Hearing Part 2: Allison’s Ears

Hearing Part 2: Allison’s Ears

As I mentioned in the Prologue, Allison contracted bacterial Meningitis when she was almost four-years-old. Specifically, she had Hib Meningitis, a type of bacterial meningitis caused by Haemophilus influenzae type b.

Meningitis is an infection of the tissue or membranes (meninges) that surround the brain and spinal cord. The illness often starts with a respiratory infection, the bacteria from which then travels through the blood to the brain and spinal column. Most people survive without any lasting effects, but for others, these bacterial organisms continue on through the cerebrospinal fluid into the inner ear, usually resulting in damage to the hair cells lining the inside of the cochlea. These hair cells (explained in a previous post, “Hearing Part 1”) are a vital bridge from the outside world to the brain. They take the mechanical sound waves coming into the ear and convert them, via chemical messengers, into electrical impules that the brain can understand. 

The extent of the damage to the inner ear varies from individual to individual. For Allison, it was severe – profound hearing loss in both ears, with the hair cells in her left ear totally and completely wiped out. There was nothing to be done and a hearing aid would not help. The hair cells in her right ear, though, faired a little better. She was able to hear a little bit with a good hearing aid turned up to the loudest setting. 

In spite of this, Allison was very lucky. First of all, her language skills and vocabulary were extraordinary. Tested at four-years-old, she was speaking on the level of an average six-year-old. And second, she was really, really smart (which she still is, of course). For example, long before my parents knew she was deaf – even before she left the hospital, my mother recalls – Allison began asking only yes or no questions. Reading lips came easily to her and she quickly picked up anything and everything Lil, her first teacher, showed her.

Wearing a hearing aid in her right ear, reading lips, paying attention to body language – this was how Allison functioned for over 33 years. Then, about seven years ago, things began to change. She started having trouble understanding our mother on the phone, our mother being, basically, the only person she could really understand on a phone in the first place. She began having more and more trouble understanding strangers, and finally, she could no longer enjoy music at all. 

This change wasn’t entirely unexpected. This happens to people who lose their hearing the way she did, from Meningitis or Rubella or Measles – in their late thirties, they begin to go completely deaf.

And this is where Allison found herself until two weeks ago, when she got her cochlear implant. 

She’s been recovering, and doesn’t feel too great, but tomorrow, they power on her processor. 

They turn on her new ear. 

4 – 3 – 2 – 1 . . . and you’re on the air, Allie!

I love you, we love you, and you’re going to do great.