Surgery allows UF professor to hear wife, everything else

From: Gainesville Sun, FL - Sep 22, 2005

To Michael Tuccelli, the crackling of a cellophane wrapper is like a herd of elephants.

The crunch of dry cereal? A thunderstorm.

The University of Florida's only sign language professor has been deaf since birth but reveled at the sounds he heard for the first time last week when doctors turned on a small electronic device implanted behind his left ear.

"I'm almost determined not to eat for the rest of my life because the sound is so embarrassing," said Tuccelli, after becoming a member of the hearing world less than 24 hours before.

It's a controversial surgery for those in the deaf community. Those against the device don't see being deaf as a handicap, and therefore don't see a need to fix what they don't consider broken.

Tuccelli said he thinks that hearing will help him be a better sign-language teacher, a better lip reader and better at being able to identify with the hearing world.

It was a decision that took the 57-year-old decades to mull over and a year to make.

Tuccelli said the reason for his sudden shift in thinking was sitting behind him. He turned around and smiled at his wife, Margo Longo Tuccelli.

"We've been married about one thousand and one days so far," he said. "About three years."

"I told her, 'The best thing that could happen would be that I would be able to hear your voice.' "

First day back
The morning after his implant was turned on he stood in class, shuffling through papers as normal.

The device is on. A tan colored piece hangs over the back of the ear. The device has a series of electronic transmitters that help to compensate for the hearing loss.

He hears things, but can't quite pick out all the sounds in the room just yet.

"There are a lot of environmental noises that we naturally filter out," said Patricia Chun, a former student and teaching assistant for his sign language classes. "The sound of the door opening, papers rustling, the air conditioner. He won't be able to discriminate between those sounds yet."

How much he will be able to hear will depend on a lot of variables. The kind of hearing loss that he has, the way the implant interacts with his ear, his personal motivation, Tuccelli said.

Tuccelli has been teaching sign language at universities around the country for more than 35 years. He's been at UF for the past 10 years.

A day before the device was turned on, he explained that he loves challenging his students to learn what he calls the most exciting foreign language.

"On the first day of class they sit there like deer in headlights," Tuccelli said.

Give them about five weeks and it's poetry in motion.

"Everyone is synchronized," he said, "hands and motions. It's so inspiring."

'I'm OK'

Until he was about 52, Tuccelli said he was never really OK with being deaf.

"I felt like I had to prove myself all the time," he said. "I felt like I didn't meet their expectations."

In time he came to realize he didn't need to measure up to anyone.

"I realized that I'm OK," he said. "If you don't like me, too bad."

He began to consider the surgery after a close friend of his had the procedure. His friend was convinced that Tuccelli's life would be changed by the implant.

It was only a week ago that Tuccelli awaited his appointment for the cochlear implant to be turned on.

He sat in his crowded corner office among books, a computer, a video phone for the hearing impaired and other electronic gizmos.

"He's fondly referred to as inspector gadget," said Tuccelli's wife, who works as a certified interpreter in Jacksonville.

Tuccelli smiled bashfully and shrugged his shoulders. He is the kind of person you enjoy being around for reasons you can't explain. Maybe it's the way he speaks passionately about everything he talks about, or the way his eyes twinkle when he smiles. Or maybe it's the loving nature he shows toward his wife.

"He's just such a positive person," Chun said. "He never gets stressed out about the little things. Actually, I don't think he gets stressed about anything."

For a man who was about an hour away from being able to hear, he was incredibly calm, but the excitement was in his smile.

"I have no idea what it's going to be like," he said as the clocked ticked down to the surgery. "But it's going to be exciting."

Tuccelli's wife was perhaps more anxious. At her husband's request, she knows that the first voice he hears will be hers, and at the time she said she still hadn't decided what to say.

"I've lost a lot of sleep over this one," she said. "My mouth is gonna open, and something's gonna come out."

When the moment came later that day, his wife said, "Hi Mike. I love you and I'm honored to be the first words you hear."

Not familiar with the sound of dialogue, Tuccelli said he couldn't recognize the words.

His favorite sound
Since the implant was turned on a week ago the sounds around him are all new discoveries, small treasures to unravel and reveal. When he fed his cat, Tuccelli marveled at his cat's purr.

"It's a very interesting sound," he said.

But after being profoundly deaf for his entire life, Tuccelli can honestly say that the sound of his wife's laughter is unmatched.

"I heard my wife's giggle and it was the most beautiful sound," he said. "I'll have to be a comedian to make her laugh all the time."

© Copyright 2004, The Gainesville Sun