Teaming up: Goulburn Valley Hearing Clinic audiologist Elizabeth Webster and Joe Barker are letting the community know cochlear implant services are available in the region.
Photo by
James Kleeman
For Goulburn Valley residents, having a cochlear implant often means regular trips to Melbourne, firstly for the surgery itself, and then for post-operative appointments for the 12 months that follow.
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After the operation, having an implant requires regular follow-up appointments as you “tune in” and learn to live with the new device.
This is an issue the Goulburn Valley Hearing Clinic is looking to address, by providing post-operative appointments closer to home for recipients of a cochlear implant.
Joe Barker started having hearing problems in 2005.
The sound of “roaring” in his right ear quickly escalated into balance and visual impairment, which began to hamper his ability to work.
“I started to hear a ringing, roaring in my right ear,” Mr Barker said.
“From there it started to get worse, one day driving a truck on the ring road I blacked out and ran the truck off the road.
“That meant the loss of my job, and then tests began. After six to eight months of testing the heart specialist here in Shepparton told me I had Meniere’s disease.”
Meniere's disease is a rare disorder of the inner ear that leads to vertigo, and eventually, hearing loss.
After several years of wearing a hearing aid, Mr Barker’s hearing in his right ear dropped to a level where the hearing aid was rendered useless.
In 2015, Mr Barker visited the Goulburn Valley Hearing Clinic and received a referral from audiologist Elizabeth Webster, a long-standing employee of the practice, to the cochlear implant clinic at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne.
Years of experience: Audiologist Elizabeth Webster has recently received cochlear implant training at the Eye and Ear Hospital in Melbourne.
Photo by
James Kleeman
Ms Webster said when hearing aids were no longer any use, people, such as Mr Barker, began to “withdraw” from social settings, and an implant became a clear next step.
“An implant became a discussion for Joe because his hearing aid was no longer meeting his needs,” Ms Webster said.
“People with hearing loss can’t talk on the phone, hear the TV, and they withdraw from social situations.
“The amount of energy people with hearing loss have to spend trying to hear and concentrate, by the end of the day they’re exhausted.”
Ms Webster recently undertook cochlear implant training at the Eye and Ear Hospital, in an effort to assist those with implants in the region to reduce their lengthy travel to hospital.
“In the past, the issue for the local community in accessing the services has been the travel to Melbourne,” she said.
“Some people have decided not to get the implant because of that commitment to travel, particularly in the first 12 months following because it requires regular appointments.
“This service is for the community. I’ve been an audiologist for many years so it’s been good to get stuck into something a bit different and offer my services in a different way.”
Mr Barker, now 67, has experienced a significant improvement to his hearing since getting the implant in 2015.
He wanted people in the community to know that if hearing loss was a problem, options were available to them.
“It’s been a massive improvement to the hearing aid,” Mr Barker said.
“I was struggling everywhere I went, you become a recluse when you lose your hearing and don’t interact with people talking — it becomes easier to be deaf than to hear.
“The most important thing is for people to know what’s out there for them.”
New lease on life: Joe Barker received a cochlear implant in his right ear in 2015.
Photo by
James Kleeman
