Arelene Romoff

IDHV Newsletter - Nov, 2011
By Laura Bainbridge, IDHV Vice President  

Arlene Romoff experienced progressive hearing loss as an adult, ultimately leading to deafness that hearing aids could no longer amplify enough for functional use. Her first book, Hear Again: Back to Life with a Cochlear Implant, highlighted her journey toward obtaining a cochlear implant. This, her second book, describes the struggles she faced when her single implant had an internal failure after 10 years of use. 

Romoff journals the heartbreak of knowing her device had failed, the struggles associated with her weeks of returned silence, and the process of obtaining an internal component replacement. What evolves from this experience is her decision to go with bilateral implants. 

The author shares her thought processes and personal pros/cons of going through an elective surgery to obtain this second implant. As a parent of a child with bilateral implants, it was easy to relate to the same decisional struggles, the questions, and the 'what ifs'. But what Romanoff does so well is highlight the slow progression of changes she experiences when given access to sound bilaterally. She is truly brought further into the hearing world again in both subtle and significant ways through the use of bilateral implants. 

This is a great, quick read to gain insight into what one experiences with the implant/re-implant process. It has helped me re-appreciate the benefits of hearing bilaterally, which I often overlook. And it is reassuring from a parental aspect to hear an adult's perspective on the miracle of the cochlear implant. I recommend this book to those debating implantation for themselves or for a loved one.