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November 3, 2006
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The Friday Flyer Assistant Editor
Betty Seebold has discovered a gift most people take for granted – the joy of being able to pick up the phone and talk to her children, the pleasure of discussing a TV show with her husband Bob, and the sensation of listening to her tiny poodles barking their excitement.
It’s been 40 years since her sense of hearing became so diminished she was unable to enjoy the kind of communication most people take for granted. But recently, that was remedied when she received a cochlear implant at the age of 81. To see the delight and appreciation in her eyes and in the eyes of her husband, it’s clear medical miracles are for every age.
Bob and Betty have lived in Canyon Lake 22 years, but it has been difficult for them to get involved with clubs and organizations because the hearing aids Betty tried were useless in a group setting. She simply couldn’t block out the background noise well enough to hear a speaker, or even someone right next to her. Not that the aids themselves were at fault – Betty simply had too much nerve damage for them to be effective in her case.
Betty first noticed her hearing diminishing when she received a new watch in high school and couldn’t hear it ticking. But the loss was so gradual she was middle-aged before a friend commented Betty wasn’t hearing what she was saying.
Even Bob, who met her while she was attending Redondo High School and married her when she was just 17, didn’t fully realize the extent of her problem, so well adept had she become at reading lips when they were face to face, and how loudly he was speaking when they weren’t.
It wasn’t until he was working under the house one day and yelling directions to Betty – without any response – that he approached her in exasperation and asked her why she wasn’t listening to him. Following that confrontation, he took her to an audiologist. The year was 1959.
The doctor explained Betty had nerve damage that was only going to get worse. He suggested a hearing aid. “I was vain and didn’t want to wear a hearing aid, so I got glasses so the aid could be hidden behind my ear,” says Betty. “The problem was, when the wind blew, it sounded like a tornado.”
Over the years, she experimented with many different types of hearing aids – some working better than others. But, for the most part, she lived in a silent world cut off from normal communication with her husband and children, not to mention friends.
Then, earlier this year, she met and spoke with a couple of people about their experience with a cochlear implant, and she and Bob began researching the latest technology.
They learned hearing aids are designed to amplify sound. However, to a person with severe to profound hearing loss, amplification won’t provide much hearing because sound is still being delivered through a damaged part of the ear.
A cochlear implant doesn’t make sounds louder – it bypasses the damaged part of the ear and sends sound directly to the auditory (hearing) nerve to provide a clearer understanding of sound and speech.
In Betty’s case, she received “Nucleus Freedom” cochlear implant system, in which one component was surgically placed into a hollowed-out section of her skull behind her ear; and the outer part of the system attached to the inner component through the use of a magnet. The outer component easily pops off when Betty is sleeping or doesn’t need to hear.
Software in the tiny system is fine-tuned by a technician over the course of subsequent visits to adjust the incoming signals to the wearer’s needs. In addition, there are four programs Betty can use to modify the sensitivity, allowing her to hear miscellaneous background noise, or narrowing the sensitivity to hear only the person with whom she’s speaking.
Although many people need special training to understand the sounds they are hearing, Betty had enough hearing earlier in her life to understand sounds and words immediately after having the surgery. One of the first things she did when she got home was to call her two sons on the phone and have a conversation – something she hadn’t been able to do for many years.
“It’s been a miracle for our family,” says Bob. “It’s opened up a whole different era in our lives. We’re more compatible – I feel like I have my companion back.”
Bob adds that they plan to sell a couple of Betty’s hearing aids, which would be a very good value for someone because they were extremely expensive and technologically advanced. Also, they would both be happy to talk to anyone who would like to find out more about the cochlear implant option. “It’s been such a blessing for us, we’ll be happy to help others,” he says. Bob and Betty can be reached at 244-0562.
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