Nucleus 5 CI transforms Peter's life
Hearing birds chirping, rain falling on a roof or even your children playing with the dog is an everyday experience for a lot of people. But for Peter Gunness, hearing these things for the first time has been like discovering a new world.
Born profoundly deaf with just six percent hearing, the 42-year-old was one of the first in Australia to receive Cochlear’s new Nucleus 5 system.
The world’s thinnest and strongest cochlear implant, the Nucleus 5 optimises sound quality in a variety of listening environments with two tiny, hi-tech microphones that capture sound in all directions.
Mr Gunness said when the implant was switched on just before Christmas his life changed forever.
“Every day is a new sound, you never really get over it,” he said.
“Just to be able to hear the birds singing or rainfall is amazing.
“Right now I am able to hear my son playing with the dog and it’s great.”
Mr Gunness said the cochlear implant has had a major, and at times humorous, impact on his family life.
“I have always been attracted to women with loud voices so basically when I had it switched on I thought, ‘Gee, my wife is loud’ and I have to tell her not to shout. It was quite funny,” he said.
“I’m also always asking her what certain sounds are, and she would say, ‘That’s the cat’, and I said, ‘Oh, goodness, let’s get rid of it’.
“But also just being able to hear my children speak about their day at school has been incredible.”
As seen on The Manly Daily.
Read more about the Nucleus 5, here.
Comments
Hello Peter,
my name is Carla and I am the wife of Phil Halbert who just turned 72 years young. He is basically deaf now and had only very little hearing left in his right ear. Guess racing cars for 20 years and building race engines has caused his hearing loss. Last week we went to see if he would qualify for the cochlear implant, the Nucleus 5, and the result was that indeed, he is able to get the implant. Phil is also a retired electrical engineer and has worked for the military with sound digits but that was 40 years ago when this technology was in it's baby shoes. He is excited about this implant but not all together. He thinks that it most certainly will not be a magic cure and there will be problems or it might only work to a certain extent.
Reading your post encourages me and I would like to hear more from you and your experience. Phil will have the operation on August 4th and then 2 weeks later the device will be turned on. I hope it will not be a disappointment for both of us.
Sincerely, Carla and Phil from Colorado USA
Posted by: Carla Kelly | July 17, 2010 02:57 AM