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FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Paula Rosenthal
HearingExchange
P.O. Box 689
Jericho, NY 11753
Phone: 314.991.0512
Email: info@hearingexchange.com
Web site:
http://www.HearingExchange.com
HEARINGEXCHANGE.COM FOUNDER ANNOUNCES
DAUGHTER'S COCHLEAR IMPLANT SURGERY
St. Louis - May 6, 2002 - Paula Rosenthal, founder of HearingExchange (http://www.HearingExchange.com),
an online community for people with hearing loss, parents and
professionals, announced that her 6 year old daughter underwent cochlear
implant surgery on Tuesday, April 30th at St. Louis Children's Hospital (SLCH)
in Missouri. The surgery was performed by Rodney Lusk, MD, SLCH
otolaryngologist-in-chief. Dr. Lusk has performed more than 200 cochlear
implants in children.
A cochlear implant is an FDA approved, surgically implanted device that
brings sound to the cochlea for qualified candidates with a severe or
worse hearing loss. Children as young as 12 months of age may be eligible
to receive a cochlear implant. To determine candidacy, potential
candidates must undergo a battery of hearing and speech perception tests
at a cochlear implant center. Like her daughter, Ms. Rosenthal, has a
progressive hearing loss and is now profoundly hearing impaired. She
expects to receive her own cochlear implant in Summer 2002.
"While struggling to overcome her significant speech and language delays
that resulted from her late diagnosis at 23 months, my daughter's hearing
continued to decline rapidly," said Ms. Rosenthal. "Her severe to profound
bilateral loss meant that she was no longer able to hear high frequency
speech sounds even with hearing aids. After much testing, research and
discussion, my family and I decided to move forward with getting a
cochlear implant device, the only hearing device that can restore the
missing speech and environmental sounds for her."
Ms. Rosenthal's daughter was implanted with the Nucleus® 24 Contour by
Cochlear Corporation. On May 21st and 22nd she will receive the external
components of her device and will work with her audiologist, Jenifer
Goldin, MS CCC-A to activate the internal electrodes and program the
speech processor. There will be many subsequent visits to "map" the
processor as her brain adjusts to the new sounds she will be hearing. Ms.
Rosenthal's daughter is scheduled for extensive auditory training and
rehabilitation with a teacher of the deaf and a speech-language
pathologist to facilitate the best use of her implant.
To learn more about cochlear implants, contact the following manufacturers
which have FDA-approved devices: Cochlear Corporation -
http://www.cochlear.com
or call toll free: 1-800-523-5798; Advanced Bionics -
http://www.bionicear.com
or call toll free: 1-800-678-2575 TDD: 1 800-678-3575; MED-EL -
http://www.medel.com
or call 1-919-572-2222.
About HearingExchange
HearingExchange debuted online September 14, 2000. Paula Rosenthal created
HearingExchange to deliver timely news, information and articles to people
with hearing loss, parents and professionals as well as to provide a
supportive community. Diagnosed with a progressive hearing loss at the age
of three, Ms. Rosenthal communicates orally and wears two hearing aids.
Ms. Rosenthal is available to speak about her experiences as a person with
hearing loss and as a parent of a hearing impaired child to organizations.
To contact her, send an email to
mailto:publisher@hearingexchange.com. Due to her significant hearing
impairment, Ms. Rosenthal prefers to be contacted by email or by fax at
314.991.0190. For further information, visit the Press Room at:
http://www.hearingexchange.com/press/ and the About Us page at:
http://www.hearingexchange.com/aboutus.htm.
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