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| Diane Mogavero |
Finally, the day came. Dr. Ernesto Diaz Ordaz snapped my new Baha hearing aid into place. He asked, “Can you hear me?” After 14 years of deafness in my right year and deteriorating hearing in my left, I could hear this miracle doctor so clearly in my deaf ear! I nodded my head and sobbed. Dr. Diaz Ordaz said to me, “That’s what makes my job so rewarding.” I looked at my husband and he also had tears in his eyes.
There is hope for you, just like there has been for me. But it’s been a long road.
I gradually lost my hearing in my 30s, suffering hearing loss in both ears. The stapedectomy I received in both ears was very helpful for a long time. In this surgery, doctors removed the stapes bone in each ear and inserted a wire in its place to transmit the sound vibrations. Unfortunately, I was later in a car accident in which the wire in my right ear was knocked out of place, rendering me nearly deaf on that side.
After enduring five unsuccessful surgeries over a two-year period to replace the wire, and due to
the deterioration of the bones in the middle ear, I became fully deaf in my right ear. Thankfully my ability to hear in my left ear remained, because surgery hadn’t been done on that side since the car accident.
But I was living in pure torment. It was very hard to hear through just my left ear. I was always looking around to see where sound was coming from. When someone would want to get by me in a store, I wouldn’t be able to hear on that side. I was in a depressed state for a long time. Not hearing and communicating with anyone was taking its toll on me.
Fourteen years later, I found a wonderful audiologist who helped me get a stronger, high-powered
hearing aid, which helped me for two years to hear out of my left ear. But soon it seemed that something was wrong with my new hearing aid. The audiologist tested my hearing and said my hearing was getting worse and that it was at only 50 percent in my left ear.
The good news, he said, was that I might be a candidate for a Baha implant. By this point, I had had enough surgeries and didn’t want any more. I had experienced so many disappointments and was ready to give up. But Kevin Flanagan, my audiologist, suggested I see Dr. Diaz Ordaz.
Dr. Diaz Ordaz said he could help me and explained the Baha implant to me. The device is implanted behind the nonfunctioning ear. The system utilizes direct bone conduction, which allows the bone to transfer sound to a functioning cochlea, thereby bypassing the middle ear. Dr. Diaz Ordaz told me that after three months of healing, the implant becomes secure and the processor, or hearing aid, is snapped into place behind the ear. It remains hidden behind the ear where no one can see it.
Dr. Diaz Ordaz then tested the Baha for me so I could experience the benefi t of the implant in the office. He held it against the bone behind my ear. He then spoke into it and said, “This is how you will hear when it is implanted.” I sat and just cried. I thought, “Will I really hear again?” So I decided to have the surgery, which took place in January. It only took about 30 minutes and there was hardly any pain. In April I received the Baha implant.
The first day with the new implant, I walked the dogs and heard a clanging sound for the first time in many years. It was my dogs’ tags around their necks. I can now sit with my family around the table and hear the conversation. I can also hear conversations on the phone so clearly through the ear with the Baha implant. I waited all these years to hear again. God and technology gave me a second chance to hear the sounds everyone takes for granted. Everything has come so alive in my life!
Because of this I was eager to share my experience with others. So I wrote about the Baha implant for a local newspaper. I received 50 emails in response to the article and was so happy to share my joy with others.
But many people shared very sad stories with me. I cried reading them and could understand their pain deeply, as I have been where they all are now. I e-mailed everyone back and encouraged them never to give up hope.
Three of my correspondents stand out in my memory and I have referred all of them to Dr. Diaz Ordaz. Jim is a man of 80 who seems much younger. He recently said in an e-mail to me that his surgery was a breeze for him. Age is truly no barrier for this surgery. You just have to fi nd out what kind of deafness you have, and the cause, and discuss the options with an ENT.
I also met Ruth though my newspaper article, a woman who had lost hearing in her right ear, just as I had. She had a tumor between her ear and brain. After several surgeries, she went deaf. Thankfully, she has also had great success with her Baha implant. I’m thankful that we have become friends and can compare notes about our implants.
Another person I think of is a teacher who had to quit her job because she couldn’t hear. She also went to see Dr. Diaz Ordaz for help to hear again.
I only set out to see if I could help maybe one person. It’s so gratifying to know many have benefited. I believe in hearing technology because it changed my life, as well as the lives of many others.
Diane Mogavero and her husband Steve have been married for 20 years. They have four children: Amy, Tony, Steve, Jr. and Kim, and one grandpuppy, a pug named Peanut. She is retired and enjoys baking, reading and walking and every day of her hearing life. Contact her at dmogavero@hotmail.com.
