{"id":2072,"date":"2012-10-09T12:13:12","date_gmt":"2012-10-09T11:13:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?p=2072"},"modified":"2012-10-09T12:14:43","modified_gmt":"2012-10-09T11:14:43","slug":"william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/","title":{"rendered":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant."},"content":{"rendered":"

And he’s going to blog about the experience.<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

On Tuesday 6th November at around 7.30am I\u2019ll be in a hospital room while a surgeon uses a marker pen to draw a line behind my ear. Soon after that, I\u2019ll be wheeled into an operating theatre where they\u2019ll make a small incision behind my ear, following the line of marker pen ink.<\/p>\n

Once they\u2019ve opened a flap of skin behind my ear, they\u2019re going to drill into my skull, until they reach my inner ear. They\u2019ll then hollow out a small cavity in the flesh beneath the ear flap, where they will insert a piece of technology worth about \u00a310,000. Into the hole in my skull goes a tiny electrode extending all the way into my inner ear, with around 20 or more individual contacts stimulating my cochlear. Hopefully the general anaesthetic will do its job and I won\u2019t feel any of this while it\u2019s happening, because I\u2019ve seen pictures of this procedure and it looks pretty painful.<\/p>\n

[…]<\/p>\n

When I\u2019m switched on six weeks after the operation, I have no idea what will happen. Either I\u2019ll feel a faint buzzing in my skull, or hear consonants for the first time. Either way, the hard work starts after that.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Subscribe!<\/p>\n

He’s a film-maker in real life: so while you’re waiting for the next post, have a look at some of his films.\u00a0\u00a0This one<\/span><\/a><\/span><\/span>\u00a0takes only a couple of minutes to show how there’s really very little that deaf people can’t do… er…\u00a0so long as the… um… support is… as long as…\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Watch it, anyway.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

And he’s going to blog about the experience. On Tuesday 6th November at around 7.30am I\u2019ll be in a hospital room while a surgeon uses a marker pen to draw a line behind my ear. Soon after that, I\u2019ll be wheeled into an operating theatre where they\u2019ll make a small incision behind my ear, following […]<\/p>\n

Read More…<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[577,576],"tags":[1856],"class_list":["post-2072","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-resource","category-the-art-of-medicine","tag-enhancement"],"yoast_head":"\nWilliam Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"And he’s going to blog about the experience. On Tuesday 6th November at around 7.30am I\u2019ll be in a hospital room while a surgeon uses a marker pen to draw a line behind my ear. Soon after that, I\u2019ll be wheeled into an operating theatre where they\u2019ll make a small incision behind my ear, following [...]Read More...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"BMJ\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\"},\"headline\":\"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant.\",\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":286,\"commentCount\":3,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"keywords\":[\"Enhancement\"],\"articleSection\":[\"Resource\",\"The Art of Medicine\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/\",\"name\":\"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/2012\\\/10\\\/09\\\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant.\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"description\":\"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/files\\\/2026\\\/04\\\/jme-logo.png\",\"width\":200,\"height\":50,\"caption\":\"Journal of Medical Ethics blog\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/logo\\\/image\\\/\"}},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe\",\"name\":\"BMJ\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/secure.gravatar.com\\\/avatar\\\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"BMJ\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/\"],\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/blogs.bmj.com\\\/medical-ethics\\\/author\\\/admin\\\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","og_description":"And he’s going to blog about the experience. On Tuesday 6th November at around 7.30am I\u2019ll be in a hospital room while a surgeon uses a marker pen to draw a line behind my ear. Soon after that, I\u2019ll be wheeled into an operating theatre where they\u2019ll make a small incision behind my ear, following [...]Read More...","og_url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/","og_site_name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","article_published_time":"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00","article_modified_time":"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00","author":"BMJ","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"BMJ","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/"},"author":{"name":"BMJ","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe"},"headline":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant.","datePublished":"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/"},"wordCount":286,"commentCount":3,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"keywords":["Enhancement"],"articleSection":["Resource","The Art of Medicine"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/","name":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant. - Journal of Medical Ethics blog","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website"},"datePublished":"2012-10-09T11:13:12+00:00","dateModified":"2012-10-09T11:14:43+00:00","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/2012\/10\/09\/william-mager-is-having-a-cochlear-implant\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"William Mager is having a Cochlear Implant."}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#website","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","description":"A blog to discuss the ethics of medicine in its many guises and formats.","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#organization","name":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/files\/2026\/04\/jme-logo.png","width":200,"height":50,"caption":"Journal of Medical Ethics blog"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"}},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/#\/schema\/person\/ba3da426ed20e8f1d933ca367d8216fe","name":"BMJ","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/b4d8f39281bcae118348a1c027347b8e53b82d42520e774a8b50dd9a6ac6c01d?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"BMJ"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/"],"url":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/author\/admin\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2072"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2072\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2072"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2072"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.bmj.com\/medical-ethics\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2072"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}