Meet Wayne Nunn

I hope this will inspire people thinking about a cochlear implant to go ahead and have one because you will just never know what it will do for you.

As any audiologist or ENT surgeon will tell you individual results apply for cochlear implant recipients, its scary gathering and absorbing all the information you acquire to make up your mind about having one..


My story of having a cochlear implant is a successful one and so far in the 6 months Ive had my implant I can use a telephone like any normal hearing person, listen to the radio, listen to music again - its all natural now and Im still getting better..

I only have one at this stage but on a waiting list to have the other ear fitted..this is not important in my case to do this but it will make me reach my fullest potential..

Ive been deaf since age 11 from hereditary sensorenueral hearing loss progressively and bilatery..for a number of years it didnt really bother me.. I had a great social life and never went without a friend to call on.

But since the age of 30 I have been somewhat depressed at my deafness, being progressive it made me talk louder, made it harder to communicate with others..

My social life then suffered and I decided it was time to consider an implant so I went about it by initially seeing my audiologist in Melbourne Australia then my surgeon.

It was a long road with too much information - some good, some so bad it almost made me change my mind but I have a loving family to support me and so made the decision to have one.

I have the Nucleus Freedom - the most updated implant on the market, with the contour advance electrode implanted.

The surgery was the easy part, getting over the discomfort wasnt bad at all...it was the switch on two weeks later that I was mostly scared about (what to expect?).

I was expecting to hear perfectly straight away but like I said I was absorbing too much information and it all seemed like it was too much..

The switch on was both exciting and scary. It was not at all good straight away for me, every thing was like a sci-fi space movie, I was beginning to think I made a bad choice...but like my very supportive audiologist tried to explain to me, the implant works on the cochlear to send messages up to the auditory nerve to my brain. Because it has been such a long time being deaf my brain was trying to make sense of it all.

I could hear everything, but my brain was trying to figure out what it all was!

When I was younger, I used to be able to hear and have a excellent memory of what things sounded like so in time my brain started to figure it all out... it takes time, patience and perseverance.

I wear my implant from the moment I get out of bed in the morning till I go to bed at night except in the shower/bath so I have had excellent progress because of it.

At first using the telephone with my implant seemed impossible but I practiced and now I can use it perfectly. The key is to listen, not to hear, but to listen. Listening and hearing are two very different things it comes natural to normal hearing people but to people having been unable to hear listening is a skill to learn again. Now I listen when I don't really know Im doing it and pick things up like that..it is fun!!!

In my experience, hearing aids are nothing compared to a cochlear implant, implants have excellent clarity, they dont whistle, are more comfortable..it is more natural but each individual is different in what they pick up from it. You need to wear it all the time - initially it wont all be good but it gets there and you will be patting yourself proud on the back for doing so.

Noisy situations are easy to manage with Freedom as you do have a number of programs your audiologist will map for you..some programs are for noisy places such as traffic, loud music and the rest are for normal or very quiet situations.

I no longer rely on television subtitles and no longer need anyone to make a call on my behalf whether Im at home, in the city or at a airport!!!

I love it and I look forward to having my other ear done.

I wont go back now, only forward. I have more confidence and Im looking to become a chef!

Everything I love about my implant I have because of the support I have received. I recommend the Melbourne ear/eye hospital, they are so devoted, supportive and brilliant in how they help you..

I love my Cochlear implant!!!