A little over a year ago, a whole new world of sound and possibility opened for Kathryn Collins, who had been living with hearing loss since she was 24.
Since receiving her cochlear implant, Kathryn, who lives in Marton, near Palmerston North, says the impact on own her life, and her loved ones has been immense.
“It’s given me the confidence to push myself forward whereas before, I was happy to stand back because I was worried I wouldn’t able to join in and hear. It’s changed my life.”
Kathryn was born with full hearing but in her early twenties, started to notice she wasn’t hearing sounds she usually would. Using hearing aids on and off over the years, Kathryn hadn’t realised she was eligible for a cochlear implant until she was referred by a specialist. Kathryn went on the waiting list and two years to the day, received her letter notifying her she had been approved for surgery.
“When I got that letter, I was jumping up and down, I messaged all my kids, I was so excited! And on the 6 December 2021, I was finally able to get my implant. I’ll never forget that day.”
“The first week when they put it on, even the first 24 hours, my hearing had lifted from the profoundly deaf baseline. It was a big learning curve of teaching your brain what the sounds are. But my granddaughter helped me with playing ‘What’s that Sound’ with Nana. It was like teaching a baby all over again.
“At first, everything sounded like squeaks and I’d have to figure out what every noise was because it had been so long. I did have months where I was quite emotional, everything just felt a little bit loud and I found things were just too much.” But after some adjustments, and support from the SCIP team, Kathryn was able to readjust.
“It’s just been a year of real learning. Before I was quite a loner and isolated, I just felt embarrassed because I couldn’t hear what people were saying, so I wouldn’t put myself in that position.
“Whereas now, my whole life is different. Now I’m meeting up with people at the park, or meeting up with other people to go to a market, those are the sort of things I would’ve never have done.
“A while back I went away with four ladies I’d never met, and I was determined to go. Normally I would have anxiety and pull out two days before hand, but this time, I never even thought about pulling out. And that was huge in my life. I’ve taken up aqua aerobics, and I’ve made so many friends in this last year. I’m much happier in life, I’ll give anything a go.”
2022 has been a year of celebrating firsts for Kathryn, and that also includes hearing her grandchildren properly for the first time.
“Before I’d struggle hearing them, and my oldest grandchild would say to her younger sister, ‘Remember you have to talk loud! Nana’s deaf!’,” laughs Kathryn. “Christmas day last year, I was walking through the lounge and my grandson whistled. And I turned around and I said, ‘I heard that! I heard you whistle! Do it again!’ It was the first time I’d heard him do that, and it’s just amazing. And to hear them giggling, I didn’t realise how much I was missing until I started to hear it all again.”