Kathy Barger: When I was about 40, I started noticing a plugged up feeling, like I had a cold.
Jennifer Matthews: Kathy Barger didn't have a cold. She actually had a hereditary disease that was causing her to go deaf.
Kathy Barger: I couldn't quite hear as distinctly as before
Jennifer Matthews: A hearing aid didn't work, and more bad news was on the way.
Kathy Barger: I got the news that I didn't quality for a cochlear implant.
Jennifer Matthews: Cochlear Implants are typically used as a last resort because they destroy any hearing patients do have. Kathy had too much hearing left to benefit. Then she learned of a new, hybrid version.
Unlike the traditional model, the hybrid cochlear implant only adds high frequencies, so patients can hear distinct sounds, like consonants. The words sat and fat can both sound like ahhh. The hybrid implant allows patients to tell the difference between Ss and Fs.
Kathy Barger: It was like, 'Whoa, I heard that!' It's sort of shocking because you're used to not hearing, and all of a sudden, it's 'Gee, I can understand that.
Jennifer Matthews: Doctors implant the hybrid cochlear implant in the inner ear to stimulate auditory nerves.
Dr. Lawrence Lustig: I consider my job, putting in the implant, the easiest part of the whole procedure. The real work, the heavy lifting, comes after the fact.
Jennifer Matthews: Kathy must work for months to re-learn how to hear, but she says it's well worth the hard work. This is Jennifer Matthews reporting.