Cochlear Implant for Mike

NB: This page is accepting 'pledges', which means the donations will not be paid until the target sum of $40,000 is reached. If the target is not reached by December 2015, no money will be deducted from pledgers.

Mike is 53 years old and has performed and written music for as long as he can remember: music is his lifelong passion. He has played in many bands, most recently in the cover bands The Crystal Set (pictured, Mike far left) and Acoustica (https://soundcloud.com/mikerowntreemusic/sets/acoustica-cd-1) in Abu Dhabi. He has also composed and recorded a wide catalogue of original music.

Mike has a Bachelors degree in Musical Arts and has worked for the last 25 years as an audio engineer for live music, radio, television, and as a teacher of music production.

In November 2012, Mike’s life was changed irrevocably when he woke up with a completely deaf right ear. The diagnosis was Sudden Sensorineural Hearing Loss (SSHL). http://www.californiaearinstitute.com/ear-disorders-sudden-sensorineural-hearing-loss-california.php and was exacerbated by the onset of extreme tinnitus in the right ear.

Within a month Hyperacusis (over-sensitivity) began in his left ear. A good description of hyperacusis and the impact it can have on people is here: http://www.hyperacusis.net/hyperacusis/what+is+hyperacusis/default.asp

He has seen ENT doctors, audiologists, psychiatrists, psychologists and psycho and hearing therapists. He has tried 3 different hearing aid systems which simply exacerbate the tinnitus/hyperacusis “loop”.

This condition means Mike can no longer work in his original career as a sound engineer and follow his life long passion as a musician.

This has taken a terrible toll on Mike and his family. He used to play the guitar for extended periods every day; now he can only tolerate brief bursts very occasionally. He is no longer able to teach music production or work as a sound engineer. He is not able to do or enjoy the things that formed his identity and gave him much pleasure and solace, and he has to have rain sounds in his left ear to sleep.

Over the last two and half years Mike has had a series of short-term part time jobs. With the hyperacusis, noisy work environments are a nightmare, as are normal public places such as supermarkets. At home, the need for silence "rests" means he has to spend a lot of his time by himself in his room, and loud family gatherings are intolerable. This means he can't spend as much time with his 5 year old grandson as he would like, and social time with family and friends has been greatly impacted.

Mike has now finally found a quiet full time admin desk job, for which he is very grateful, and of course he has a wonderful, supportive wife.

And HOPE. Hope that a cochlear implant will give him some of his life back. In the words of his audiologist Matt Barker: “A cochlear implant … to not only regain hearing on the right side, but to also provide stimulation to his auditory nerve which could settle the tinnitus and hyperacusis.”

He has had a cochlear implant assessment done by the Southern Cochlear Implant Trust and the finding was exemplified by Dr Bird’s (ENT surgeon) statement:

“I think personally, given the extent to which his life has been affected, and a reasonable chance of a huge improvement in his quality of life, that the possibility of some sort of funding should be entertained.”

Cochlear implants in New Zealand cost approximately $50,000 depending on the success of the operation and the post-operation therapy. Mike doesn’t qualify for New Zealand Government funding (which currently pays for the cost of one implant if the subject is completely deaf), and he has a $40,000 shortfall.

From Mike: “It may seem that to not be able to play music is not that big a deal – possibly a ‘first world’ problem. And in a way that is right. I’m still alive. I have many things to be grateful for. But since I was 11 years old, music has been my complete passion, focus and eventually my career. The loss of identity, that the loss of music in my life brings, is my greatest challenge. That, combined with the day to day impact this condition has on my life, is why I’m asking for help to fund a cochlear implant.”

Let’s see if we can help him out.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinnitus

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hyperacusis

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cochlear_implant