E11 - THE BEGINNING OF THE REST OF MY LIFE

My Beautiful Cyborg

In May 2017, Caroline was referred to be evaluated for a cochlear implant. Before the end of summer she was an official candidate. On December 12 a neurotology surgical team lead by Dr. Richard Liu implanted Caroline with a Cochlear CI532 slim modiolar implant. ShaSha Shi is Caroline's audiologist. January 29, 2018: Caroline's activation day. Caroline and Andreas talk about the experience of activation day. Caroline explains what it's like to sift through a sea of new sound she can't understand. Caroline is also aware that she is a rare case of being able to hear not just speech, but discriminate between speakers, hear lyrics in music. The pair are experiencing firsts they haven't had in decades and it leaves them laughing and near tears trying to figure what it all means. Gratitude, confusion, astonishment. After 30 years of being deaf, Caroline says this is her golden ticket moment, but better. If it doesn't make sense don't worry. It's day one. Andreas and Caroline will revisit things when they're not living on adrenaline. Hello World. Caroline can hear you now.