Barry, now 61, knew from his schooldays that his ears and eyes were not as sharp as they should have been, but didn’t really know why.
Barry tells his story...
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He later discovered that his reason for deafness was Oto Sclerosis (abnormal growth of bone in the middle ear. This bone prevents structures within the ear from working properly and causes hearing loss).
As Barry trained as a psychiatric nurse in Chichester, he was aware of a gradual decline in his hearing. He had a number of operations on his ear, to free the chain of bones in the middle ear and a stapedectomy, but neither improved things very much. He tried spectacles with a bone conductor arm, which were very uncomfortable, then small canal aids, more comfortable, but these caused middle ear problems, then, as his hearing continued to deteriorate slowly, they were just not powerfull enough.
When Barry was 50 years old, his poor vision meant he had to retire from nursing. He managed to do some office work for the next three years, then retired completely. He became increasingly isolated because his hearing was so poor, until his ENT surgeon suggested he have a Baha.
Barry had his first Baha fitted at the Radcliffe Infirmary in Oxford, in 2003, then a second Baha three years later. With his new lease of life, Barry, who lives with long suffering wife (Barry’s own words!) in Guernsey, can now enjoy looking after his two grandsons, aged nine and eleven, when their parents are working, or they have to take a day off school.
