Customer Reviews

Hear Again: Back to Life with a Cochlear Implant

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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.

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!

Arlene Romoff writes of her experiences of her first year with her cochlear implant. The excitement and joy of hearing again are evident on every page. Arlene vividly shows her readers what it is like to hear the things most people take for granted, running water, crunching leaves, elevator bells and so much more. A well-written, easy to read book, I couldn't put it down! (Readers need to know that Arlene's positive experiences are not necessarily the experiences of all people who receive cochlear implants.)

although this is an older interpretation of the now newer cochlear implant system available, it is relevant to my implant in 2009 - every tiny sound and experience is mirrored in my experiences of my implant even though it about an early model they got it right back then I fell in love with this book I can still open any page and say - yep! thats what I heard and how I felt - even if I wrote it myself I would need to change nothing as it tells you what it like both Deaf and to return to normal life

I was implanted 2 years ago and probably should have read more before getting the CI. This book is magnificant. So many of the analogies she uses and experiences that Arlene encounters were so familiar to me. It is importnat to note that not all persons who are implanted do as well as Arlene or myself; sometimes they don't work at all. But it was amazing to read Arlene's story and recall my first year with sound; and because of the similiarities in our experiences I felt a kinship to Arlene. I was unable to put the book down.

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.

I'm a mother of a recently implanted child, and read many blogs written by the parents of CI children before committing to surgery. But this book provides something different - a view from the inside, so to speak. Now I have an idea of what my son might be hearing or feeling with that device.

I have gone through this life changing time recently. She explains herself as if I wrote this book along with her.