Cochlear Implants Give Bucks Nursing Student Second Chance To Hear

WARMINSTER, PA — After experiencing hearing loss for years, a nursing student from Warminster was given a second chance to hear after she received cochlear implants.

Kelsie Mitchell, 25, originally from the Somerton neighborhood of Philadelphia, began experiencing bilateral sensorineural hearing loss about two years ago. Initially believing it was fluid in her ears that was making it hard to hear, the diagnosis of a greater threat to her hearing came as a surprise.

"It was definitely a huge shock to find that out," Mitchell told Patch.

An Honors student in Bucks County Community College's nursing program, Mitchell began to have trouble hearing during her classes and became concerned that this would affect her grades.

A visit to an ears, nose, and throat specialist put Mitchel in contact with an audiologist who set her up with cochlear implants, which were considered a better choice than the hearing aids she had been using for a few months before.

Once the diagnosis was complete, Mitchell qualified for the implants, which are described as "a small, complex electronic device that can help to provide a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard-of-hearing" by the National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders. On March 25, she had them implanted.

"It wasn't like an 'ah-ha' moment that some people have, where it's emotional and they're crying and they're like 'Oh my God, this is amazing!'," Mitchell told Patch. "At first, it was a lot of noise and ringing and sharp noises."

It was on the second visit to the audiologist that Mitchell began to hear better through the implants.

"The second time, [the audiologist] turned it on and I immediately hear her talking," she said. "I wasn't expecting to hear voices out of it right away, and I was so relieved that I did."

Dr. Amy Safran-Henderson, an instructor and clinical otolaryngology at the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University, has been working with Mitchell since before her surgery, checking her implants and her progress with them. She told Patch that while hearing loss is not uncommon, Mitchell's case is pretty rare because she didn't experience hearing loss at a young age.

"It appears that her hearing loss is progressive, so it will continue to decrease or decline," Safran-Henderson told Patch. "She's certainly not the only person that this happens to, but generally, it tends to be more common to either see childhood hearing loss emerge either at birth or shortly after birth, or more minimal amounts of hearing loss throughout childhood."

According to Safran-Henderson, late-term hearing loss such as Kelsie's is usually caused by a genetic component or infection. Disability rights advocate Helen Keller famously lost her hearing due to an infection at a young age.

The cochlear implants that Mitchell received work with the cochlea, an organ in the ear canal that is responsible for hearing. While they have been around since the 1970s, they didn't become popular until the 1990s. With updates to the technology being made every five to 10 years, Kelsie has the most up-to-date version of the cochlear implants.

Sitting on the back of the head with an internal part working with the cochlea, the device is made to last patients a lifetime, with upgrades coming every few years. Safran-Henderson went into detail as to how the technology works.

"When there's damage, such as in the case with Kelsie, those cells in the cochlea are just not responding very well, so what ends up happening is even though the sound is coming in, the cells are just not responding," Safran-Henderson said. "We can actually replace that with cochlear implants. We're actually implanting a physical device into that organ of hearing, and we're now taking the place of those cells."

Now that she had her hearing back, Mitchell plans on working with animals after she graduates from Bucks County Community College. She hopes to buy a home with a lot of land to create her own farm sanctuary.

"I started volunteering with animals right out of high school, and once I started volunteering, it just lit a fire in me," she said. "I never realized I had such a passion for animals until then." She continues to work with animals at a local animal shelter.

Both Mitchell and Safran-Henderson want people to know that hearing loss is not uncommon and that those experiencing it should seek professional help while they still can.

“The general population does not always understand how isolating hearing loss can be,” Mitchell said. “But hearing loss is not something to be ashamed of. Don’t be afraid to communicate what you need from others to be comfortable in a conversation.”