Base Camp

The beginning...

My journey to a cochlear implant started one fine July day in 2007 - although the trek to 'base camp' was a long one.

On that July morning, while on holiday in the Picos de Europa in Cantabria (Spain) I took a cable car ride - with my wife Jane and eight year old son Alex - at Funte De. As we reached the top, my right ear began to feel different, then sound began to disappear. I hoped that a barotrauma had temporarily left me deaf, but on the wonderful walking descent to Espinama, nothing changed. I was deafened. For the rest of the holiday, even after returning from the mountains to sea level, there was no return to 'normal' hearing.

Before the onset of full hearing loss I'd had a mild to moderate loss in my right ear, which a hearing aid enabled me to cope with, and total hearing loss in my left from more or less birth. At both Oxford University (1997-2005) and Middlesex University (2005-) I'd held senior jobs that required a fair degree of interaction and usually - except on 'bad hearing days' - I coped well. The transition to more or less profound hearing loss was totally different.

Immediately on return from holiday I saw a GP who said, 'It's probably barotrauma....come back in 6 weeks', then after that six week delay I saw a consultant who said, 'It's possibly barotrauma still, although the readings don't suggest it...come back in December'. I was not impressed.

So I went to see Professor Tony Wright privately at 150 Harley Street, who immediately insisted on a referral to his colleagues comprising the utterly brilliant team at the Royal National Throat Nose and Ear Hospital in London.

That's base camp...now read on as we prepare to tackle the summit. As I write this I don't know if I'll meet the criteria for one, if I'll go ahead and have one...anything, other than that I know this is probably my only option if I want to retain a semblance of membership of the hearing world. (And to those Deaf readers, I DO know that I want to continue as far as possible to remain in a 'hearing' world, albeit as a deafened person).