Buy a new cochlear implant

My name is Christine. I’d say that I’m just a typical, normal 30 year old small town girl. When I’m not working 40-50 hours a week at a hotel busting my butt, I’m outside enjoying all nature has to offer. But I’m not a normal person. I was born with a disability called Treacher Collins Syndrome. It’s a genetic mutation that causes traits like bone deformity/lack of bone structure in the facial features, such as cheek bones, teeth, eye socket, chin/jaw, and ears. It also causes smaller airway, cleft pallet/lip and voice box abnormalities. There are a lot of surgeries we go through as children even into adulthood to be able to live better. For some they need a tracheotomy, oxygen, hearing aides. Or also require physical and speech therapy as well as a g tube for feeding. For me that means lack of cheek bones, chin, cleft pallet, broken teeth, and small jaw. I did speech therapy for 10 years and I’m 99% deaf (I do not have an outer ear or middle, or eardrum, just the cochlea.) I use a cochlear implant called a baha to do every day normal tasks. Without it I can’t hear anything, except smoke detectors (high frequency pitch) and suffer from extreme vertigo. I’ve been fortunate that I haven’t had any problems with my implant for the last eight and a half years. The typical life span is five years ish. I made it way longer because without insurance I knew I had to take good care of it. Unfortunately however, have come to an end. It’s starting to not turn on at times, fade in and out, and going through batteries like crazy. A new baha costs $4,600 and that’s without the appointment to have it calibrated/fitted to your needs by an audiologist. I’m hoping I can raise enough that I can turn in the old hearing aid for a deduction on the price to 3,600$ But if it dies before then I won’t be able to. If you would like to donate to a worthy cause, I would be so honored.  My cochlear allows me to hear and talk with the hundreds of people I deal with through work, family and public interactions. It’s crucial to my life and work. If you’ve met me in real life or have had conversations with me over the years, you know I’m a kindred spirit, down to earth and go out of my way to help others. Thank you for reading a small part of my story.