I am Caitlin and I am 19 years old from South Shields in the UK.

 

My earliest memory when I first wore a hearing aid is when I returned to Primary School with my new hearing aid which had a bright red mould. I thought to play a prank on my teacher by saying my ear is bleeding which went down well!

 

Anyways I should tell you about my hearing problems.

 

I mainly hear well in my right ear and I’m deaf in my left ear where, if the sound is too far away from it, I cant hear anything. My hearing aid was placed in my right ear as it never worked in my left for some reason.

When I reached senior school age I was able to receive a digital hearing aid therefore had to have a mould without the air pocket.

 

The lack of air going through it caused my infections to worsen.

 

A new consultant started to look at my case and discovered that I had a mastoid in my right ear and required surgery to remove it. She told me that if I didn’t have it removed I could die.

 

However even though the surgery was successful another consultant discovered more mastoid growth which again required surgery. After the surgery I was given a hairband style baha with a box attached to it so I could hear as I had no hearing aid in my right ear while it healed. After a while I didn’t need the hairband baha as my ear was clear of dressing.

A few years later I started to see my hearing aid repair centre quite regularly (about once a month) to change my hearing aid due to it breaking down. Every time the audiologist commented that there was an infection in my ear but I did not want to see my consultant as she wasn’t very nice to me.

 

During one repair session the audiologist told me about the Baha system and that I may be a candidate for it.

 

I consulted my parents about it and they were very supportive of me going for it. I made an appointment to see my GP as soon as possible to inform her about the Baha system. My GP referred me back to the hospital to see a different consultant who checked my hearing and my ear to then refer me to another hospital in Sunderland.

I was very happy when I received my appointment letter to see an audiologist to test whether I was suitable for the Baha.

 

During the testing the audiologist placed head phones on my ears to test my air hearing by air conduction (through my ear canals) and then two smaller solid “headphones” behind my ears on the bony part to test my hearing by bone conduction.

 

After that he removed the headphones and changed them for a hairband baha to test bone conduction with the Baha.

 

I was very happy with it but it felt strange to feel impulses in my ear without anything in it.

 

The audiologist told me I was a suitable candidate and would send the findings to the doctor. Before leaving he explained the procedure and what the baha does.

About 2 weeks later I went back to the hospital to see the doctor about the findings, however I was made to wait two hours before they told me they didn’t have my records from another hospital. I waited for another half an hour before they gave up and allowed me to see the doctor.

 

He informed me that the results show that I have the same amount of hearing on both side which shocked my Dad and me, as my previous hearing tests show that my left side was the weaker side.

 

During my appointment I was booked in for the 22 May 2009 which was perfect as I would only miss one week of college during recovery time due to the summer holidays.

Finally my surgery date came and I woke up at 06.30 as I had to be on the ward at 8am.

 

As I arrived I was shown to a reception room where other patients were waiting to be booked in. After all the booking in procedures I was taken to see the anaesthetist as I have a heart condition.

 

He informed me that they did not have a scan result of my heart from a different hospital which was needed to carry out the operation, he felt it was rushed through.

 

Finally the hospital managed to contact the other hospital to get the scan faxed through yeay! I could go through with it.

 

I was only given 15 minutes to settle into my bed area before I had to change into a fetching gown and stockings. I was then taken down for surgery and I was shaking like mad due to my fear of needles.

3 hours later I woke up with what felt like pressure on my head as I had a bandage on me. I was kept in overnight and did not receive any pain killers as I did not need them. I felt “free” when my bandage came off the morning after my surgery.

During my recovery time I was not able to wash my hair which was hard as I like to dunk my head underwater when I’m in the bath. I was told to see the nurse to change my dressing a few times to prevent infection.

 

A week later I was back at the hospital to see the doctor to check my progress which he said was fine. The doctor gave me a brush and cream to place around the abutment to keep it infection free whilst healing.

 

I am not using the cream as much now as it hasn’t flared up. Currently I am waiting for my fitting date which has been changed from the 21st September 2009 to 28th September 2009.

 

I am so excited and the forum here has helped me with my questions and I recommend everyone to go on there.

 

I think I am getting the Divino as that is what I was shown during my audiology testing.

Thank you for reading my story and I hope to update it when I have been fitted.

 

Caitlin.