Back what seems like years ago, when we were totally in the dark as to the different ways we may be able to help Drew, we were fortunate enough to meet Dr. Jacques Herzog who is a cochlear implant surgeon in St. Louis.
We called upon many of our friends and family members to help us find information resources, and it just so happened that my uncle lived in St. Louis and knew Dr. Herzog. Because we were having a nightmare of a time getting a diagnostic ABR test scheduled for Drew in Columbus, we ended up driving all the way to St. Louis and got that test completed over a month before we would have been able to do it at home.
That morning we were saddened to discover that Drew was indeed profoundly deaf in both ears, but were grateful to work with an extraordinarily kind technician who comforted us. She then directed us to Dr. Herzog's office where he met with us and answered many "stupid" questions that we had. While his answers did not speak of a magical cure for deafness, we did feel comfortable knowing a bit more about the cochlear implant option.
Here is Dr. Herzog explaining Cochlear Implants:
Should you happen to live near St. Louis and you are considering a cochlear implant, I highly recommend visiting Dr. Herzog and also perhaps The Moog Center for Deaf Education. We did not get to visit the Central Institute for the Deaf (CID) but I have talked on the phone with an attorney in a very large law firm who attended CID as a child. He is completely oral, and told me he doesn't even remember being unable to talk. I actually had to ask him "what is your hearing loss?" His answer? "I don't know."
Amazing.
1 comment:
Wow, that is amazing! I'm really surprised to read that it was so hard to schedule an ABR there. I'm glad you had the chance to talk to such an articulate dr. upon finding out about Drew's deafness.
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