Hear Again: Back to Life with a Cochlear Implant

Rating:
Summary: Filled with Hope
Review: I read Arlene Romoff's book before deciding to have cochlear implant surgery. I was delighted with her matter of fact, candid, humorous, and personal diary of everyday events and the personal struggle she has gone through with a hearing loss.

Like with anything else in life we are all individuals and one persons cochlear implant journey will not be like any other. Arlene's book inspired me to make this journey for myself with no expectations and just a nervous hope that I might do as well. I am happy to say that I have surpassed my wildest dreams, and hearing my daughter's voice for the first time ever made it all worthwhile.

This book is a must read for anyone considering cochlear implant surgery. Arlene's journey to hearing again with a CI shows how the process works, how slow it might be, what obstacles you might face and gives real honest hope to anyone suffering from a severe hearing loss.

Rating:
Summary: Filled with Hope
Review: I read Arlene Romoff's book before deciding to have cochlear implant surgery. I was delighted with her matter of fact, candid, humorous, and personal diary of everyday events and the personal struggle she has gone through with a hearing loss.

Like with anything else in life we are all individuals and one persons cochlear implant journey will not be like any other. Arlene's book inspired me to make this journey for myself with no expectations and just a nervous hope that I might do as well. I am happy to say that I have surpassed my wildest dreams, and hearing my daughter's voice for the first time ever made it all worthwhile.

This book is a must read for anyone considering cochlear implant surgery. Arlene's journey to hearing again with a CI shows how the process works, how slow it might be, what obstacles you might face and gives real honest hope to anyone suffering from a severe hearing loss.

Rating:
Summary: An extraordinary jourey
Review: It has almost become a cliche, to read books about the loss of sensory input, and the adjustment to that loss. Some of these books have proven to be powerful and meaningful to read; some of them are sheer self-indulgence.

This book is a record of a different kind of journey, a joyful one, from the silence of profound deafness back to hearing, thanks to a miracle of modern medical technology, the cochlear implant.

Using her e-mails to friends and family as a starting point, Ms. Romoff weaves a gripping story of small miracles: hearing the sound of jingling keys for the first time in years, the sound of walking through fall leaves, the "crunch" of eating potato chips...to hearing her own voice once again. We take this journey with her as we read this well-written journal. The reader understands, perhaps for the first time, the unique ways deafness isolates an individual from the world around her.

By sharing the "journey back" with her, I found myself becoming more and more aware of these small miracles of sound that we hearing folk take for granted. As a fully hearing but legally blind person, who had totally blind parents, I thought I understood the isolations and frustrations of limited sensory input, but this book heightened my awareness and compassion immensely. Thank you, Ms. Romoff, for sharing this story with us!

Rating:
Summary: Great, But Incomplete
Review: This book is beautifully written by a woman who discovers that her cochlear implant has changed her life. It has many inspiring passages and, if you already have a CI, I wouldn't hesitate to recommend you read this.

However, CIs are not always so successful and, at times, are a complete flop. That is not portrayed at all and I think that many people considering a CI or who have a family member considering a CI read this book as a way to see what will happen to them next. That is unrealistic. It isn't healthy to assume that one person's results from this operation are what will happen to everyone. Of course, her experience will be had by many.....just not all. This is coming from a cochlear implant recipient who not only didn't get any success, but regrets greatly that it was performed.

Looking for inspiration? This book can provide that. Looking for an unbiased idea of what a cochlear implantee can expect? Definitely NOT a good option. Just this deafie's opinion.