August, 2006 State Journal Register

Hear Hear
Mother, daughter each receive second cochlear implant to improve hearing 

By AMANDA REAVY
STAFF WRITER

Published Monday, August 14, 2006 

Michelle Tjelmeland has probably opened thousands of products and each time discarded the wrapper without a second thought.  

But last Tuesday, when she unwrapped a piece of gum, she stopped and listened to the crinkling noise of the wrapper as she crumpled it in her hand. She repeated the motion over and over again until her left ear grew accustomed to the sound.

It was one of many times Tjelmeland, 32, froze with amazement during a seemingly mundane activity that day.  She nearly fell off her chair with surprise when she heard the sound of water running on the upstairs level of her family's Springfield home while she was downstairs.

And when Tjelmeland was using a can of hairspray to put the finishing touches on her hairstyle later that evening, she couldn't get enough of the subtle hissing noise.

"I just stood there and sprayed it into the air, and I was just smiling, because I haven't heard that (before). So all those things that people totally take for granted, I'm appreciating," Tjelmeland said.

The new sounds came alive only a few hours after Tjelmeland and her 8-year-old daughter, Ellie, had their second cochlear implants activated for the first time.

The mother and daughter underwent surgery at Carle Clinic in Urbana on July 18 to have the electronic devices implanted in their non-functioning left ears. The latest procedure was another chapter in the Tjelmelands' quest for hearing.

Ellie, who was born profoundly deaf, received her first cochlear implant in 1999, when she was about 11/2 years old. Tjelmeland, who grew up with poor hearing and started to become deaf in her early 20s, right before she gave birth to Ellie, received her first implant in 2001.

They are two of only about 3,000 people worldwide who have had bilateral implants. About 22,000 children and 24,000 adults in the United States have cochlear implants, according to industry estimates.

After three weeks of pain, recovery and nerves, Tjelmeland and Ellie returned to Carle on Tuesday to have their implants hooked up to a machine that tested the implants' response to noises.

Mother and daughter clutched each other's hand, smiled with delight and shed tears at the sounds their formally non-functioning ears were unable to interpret.

"It was amazing. Ellie was hooked up first, and it was tremendous. She had never heard any sound on that side. It's basically an electrical shock to your system," Tjelmeland said. "It will definitely take some time to get used to. It's amazingly crazy, in a very good way."

The cochlear implant, a slender wire similar to a spaghetti strand, works by stimulating hair cells directly through an electrode that a surgeon inserts into the ear. The implant is lined with electrodes that emit signals at varying wavelengths.

The implant is plugged into a small computer placed over the bone behind the ear that picks up sound waves transmitted to it from the outside. The computer breaks down the sound waves into digital impulses and passes them to the implant's electrodes.

Tjelmeland and Ellie had great success with their first implants, and although the devices were not a perfect solution, both were able to detect sounds in their right ears and function in a hearing world.

But, in January, Tjelmeland started to lose hearing in her formerly good ear - her left ear, which did not have an implant but was able to detect sounds through a hearing aid.
 
"I wasn't getting any sound from it, and I couldn't hear anymore. It wore out," she said.

The typically outgoing Tjelmeland felt herself becoming depressed and withdrawn - feelings similar to when she was a new mom with Ellie and experiencing hearing loss for the first time.

These emotions led Tjelmeland to look into getting a second cochlear implant and give Ellie the opportunity to improve her hearing as well.

"I certainly wasn't going to do something to make my life better without giving her the same opportunity," she said. "The most important thing was that we let her make her own decision. I talked to her a bit about it, but (Tjelmeland's husband) Joel really did, because I didn't want her to be persuaded by my decision."

Tjelmeland said her fears were worse before the second surgery because, in getting implants, both she and Ellie were giving up hope for natural hearing.
 
"The first time I knew I still had this one ear. The second time, it's like I'm giving it to a higher power," she said.

But both mother and daughter have already begun to see the improvements with their new implants - to varying degrees.

"(Ellie) was born deaf. She's never had any stimulation in that ear whatsoever. She never wore a hearing aid in that ear because it wouldn't work ... The benefit for her will not be as huge as I will receive, just because she's never had any stimulation on that side, but she is definitely going to benefit," Tjelmeland said. "For (Ellie's) entire life, she's been walking along with one eye, and for me for a long time, it was pretty similar. Now we have two."

The new implants also use newer technology and have better capabilities than their first implants.

"The old implant, it's on the one side and you're basically seeing black and white. Now with the other side, it's a full-color plasma TV," Tjelmeland said.

To make their new implants more effective, Tjelmeland and Ellie have been instructed to take out their old implants and listen to books on tape with their other ears for the next three to six months so they can work at using their new implants to focus, hear and understand the sounds.

Meanwhile, both are adjusting to the new noises they are inundated with each day.

Last year, Tjelmeland started the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation to provide information to families struggling with hearing loss, as well as grants to help cover costs not covered by insurance for families of implant patients.

However, there are still potential risks associated with the surgery.
 
"You know, people ask if we're going to need to have surgery again. Between the fact that Ellie is 8 and I'm 32 ... probably. Technology fails, computers crash," she said.

"There is the unknown. There are no guarantees. But for everything that's awesome in life, you've got to take a risk."

Amanda Reavy can be reached at amanda.reavy@sj-r.com or 788-1525.

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