Miss-Delectable
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Deaf woman regained hearing after life-changing surgery... but it cost her the sense of taste | Mail Online
A deaf woman has regained her hearing after life-changing surgery, only to lose her sense of taste.
Soozie Tarkenter, 40, was the happy beneficiary of a cochlear implant which allowed her to hear for the very first time.
But because the device is so close to her facial nerves it has completely numbed her sense of taste. Soozie said: 'I couldn't believe the difference when they switched the implant on.
'I could hear everything so clearly, it's incredibly strange but brilliant at the same time. But because the implant area is so close to my facial nerves I lost my sense of taste.
'It may come back - but if it doesn't it's a small price to pay for being able to hear again.'
Artist Soozie, of Innellan near Dunoon, Scotland, could not understand why she had begun to struggle in school. This led teachers to place her in the remedial class.
It wasn't until she attended Cardonald College at the age of 18 that Soozie realised her condition. She is only being able to hear extremely high and low notes. She was immediately tested and fitted with her first analogue hearing aid.
Soozie said: 'Everyone at school just thought I was thick. I was struggling and I didn't know why. It turns out I couldn't hear, but I had always been that way so I thought everyone was the same as me.
'When I had my first hearing aid I thought things would get better, but it was awful. People think that putting on a hearing aid is like putting on glasses - that your hearing is instantly fine.
'It's not like that. It just seemed to amplify all the rubbish around me. I thought my life was over.'
But on August 19 last year she was fitted with an electronic cochlear implant, which was surgically inserted into the inside of her ear. The moment the implant was activated a week later she could hear everything.
Soozie, who is married to husband John, 42, a gardener, said: 'The first song I heard was Lost in Music by Sister Sledge.
'It was amazing listening to the words and the melody - before all I could pick up were some bass notes. You have to train your brain to tell what different things are because it is not used to it.
'I still have problems hearing conversations if the washing machine is on in the background but I will get used to that and eventually my brain will filter out the things I don't want to hear.
'It's changed my life. I do miss the taste of some things like wine, but the bonus is I can handle really spicy curry.'
Soozie has produced an exhibition based on her experience, called 'Cornflakes are Noisy'.
A deaf woman has regained her hearing after life-changing surgery, only to lose her sense of taste.
Soozie Tarkenter, 40, was the happy beneficiary of a cochlear implant which allowed her to hear for the very first time.
But because the device is so close to her facial nerves it has completely numbed her sense of taste. Soozie said: 'I couldn't believe the difference when they switched the implant on.
'I could hear everything so clearly, it's incredibly strange but brilliant at the same time. But because the implant area is so close to my facial nerves I lost my sense of taste.
'It may come back - but if it doesn't it's a small price to pay for being able to hear again.'
Artist Soozie, of Innellan near Dunoon, Scotland, could not understand why she had begun to struggle in school. This led teachers to place her in the remedial class.
It wasn't until she attended Cardonald College at the age of 18 that Soozie realised her condition. She is only being able to hear extremely high and low notes. She was immediately tested and fitted with her first analogue hearing aid.
Soozie said: 'Everyone at school just thought I was thick. I was struggling and I didn't know why. It turns out I couldn't hear, but I had always been that way so I thought everyone was the same as me.
'When I had my first hearing aid I thought things would get better, but it was awful. People think that putting on a hearing aid is like putting on glasses - that your hearing is instantly fine.
'It's not like that. It just seemed to amplify all the rubbish around me. I thought my life was over.'
But on August 19 last year she was fitted with an electronic cochlear implant, which was surgically inserted into the inside of her ear. The moment the implant was activated a week later she could hear everything.
Soozie, who is married to husband John, 42, a gardener, said: 'The first song I heard was Lost in Music by Sister Sledge.
'It was amazing listening to the words and the melody - before all I could pick up were some bass notes. You have to train your brain to tell what different things are because it is not used to it.
'I still have problems hearing conversations if the washing machine is on in the background but I will get used to that and eventually my brain will filter out the things I don't want to hear.
'It's changed my life. I do miss the taste of some things like wine, but the bonus is I can handle really spicy curry.'
Soozie has produced an exhibition based on her experience, called 'Cornflakes are Noisy'.
