Mary Ann is an active 77-year-old who received her first cochlear implant in 2015 after struggling to communicate. She then upgraded to the Cochlear™ Nucleus® 7 Sound Processor and most recently the Kanso® 2 Sound Processor. Discover why Mary Ann loves how the Kanso 2 Sound Processor provides the same features and hearing performance as her Nucleus 7 Sound Processor, but with more simplicity and convenience.
Mary Ann loves the outdoors. She is a master gardener and native plant enthusiast working as a consultant for people in her area who have gardening questions. She has struggled with hearing loss since her 40’s due to her career as a hairstylist. Back then, the dryers and blowers had a high-pitched squeal and over time, it left her with damaged hearing and ringing in her ears. She began wearing a hearing aid on her right ear. Then one afternoon, while delivering a meal to a friend recovering from surgery, Mary Ann was in a car accident that caused damage to her other ear. When the paramedics arrived, Mary Ann realized she was not able to hear at all.
Decision to be implanted
Mary Ann lost her husband a short time later. It was after the loss of her husband that she realized how dependent she had become on her husband to be her ears. She was unable to hear on the phone, communicate with friends and family and take care of the family business. “I have to be part of this world I am living in. I have to hear.” At the recommendation of her audiologist, she was implanted in 2015 and received a Cochlear Nucleus 6 Sound Processor.
Mary Ann believed she would hear right away, like putting on a pair of glasses to see. She immediately realized her experience wasn’t like that, but she worked hard to retrain her brain to hear even the softest of sounds. To this day she regularly hears new sounds she didn’t even know she had been missing. Daily, she walks her dogs through the woods behind her house and not only hears the birds chirping but can also identify the direction they are coming from. “My cochlear implant gave me my life back.”
Upgrading: off-the-ear versus behind-the-ear
Mary Ann upgraded her Nucleus 6 Sound Processor to the Nucleus 7 Sound Processor. She enjoyed the sound quality of the behind-the-ear sound processor, the control of the Nucleus Smart App and the benefits of hearing in various environments1. She also loved the small and lightweight design.
Then, Mary Ann heard about the new off-the-ear Kanso 2 Sound Processor in the summer of 2020 and she immediately said “I’ll take it!” The Kanso 2 Sound Processor provides the same features and hearing performance as her Nucleus 7 Sound Processor, but with more simplicity and convenience because of the built-in battery. “Take it off, put it in the dryer/charger, place it on your head. It is so easy to use.” The off-the-ear style of the Kanso 2 Sound Processor allows Mary Ann the freedom to focus simply on understanding speech. “With the Kanso 2 Sound Processor, I just hear. I don’t even think about the device. It’s so streamlined. Upgrading was a no-brainer for me!”
Support through the process
Mary Ann utilized a Cochlear Customer Relationship Specialist to assist her in placing the order for her Kanso 2 Sound Processor upgrade. “Lauren took care of everything from placing my order to helping with the process to answering my questions along the way! She knew things I didn’t even know I needed to know. The process was so smooth. I always felt at ease. I never worried about anything.”
Interested in upgrading? Learn more about the Kanso 2 Sound Processor.
- The Cochlear Nucleus Smart App is available on App Store and Google Play. For compatibility information, visit www.cochlear.com/compatibility.
