Lily turned 11 in May 2007. She was deafened by ototoxic medication just after birth

Lily's hearing loss was diagnosed at eight months and received her first cochlear implant in March 1999. She had a second, funded by NHS Scotland, in November 2005.

We felt that it was our duty to Lily to gain for her even the smallest percentage of improvement available. We felt it was her right to have her ability to hear maximised. Time was running out her nerve in the unimplanted ear had been unstimulated for nine years.

We contacted our Scottish Executive and provided information taken from a CICS magazine on the benefits of bilateral implantation.

Perhaps the significant success Lily has had with her original implant. She was one of the early amazing successes, of which there are so many now. They also knew me to be an ‘insistent mother’.

I am sorry it was relatively easy for me and I know there are many more parents with extensive experience in a better position to advise. I would say however that they knew I was absolutely determined and I had media contacts. However that doesn’t seem to make any difference to some PCTs.

23 months

She can definitely hear better with two – a significant reduction in repetition. There is a reduction in the number of times she turns her implanted ear towards the speaker. It is too early to be able to say I have noticed any difference in her ability to locate.

Rehab work with an expert (in our case Jo from HighHopes in Scotland). Strict rules about wearing the implant at all times – as per the first implant. I would warn parents however that the rehab with the second implant is very different. For the first two weeks I was convinced I had made a terrible mistake as my brilliant CI user couldn’t tell the difference in sound with the new implant between a long drawn out ‘Lileeeeeeeeeeeeeee’ and a short snappy ‘Max’!

Lily is pleased she had the implant and would advise any child to have two implants. She does think it’s too noisy sometimes and flicks the new coil off – only at home never at school. Lily was involved very much in making the decision – in fact the surgeon interviewed her and told me if she wasn’t keen he would not have performed the operation. On the car journey to Manchester to have the operation – she suddenly squealed, squeezed her hands together and said ‘Oh Mummy I am going to be able to hear with two ears’. She recovered brilliantly from the operation and completely took it in her stride. I would honestly go as far as to say she enjoyed the experience – but she does love all things medical.