Archives for July 2013

Joseph Patterson, the proud recipient of a new BAHA through Ear Community, from Oticon Medical

Meet Joseph, an active seven year old boy in St. Charles, Missouri. Joseph was born with bilateral Microtia and Atresia in addition to being born with ASD. Right after Joseph’s first birthday, he had open heart surgery because of his ASD. Joseph’s lungs were also not fully developed as he was born four weeks premature. Joseph was on a jet ventilator for three weeks where his father Christopher was told that the ventilator he was on was “the most powerful ventilator a new born could be on.” Joseph spent many months in the NICU until he was ready to come home. Due to being on a ventilator for so long, Joseph developed an inversion to oral feeding and had to be put on a feeding tube. At the age of two years, Joseph was finally able to eat on his own.

As Joseph grew older, his parents were able to get him a trial BAHA over the years, but did not have insurance for covering a BAHA and because of additional medical needs, Joseph’s family was unable to purchase a BAHA for him to hear. Joseph’s father, Chris, found our Microtia and Atresia Support Group on Facebook and discovered that the group was part of a nonprofit organization called, Ear Community. On Tuesday, June 25^th, Joseph was fitted with a new Oticon Medical Ponto Pro. Joseph’s audiologist, Dr. B. Danielle Robertson of St. Joseph’s Institute for the Deaf, donated her time to help Joseph with his programming and the fitting of his new processor.  Joseph’s family is also working with another nonprofit organization to help him obtain a second Ponto Pro so he can hear through both ears. Thank you Dr. Robertson for helping give back to the Microtia and Atresia community by donating your time to help Joseph hear better with his new sound processor.

 While the Ear Community organization is proud to have donated Joseph’s new Oticon Medical Ponto Pro sound processor and soft band head band, none of this would have been possible without Oticon Medical donating this amazing hearing device to Ear Community to begin with. Oticon Medical believes in helping individuals with hearing loss so that they can live a better quality of life. Oticon Medical is a well respected international hearing device manufacturer that is a part of the “William Demant Group [which has] 100-plus years of experience in audiology and sound processing and established manufacturing and logistics infrastructure.”

Thank you to Alan Raffauf, Oticon Medical’s Vice President of Marketing, for donating this new sound processor and for wanting to give back to the Microtia and Atresia community through the Ear Community organization. Ear Community applauds the passion and effort that was involved with these individuals in helping another child hear better, so Joseph can hear the way life was intended.

Ear Community is always happy to help give back to the Microtia and Atresia community.

Sincerely,
Melissa Tumblin, Founder of Ear Community
and Ear Community Board of Directors

Regan Lee wearing his new Ponto Pro BAHA

Meet Regan, a very sweet little boy who lives in North Dakota (USA) who is two years old and was born with Microtia and Atresia of his left ear. Regan was also born with Cornelia de Lange Syndrome, a syndrome that affects about 1 in 20,000 to 40,0000 births. Regan has been through a lot including various medical procedures addressing his sight and limb complications, in addition to some speech delays and his hearing loss due to his Atresia.

Regan was given the opportunity to trial an Oticon Ponto Pro, last year, but his family could not afford to purchase a BAHA for Regan due to so many expenses going toward Regan’s other medical needs. In December of 2012, Regan’s parents, Brian and Sarah had their second son, Nolan. From the beginning, when Regan began trialing his BAHA, Brian and Sarah noticed that Regan“started to mouth more sounds and make noise indicating his likes and dislikes, something that was not so noted before the hearing device was added to his daily routine.” A little over one year later, Regan’s little brother, Nolan, was born and Regan’s parents realized that the BAHA would give Regan the opportunity to hear his little brother more. Regan’s parents noticed that he could “listen to his brother cry and coo, oftentimes at him. Regan also started to hum and rock his head when listening to music, especially when Sarah plays the piano” when wearing his trial BAHA.

Dr. Tricia Nechodom (left), with Sarah and her son, Regan (center), and Dr. Jerrica Maxson (right)

In May of 2013, Sarah and Brian found Ear Community on line and applied for their son Regan to obtain a bone conduction hearing device. On June, 27, 2013, Regan was fitted with his new Ponto Pro. Not only was Ear Community able to help donate a new Oticon Medical Ponto Pro to Regan to help him hear better, including his new little brother, but Regan’s audiologists, Dr. Jerrica Maxson and Dr. Tricia Nechodom of Trinity Health Center – West, donated their time to program Regan’s new processor and fit him with it. Dr. Maxson and Dr. Nechodom have both helped donate their time to help little Regan with his Atresia and the Trinity Health Center – West was proud to be able to partner with Ear Community and help another child hear the sounds of life. Thank you for your help in coming together as a community to help Regan and his family!

While the Ear Community organization is proud to have donated Regan’s new Oticon Medical Ponto Pro sound processor and soft band head band, none of this would have been possible without Oticon Medical donating this amazing hearing device to Ear Community to begin with. Oticon Medical believes in helping individuals with hearing loss so that they can live a better quality of life. Oticon Medical is a well respected

Regan with his mom, Sarah, at his BAHA fitting

international hearing device manufacturer that is a part of the “William Demant Group [which has] 100-plus years of experience in audiology and sound processing and established manufacturing and logistics infrastructure.”

Thank you to Alan Raffauf, Oticon Medical’s Vice President of Marketing, for donating this new sound processor and for wanting to give back to the Microtia and Atresia community through the Ear Community organization. Ear Community applauds the passion and effort that was involved with these individuals in helping another child hear better, so Regan can hear the way life was intended.

Ear Community is always happy to help give back to the Microtia and Atresia community.  Sincerely,
Melissa Tumblin, Founder of Ear Community
and Ear Community Board of Directors