Octogenarian Lenni Allen has proved you are never too old to get a cochlear implant, and her message to others is, “Get it done, you won’t regret it.”
“I’ve always thought younger people should have a cochlear implant, not me. But there came a time that I thought, yes this is a good move.”
That time for Lenni was the decision to sell their large house and 7-acre property on the Otago Peninsula. “After the sale, I knew I’d have some extra money left over which I could spend on my cochlear implant. And it’s been so worth it. If it wasn’t so expensive I’d get the other one done.”
Lenni, who is a great-grandmother, wasn’t always hearing impaired.
“I saw photos of myself when I was little with my hands covering my ears because I couldn’t bear the noise of people shouting. I could hear a pin drop. But that didn’t last. In my 30s I noticed I was missing things and I went to the doctor who said I was going deaf, and at first I didn’t want to believe it but yes, she was right. I was going deaf.”
Lenni, who worked in the Department of Education lecturing at a teacher’s college for sixteen years said she largely relied on lip reading and body language.
“I used to say to the students, if you ask me something and I answer with something stupid, just laugh and ask me again. Because when you’re trying hard to understand it’s easy to assume the question, and answer totally inappropriately. I don’t know how I coped, I really don’t. A lot of guesswork.”
During her time working with an access program, Lenni misheard an important conversation she was having with someone who had a traumatic experience, and it was then she decided to get hearing aids. “I couldn’t go along as I was, guessing. It’s too important in some cases.”
After wearing hearing aids for many years, Lenni was finally able to self-fund her cochlear implant after the sale of her house and she was excited for the future. “I was nervous, but not that much. I’d done a lot of reading and my audiologist had been saying for years I should have a cochlear implant.”
Lenni’s operation went smoothly, however on the way to her switch-on appointment, Lenni had a painful accident that delayed the process.
“I was going out to be switched on and we stopped off at a cafe, and I tripped and fell and broke my arm. This meant I couldn’t travel easily as it was so painful, so my switch-on was delayed while I was in the hospital.
“But I think because my switch on was delayed, the swelling had gone down and when I was eventually switched on, I could hear everything! It was just amazing. I could hear words, I just couldn’t believe it.”
Lenni says that before her cochlear implant, she was avoiding interacting with people or visiting places she knew would be difficult to hear. “I was just feeling really bad, I knew that I was withdrawing from social situations. I think having to try to hear all the time is really taxing. It’s tiring to have to concentrate so hard on hearing.”
But now, Lenni has been able to expand her social circle – she volunteers at the local museum, has joined two new handcraft groups and enjoys spending time at her local bowls club, going out for coffee with her husband and other friends, and having visitors over.
“I know that my speech is better, and I don’t get tinnitus as much either.
“Being able to relax among people when I’m in a group situation is just wonderful. I don’t have to constantly say ‘pardon? What did you say?'”
Lenni is also looking forward to welcoming another great-grandchild into the world. “It will definitely be a different experience with my new great-grandchild as I can hear so much more.”
“I think when you are in your 80s, you think how much am I going to gain from this? But it was so worth it, it’s life-changing.”