Don's Story

I was diagnosed with substantial hearing loss in my mid-thirties and would require hearing aids. Approximately every five years I would have to move to a stronger rated hearing aid as the loss continued to accelerate.

At the age of 60 I found myself very frustrated with excessive hearing loss. The hearing aids were expensive, not covered by insurance and now only increased the sound not speech clarity. They did not help with my ability to understand what was being said and I found myself withdrawing from social activities.

This inability to hear and understand was also having a negative effect on my business. I owned a Sales Business that required a lot of verbal communication with my customers.

In 2017 I decided to try a new Audiologist. I had some friends that referred me to Albuquerque Speech Language & Hearing Center. I was given a hearing test and had my hearing aids adjusted on two separate visits.

The Audiologist I was assigned to retired and I was moved to Stephanie Sanchez. She and I discussed my issues with hearing and Stephanie suggest we do another hearing test. Upon completion she told me she felt I might be a candidate for a Cochlear Implant. She explained in detail with pictures what the device was and suggested I have her set me up to see Christine Epstein at Presbyterian Ear Institute.

When I went to Christine she gave me a thorough exam and hearing test. Upon completion she told me in detail where and what my hearing loss was all about.

Christine explained why a hearing aid could only increase the sound and not help with understanding what was being said. She spent the time necessary explaining how the Cochlear implant would allow me to hear much better. She suggested I attend the Albuquerque Cochlear monthly meeting and visit with some implant recipients and get their input.

My wife, Paula and I attended three meetings and talked with people that had the implant. My wife and I agreed I should have this surgery as soon as possible. I returned to Christine to discuss our decision. We reviewed the products available for my needs. I chose the Nucleus 7 Cochlear Implant. She then referred me to Dr. Horn to discuss my request and confirm the surgery dates.

I had the implant surgery in July of 2018. It took about 1 ½ hours and I was allowed to go home that same evening.

On my next appointment August 7th Dr. Horn confirmed that everything went very well. Christine turned the device on and I immediately started hearing and understanding things better than I had for years!

I then returned to my Audiologist, Stephanie Sanchez to discuss getting the Resound Hearing Aid that would stream with my Nucleus 7 Implant along with my mobile phone so I could hear better when using it. She explained how and why it would work and I purchased it.

All I can say is: THANK YOU ALL. This has been a FANTASTIC EXPERENCE.

I love hearing again!!!!! – Don Squires