A Cardenden woman who was almost deaf has praised the ”hero” Ninewells Hospital consultant who restored her hearing.
Susan Rae (52) has become the first person in Scotland to receive an advanced ear implant, meaning she can now speak to her grandchildren on the phone for the first time in years.
She said: ”The difference was instantaneous. On November 18 I went in to have my Soundbridge fitted and got it switched on in February.
”Previously if someone was speaking to me with their back to me I couldn’t hear them. I knew they were speaking but I didn’t know what they were saying.”
Susan suffered from bad ear infections when she was a little girl but it wasn’t until she got a job at the Royal Naval dockyard in Rosyth when she was 29 she knew she had a severe problem.
”I had a medical test and they told me I only had about 75% of my hearing,” she said.
Over the years her hearing got worse until eventually Peter, her ”long-suffering” husband, said enough was enough.
”He said to me: ‘You know your hearing’s really awful, that TV’s far too loud,’ Susan said.
She went to hospital in Kirkcaldy where her consultant instantly suggested the Soundbridge implant. She was referred on to Dr Stephen Jones at Ninewells, who fitted the implant in November.
”Mr Jones is just my hero,” Susan said. ”I can actually feel my confidence returning day by day. I used to withdraw from group conversations and avoided such situations as too many people speaking at once meant I couldn’t make out what was being said. This is not a problem now.”
Ear, nose and throat consultant Dr Jones said that while the implant has been around for about 15 years this is the first time it has been fitted in Scotland.
”It’s expensive and it’s taken time for it to take hold in the UK,” he said. ”There are some centres doing it in England now but this is the first here.”
He said the benefit of the new implant was that unlike bone anchored hearing aids they are not susceptible to infections, leaving Susan free from irritation and, more importantly, able to hear properly for the first time in over 20 years.