Carol Cookson/Baha recipient
Carol Cookson, from Wilmslow in Cheshire, enjoyed her job working for a large international pharmaceutical company, where her boss of many years had been a Scotsman with a very strong voice. However, things started to go wrong when her boss moved on and she found herself working for a softly spoken Englishman whose soft tones Carol found difficult to hear.
Her father, sister and brother all had hearing problems, so developing a hearing problem herself didn’t come as a particular surprise to Carol and she reluctantly went to see a specialist for a hearing test and a scan.
But then she did get a surprise when she was told that the cause of her deteriorating hearing was an acoustic neuroma, though luckily, only the size of a pea. Carol had it removed in 2000 and made a good recovery, except that the operation left her completely deaf in her right ear.
She spent the next six years ‘cupping’ her good ear, struggling in particular to hear the grandchildren in the back of the car, and being unable to hear conversation to her right or where there was surrounding sound.
Then, Carol read in the Daily Mail about a Baha device and, through a friend with the same problem, went along to the Baha Support Group at Manchester Royal Infirmary where she realised they may be able to help her.
Carol had the Baha abutment fitted at the Manchester Royal Infirmary in January 2007, under a local anaesthetic. “Just like being at the dentist,” said Carol. She received the Baha itself eight weeks later.
“It was amazing, she said, “like moving from monochrome to technicolour. Before having the Baha, I just accepted that I was deaf in my right ear, though I felt a degree of social isolation on many occasions".
“One of the first things I noticed was that, as a passenger in the front seat of a car I could hear the driver quite clearly. Before my Baha I would have to sit at an angle, cup my left ear and strain to hear the driver's conversation. Now I hardly say ‘pardon’ once!”
"I would encourage anyone who feels their single-sided deafness to be a problem to explore the possibility of fitting a Baha device. It has certainly made a huge difference to my life."
