My name is Chris Wigg andI have suffered from deafness since I was a child of 11 possibly as a result of contracting measles. My brother, Mark also caught the disease and also became deaf. Although the disability was only mild to start with, it was enough of a handicap to affect my schooling.



When I was at school in the 1960's there was little deaf awareness and support was non existent. I gave up studying French at A level because I found the aural part too difficult. A hearing aid was fitted with little success as the frequencies I was losing were in the high ranges.



Over time I developed coping strategies. However over the years my hearing gradually deteriorated to the point where I was able to hear very little. It was at this point in 1997 that I decided to have a cochlear implant on the NHS and the operation was performed by Mr Fitzgerald O'Connor at St Thomas's hospital in London.

The operation was difficult due to the ossification of my cochlear and only four of ten electrodes were successfully implanted. However the results were encouraging and after several months getting used to the new sounds it was proving very useful. Although the quality of sound was not good enough to appreciate music which I regretted as I was a guitarist and singer.

This blog will aim to help other deaf people and offer advise on cochlear implants and deafness in general.