EXPLORING COCHLEAR CANDIDACY The Chens’ next step was to uncover the root of Hayden’s hearing loss in order to determine the appropriate intervention. They went back to their native Taiwan to see specialists and did more tests in San Diego with their doctors at Rady Children’s. They learned that Hayden’s hearing loss was related to the connexin 26 genetic mutation, meaning it was inherited (see sidebar). This discovery set the next steps in motion. Knowing the cause of Hayden’s hearing loss— and the potential for him to be a candidate for cochlear implant surgery—the family was referred to Daniela Carvalho, MD, director of the Rady Children’s Hearing Program, a pediatric otolaryngologist and cochlear implant surgeon and a professor in the Department of Surgery at UC San Diego. “Once we knew he could possibly have the surgery, we were more hopeful—we wanted him to at least be able to hear something,” Chi- Yuan says. > řÌÐĊœ ĮťĴĴÐÌåďīìÐ īðĊæ ðÌĮ ĴǤĉďĊĴìĮș which he wore while he continued to undergo additional tests. “He had to go through all these tests and treatments to determine that he had profound hearing loss, but we were so lucky to be at Rady Children’s. Everyone was so knowledgeable, and they don’t just care about the medical needs of their patients. They care about how he feels. It’s amazing how many patients they have, yet they can treat everyone like an individual with such personal care,” he continues. “When we met with Dr. Carvalho, we were very fortunate to learn that he was a good candidate for cochlear implants. We were even more fortunate to work with Dr. Carvalho. Not only is she one of the premier surgeons doing bilateral
implants (both ears at the same time), which no one could do in Taiwan, but she also explained everything thoroughly and treated us with such great empathy, like we were her relatives.” While not all patients are candidates for cochlear implants due to their neuro pathways, Hayden was one of the lucky ones.
TURNING UP THE VOLUME
At 1 year old, Hayden underwent implantation in both ears. “With Hayden, we tried to get him implanted as soon as possible,” explains Dr. Carvalho. “When they’re implanted as babies, they don’t know any difference. Families sometimes even call the implants their ‘ears.’ Hayden was implanted really young, and he’s done amazingly well.” One month after the surgery, Hayden’s implants were activated. It was a stressful month of wait-and-see for the Chen family. “Over that month, you don’t know if the surgery was successful,” Chi-Yuan recalls. “It was a scary time. We still didn’t know if after all that, he would even be able to hear.”
But when they knew, they knew.
18 HEALTHY KIDS MAGAZINE WINTER 2024
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