Cochlear Implant.. Success!

Here's the copy of my progress report which Ms, Kaye emailed to Dr. Brackman few weeks ago..

9 August 2008

Dear Dr. Brackmann,

Greetings!

I am writing to inform you of the performance of Maria Katrina “Kcat” Yarza on our mapping sessions. Kcat was implanted on April 8, 2008 at the Manila Doctors Hospital under the hands of Dr. Charlotte Chiong and after 6 weeks of waiting for the lesion to be completely healed, Kcat was ready to be activated in a procedure called “switch-on”. Switch-on of the implant was done at Ear Unit last May 16, 2008. Telemetry report at switch-on was within normal levels, mapping was done and no adverse reaction to implant function was noted. Since switch-on, telemetry results remained constant within normal levels.

Kcat's map has been relatively stable since June. Her current MCL levels as per her last mapping were set at approximately 120 to 130 cu and Aided Test done last August 14, 2008 showed 40/ 65/ 75/ 80/ 95/ across frequencies.

Relying on objective measurements, it was noted that very little change occurred over the past 2 months and MCL levels have consistently fell within the range of 120- 130cu. This range is relatively high compared to other settings but considering the special case of Kcat, since we cannot observe significant difference in a minimum level, we want to see the benefit she would get in a maximum level the implant could give.

In view of the above, we are currently working on her ability to discriminate and fully understand speech. Since switch-on, humming sound is consistently occurring but as mapping goes on, she can now detect low or high pitched sounds, identify environmental sounds, can repeat low pitched consonant-vowel sound like /ba/, identify male vs. female voice and by hearing these sounds it helps Kcat to locate where the sound is coming from and aids her in Lip Reading.


Best Regards,

Karen Ruth O. Lacanilao, MclAud

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my mom emailed Dr. Brackman as well is here's his reply:

Dear Madge:

Thank you for the progress report on Maria Kathrina. I do hope that she will benefit from her implant. Please do keep me informed of her progress.

Sincerely yours,

Derald E. Brackmann, M.D.

So, who wants a cheeseburger?! Haha!