Returning to a world with sound

When Maggi Gregory woke up unable to hear, her life was turned upside down. Now, she is hearing clearly for the first time in a decade. As Gretel Mead reports.

For Buchfelde’s Maggi Gregory, losing her hearing overnight was something she never expected would happen to her.

But now, 10 years’ on, the 78-year-old has a new lease on life, after receiving a cochlear implant – a tiny piece of technology that has undoubtably improved the quality of her life.

“It was the best decision I ever made,” Maggi said.

“This journey started for me at the beginning of last year but I lost my hearing back in 2013.

“At the time, I had a virus and when I woke up, I couldn’t hear.

“I didn’t know what was happening,” she said sadly, remembering the traumatic time.

For Maggi, the process of regaining her hearing has been long and challenging at times, beginning with the assistance of a hearing aid – which unfortunately wasn’t enough to support her moving forward.

“Hearing aids are basically just a microphone which they turn up to give you a better chance at hearing,” Maggi said.

“But sometimes, that just doesn’t work for you, because either your hearing has deteriorated too much, or it’s just not right the right technology for you.”

Maggi said she began to feel the social impacts of hearing loss, which prompted her and her husband John, to consider alternatives.

“I did as well as I possibly could for a few years until we decided that hearing was very important and made it a priority of ours,” Maggi said.

“Even with my hearing aid, I couldn’t hear the television or a phone call.

“I would go out for a meal and go to the movies with a group of my friends because it was a social thing to do - even though I couldn’t hear very much.

“I went to quiz nights, fundraisers, and I did it because as a group that’s what we like to do.

“Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been socially active and I really wanted to be.”

Maggi said she had considered cochlear implant technology on multiple occasions, but changed her mind at the last minute due to a lack of understanding of the procedure and its benefits.

“I had a contact for a cochlear specialist in Sydney, who I had talked to over the phone and via email, but at that time I was also booked in to to see my audiometrist for my 12-month check-up,” Maggi said.

“The specialist had made an appointment for me with the South Australian Cochlear Implant Centre (SACIC), but I was nervous and so was John, so I cancelled the appointment and instead bought new hearing aids.

“This was the turning point for me, because those hearing aids didn’t help me at all.

“They were the latest technology, top of the range, but I just couldn’t get along with them.”

It wasn’t until a restless night months later, that Maggi stumbled across an advertisement for a cochlear implant seminar, hosted by SACIC at the Vine Inn Community Hotel, Nuriootpa.

“We decided to go and we were lucky enough to meet Nina Swiderski, one of the Audiologist’s from SACIC, who spent quite a lot of time with us and actually explained very carefully how hearing works and why the hearing aids weren’t helping me,” Maggi said.

It was that conversation that led Maggi to rebook her cochlear implant consultation, and from there, she undertook seven to eight months of assessment before undergoing the surgery in February this year.

It was a surgery that transformed her life.

With a smile on her face, Maggi explained, “I’m doing really well, now I’m hearing in both ears at the same time and that has been fantastic.”

“I’m also now back in the world of having a chat on the phone with friends, so that’s been another little highlight in my life too.

“I’ve still got work to do because my brain is still in the retraining stage to accept the cochlear, but between the cochlear team and the work John and I do – I’m doing extremely well.”