memorable event in my life. It takes time to adjust but for me it gets better with each coming day.

I have met a few people since having the implant who are deaf, I suppose they notice that I have one so speak to me about it. I realise there is a lot of myths circulating about the good and bad side of the cochlear implant amongst the deaf community ranging from "you can zap yourself dead if you mow the lawns with it on" to "the 50% chance of going mad after the operation" (just to name a couple). Where these stories come from I really don?t know but I feel they harm the deaf community who may be compatible for the cochlear implant.

I understand that amongst the deaf community there is a belief that its a deaf world "why should we change" type of thinking, and I can have empathy with that. Since getting the implant I have been told by a few deaf people that I am wrong for doing so yet if someone is compatible for the implant I feel its an individual choice whether to decide yes or no without any discrimination.

I can only speak for myself on how much the implant has helped me and improved the quality of my life. As I mentioned earlier, I did not find out very much about my hearing loss until I spoke with the cochlear implant team who seem to me to be the only people who can give you the correct information.

Not even my previous hearing specialists seemed to have the knowledge or correct information and over the time looking back I find this to be information I could have greatly benefited from much earlier.

My worst memory of being deaf was when I was about 7 or 8 years old, being taken to see a hearing specialist by my mother for the first time. This specialist banged a tuning fork on his desk, held it to my ear and told me to tell him when it stopped making sound. Due to me having tinnitus as well I couldnt define if it was making sound or if it was just in my head. His conclusion was I should be "smacked on the back of my legs and sent to my room each time I didnt hear what was said...please pay at the door"

He told my mother that I was pretending not to hear and should be punished for doing so.

I never in my wildest dreams thought that I would be able to hear the things I do now thanks to the cochlear implant. Its over two years now since I got switched on and every day since, I am grateful for the weight that has been lifted off my shoulders and the new beginnings the cochlear implant provides