A cochlear implant is a small electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who has severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Comprised of 2 parts, the first surgically implanted, the second worn on the head, and behind the ear.

In the UK, around 1,000 adults a year receive one. Next year I am to be one of those adults.

The referral and assessment process completed, I am now on a NHS waiting list, and can expect to be implanted in a years time. What follows is an activation of the implant, and months of rehab to train your brain into hearing in a new way. It is very likely to be helpful, but there are no guarantees, everybody is different.

What is it like to be “waiting to hear”? This strange time of limbo? hopeful? doubtful? Is hearing nothing easier than hearing something?

This project will look at that time, meeting and talking to fellow candidates, clinicians, and industry representatives.