Meet the Experts The first expert that we interviewed was Daniel Rhodin, MEng Phys, Senior Product Manager for the Osia System, followed by Ivan Gonzalez, BA, MBA, Global Product Manager for Osia Implants & Surgery. Ivan is a Cochlear™ Baha® Attract System user since 2016. What was the vision behind the Osia System? Daniel Rhodin: … Continued
“We found out that Adrian has hearing loss when she was about to turn 4 years old. She has bilateral conductive hearing loss with her right as severe and her left as moderate. Having hearing loss caused her speech to be delayed and hard to understand. Even with speech therapy, we did not see much … Continued
“I am a proud bilateral cochlear implant recipient using Cochlear’s hearing solutions. I was medically diagnosed with sensorineural hearing loss in both ears when I turned 3-years-old. What caused my hearing loss was and is still unknown today. My hearing loss journey I was a hearing aid user until I was 6 years old. My … Continued
It’s funny to write about it now, eight years ago we had no idea what a cochlear implant was. Fast forward to 2025 and we have two beautiful girls, both with bilateral cochlear implants. A hearing loss diagnosis leads to endless questions Our journey began in 2016. We had our first daughter Arielle who was born with sensorineural … Continued
“My son was born with a condition known as Microtia and Atresia. The main reason for his hearing loss is due to the absence of an ear canal. He is bilateral, which means he has no ear canal on both sides. His hearing loss is classified as being profound. We were blessed to have been … Continued
“Driving home from work, on the main internal motorway on Interstate 15, north bound traffic was stopped ahead from a car accident. Following the prompts from the accident, I came to a complete stop. A car following behind full of 4 young men texting on their phones, didn’t realize the traffic ahead had stopped. They … Continued
Can you share with us how you lost your hearing and the journey to your implant? “My name is Fiona and I am a professional ballet dancer and teacher with a cochlear implant. I was born with full hearing and always passed all my yearly hearing tests with flying colors. When I was 12, I noticed … Continued
“I was born with bilateral, congenital hearing loss, and in July 2010, an episode of severe anemia resulted in a sudden decrease in my hearing sensitivity, tinnitus and disequilibrium. Two months later, my symptoms resolved except for the hearing loss. Although I had been born with severe to profound hearing loss, the loss of the … Continued
“It was May 2020, just after the world shut down for the covid pandemic. We were at the hospital to welcome our second child wearing n95 masks and being tested for covid before entering. It was already a much different experience than when we had our first child. Abigail ‘Abby,’ was born without complications, and … Continued
Start the conversation with empathy When approaching the conversation about hearing loss, it’s a good idea to start by sharing your concern for your loved one’s well-being. If hearing aids aren’t helping them feel like they’re living their life at 100%, then they may need help acknowledging that it’s time to take the next step. … Continued
“My name is Chet and I have been an employee with Cochlear for three years. I am one-year Bimodality implanted wearing the Cochlear™ Nucleus® 8 Sound Processor on my right ear and a ReSound Nexia™ on my left ear. I was promoted to an Upgrade Solution Specialist in November of 2023 and was previously a … Continued
In 2019, our worlds changed forever. Our beautiful baby girl was born. We named her Willow. For months we had talked about how our lives were going to change and imagined how wonderfully different life would be. She was so beautiful and so perfect. Every screening at the hospital indicated that she was healthy, but … Continued
“I just celebrated my 18th birthday. For 17 of those years, I’ve been able to hear thanks to my cochlear implants. I was born with profound bilateral sensorineural hearing loss due to a connexin 26 genetic mutation. My parents were both carriers, but they didn’t know about it until I had genetic testing. I was … Continued
“When I was 3 years old, my parents noticed something seemed off with my language development. I had been learning words like most other children my age, but then I started losing that vocabulary. It got to the point where I had forgotten people’s names and when my parents would call me, I wouldn’t respond. … Continued
“I was born deaf. At only 12 months old, I underwent surgery to receive my cochlear implant. My parents actively sought out different options to help me and found Cochlear to be the most effective and efficient devices on the market. I have not known life without my cochlear implant. Coming to terms with my … Continued
“Brielle was born with hearing loss in her right ear. The doctors kept telling us she had fluid still in her right ear and to try different positions when feeding to help absorb. A few weeks later we were referred to our local Children’s Hospital in Portland. We were unsure of what this meant but … Continued
“My journey with hearing loss officially began at a young age, 4 years old specifically. When I was around the age of 2, my mother brought me to the pediatrician to ask why my speech was developing so slowly but the doctor dismissed the concerns at the time and chalked it up to me just … Continued
Strengthening Connection with Will and Denise Will first noticed his hearing loss during his time in the military. His family consistently noticed that everything around him was getting louder and louder; things like the TV and the radio. His coworkers encouraged him to go to the doctor and get his hearing checked. Will finally took … Continued
“I was born with a severe-to-profound hearing loss in the developing country of Indonesia, where resources and opportunities for the deaf are limited. The best medical advice given to my parents at the time was to wait until I was 4 years old so the doctors could run hearing tests. Which meant the first four … Continued
“Do you hear that? Total silence. Nothing but quiet. No birds chirping. No car engines roaring. ‘Click,’ like a light switch turning on, the cochlear implant allows a deaf person who is living in a world of total silence to be able to hear. Cochlear implants are electronic devices that help people hear when they … Continued
“At the age of 17, during my senior year of high school, I developed a perforated eardrum (basically a hole in my eardrum). Post-graduation I had my first ear surgery to try and close the perforation, but this surgery did not work. I then went on to have my second ear surgery to try and … Continued