Looking back to before I had my implant, I couldn't use the telephone or hear speech that well any more, even with lip reading.

My NHS Trust supplied me with powerful digital hearing aids, one of the first people to get them in this area but they only did so much. Without them the world is silent. I hear nothing apart from a door slam.

Becoming deaf changes you as a person. I used to be confident. I had worked for 10 years as a qualified nurse, with a lot of responsibility, but I had to give it up. I was a sister in a large nursing home but could not longer use the telephone, hear what patients, doctors, other members of staff or relatives were saying. It got to the point where I realised that it was dangerous for my patients. What if a member of staff had told me some important details regarding a patient and I misheard them?

So with a heavy heart I gave up nursing about four years ago. I went from looking after everyone else to people having to do things for me like make my telephone calls and go to parent evenings, attend doctors/dentist appointments with me and for the children, as I couldn't hear what was being said. Fortunately I have a very supportive family but I guess everyone else is not so lucky.

At first I thought, this is it, deaf for life at 31 years old (I'm 35 now) but then I got in touch with Steve, who is doing so well now, and he was my inspiration to go for it.

Being deaf effects your life in all ways. It changes the person you are. You become more isolated. You don't like meeting new people. It zaps your confidence and independence. I never became very depressed, but I know others that have.

I first heard of Cochlear Implants from Steve, someone I met in an online chatroom (we are still in touch). His situation sounded similar to mine and he was just going for the implant although at that time I didn't know for sure whether my type of deafness would be compatible for a cochlear implant.

I have three children aged 12, 10 and 5 and I really wanted to wait until all of them were at school and a little bit more independent. But then I then discovered how well Steve did from his operation and in February when I saw my ENT consultant I asked him if he would refer me for assessment in Manchester. He happily did this, although he did go on about the negatives more than the positives. Funding was never an issue for me but it is for others, depending which Trust you belong to.

I had my switch on 14th December. I was implanted on my left side. I am still wearing my hearing aid on my right side. Everything sounds very strange, very electronic. All the sounds sound similar. I had two more programmes installed on 15th December. Deborah, my audiologist, has said it will improve as my brain gets used to the sounds again.