August 29, 2006 is a date I'll never forget. That Monday morning my husband and I were sitting in my doctor's office, waiting anxiously for the activation of the cochlear implant I'd had the week before. I was anxious and a bit worried, wondering what hearing for the first time in my life would sound like. Would it change me somehow?

I was born deaf, 42 years ago, in Illinois. My mother had German measles while she was pregnant and that caused my hearing impairment. I had some residual hearing, but very slight. Actually, not even with hearing aids I was able to understand more than 20% of what people said. However, I was mainstreamed into regular public schools most of my life and I was raised with sign language. Being deaf was just another part of who I was. Some kids had freckles, some had big teeth. I was deaf. Not a big deal in the overall course of my childhood. I was a happy, normal kid.

But now my life was about to change. I was "chatting" with my husband in the way we had always done it-through sign language, but something was different when, all of the sudden, I had to pause. We were "talking!" For a second or two I was not sure what was going on. It seemed I didn't need to follow his hand gestures any more. I realized that I was hearing. Perceiving the sound of my nails tapping together as I signed and hearing my husband's hands as he signed, was an experience out of this world. Then I heard his voice and my doctor's voice too. I was amazed. I had no point of reference so I can't say how different I found the way they sounded from what I had imagined. Truth is, I've never thought about how their voices would sound. It's difficult to explain, but I guess it's like watching a documentary about Africa versus actually being there, enjoying the view, feeling the heat, perceiving the smells and tasting new flavors.

Hearing certain sounds for the first time was and still is an overwhelming experience. I don't know how to explain it but I can say that, so far it's been way beyond what I expected. It's like being born again. I am relearning the world. For example, the first time I heard the water running I didn't know what it was, until somebody told me and then I made the connection. It wasn't the way I registered with the help of hearing aids. It's a totally different experience.

I am surprised by every sound, no matter how insignificant; for example, by the unique sound of a felt-tip pen across paper, the dull hum of an air-conditioner coming to life and my audiologist, reciting the days of the week.

There are several other sounds that I'm just discovering. As I said, I used hearing aids before, but the overall experience is not the same. It's just not as multidimensional as regular hearing. For example, when taking a Speech Discrimination Test (also known as Word Recognition Test) before the implant the specialist found I was able to understand only 24 per cent of what I was being told. I repeated the test, making use of the implant only and the hearing range increased to 81 per cent and jumped to 91 per cent when I also added a hearing aid.

Being able to perceive many sounds at the same time and letting your brain filter them and prioritize them is a unique experience. People who have always heard are not aware of the many sounds that surround us. They have learned to live with background noises and focus on what captures their attention. For me it's a process I need to go through until it feels normal.

I'm not having big difficulties adjusting to this whole new ability, though. Maybe it's because I was raised to live in the "hearing world." Most of the time, I was part of a regular hearing classroom with hearing kids. Later, when learning became more complex, things grew to be increasingly difficult, so I moved to a self-contained class for spelling and reading. Eventually, I had to attend a residential school, the Illinois School for the Deaf, when I was about 12 years old. I spent five years there until I graduated.

Because of what I experienced then and what I continue to experience, I know what's like to be part of two worlds: the "deaf world" and the "hearing world." The latest is a lot noisier. Seriously! In the "hearing world" you have immediate access to important information. Communication is easier - and safer - things like emergency weather bulletins that are inaccessible to the deaf now catch my immediate attention.

I'm enjoying music and the sound of my husband's voice. I also love hearing my mom on the cell phone. It's wonderful! To be honest I don't think I really imagined what they would sound like - or what I would sound like, for that matter. Even though I wore a hearing aid, I was able to hear only very loud sounds. I understood what was going on thanks to my lip reading abilities and the sign language. For me, the way people sounded was not a measure of how I identified them.

I'm not sure if I've heard anything I really dislike yet, but I have to admit that I have been confused by some sounds. Since I've never heard certain sounds before, I often hear one, then have to figure out what it is. It could be as simple as the hum from my computer but because I've never heard it before I have to investigate and ask my hearing co-workers to help me identify the "mystery sound."

Contrary to what some people may expect, I haven't really noticed any changes in my other senses - at least not yet. Being deaf has naturally strengthened my vision and my peripheral vision. I don't think the implant will cause that strength to go away overnight - or at all.

I am still deaf. I will always be part of the deaf culture. There is no surgery that can erase a lifetime of being deaf. In fact, I had the implant only in one of my ears - the right - and if I take out the implant I have no residual hearing in that ear. I am just a deaf person with a cochlear implant. More and more people are getting implants and the fact that I have one will broaden my knowledge and experience as a professional in the field. I'll be better able to relate to that segment of deafness.

In essence it's the same as if I was to move to Sweden and learn to speak Swedish. Will that make me a Swedish person? No, it will make me an adventurous American who speaks Swedish and lives in Sweden. I'll have access to two languages, English and Swedish. I don't think there is any confusion about something like that. It's really no different for a deaf person with a cochlear implant. In my case, I have access to two languages, American Sign Language and spoken English.

I've spent my whole life working with deaf people, and now that I can hear, I have better tools to help them live in the hearing world. I went to Gallaudet University in Washington, D.C. Gallaudet is the only deaf university in the world. I graduated in 1988 with my bachelor's degree. That's when a movement called "Deaf President Now" took place. It was my senior year of college and it was a big thing! I got my master's at North Carolina State University. At Gallaudet, all the teachers signed but NCSU was the first experience I had with a sign language interpreter in the classroom. After graduating, I started my career as a recruiter for Gallaudet University. I soon moved to Florida and worked in the public school system as a teacher for deaf and hard of hearing children.

I would go into people's homes and work with them on how to prepare the children in their home environment for success at school. The focus was early intervention in language and communication with the family. I also addressed the grieving process, so they could better accept a child with a hearing loss. I did that for a year and a half and then I went on to work with the Gallaudet Regional Center in Florida. I became the assistant director and we put on workshop conferences for professionals who worked with people with hearing loss. I did that for about four years and then I went to North Carolina and worked at the North Carolina Division Services for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing. I am now the Executive Director for the Arizona Commission for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing [2] and now that I can hear I want to continue doing what I do. It sounds like a clichi© but I love what I do and I love the people I work with everyday. Why in the world would I leave it? I've worked in the field of deafness all my life. Not only do I enjoy it but I am still part of the "deaf world."