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Sarah is definitely a leader.
[LAUGH] And she doesn't let anything hold her back,
including her hearing.
And she's not afraid to let anybody know that if she can't hear them,
that she has a hearing loss.
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Sarah's very much into soccer.
She's been playing since she was five years old.
And when her hearing loss became noticeable, she had issues
with hearing the coaches and instruction from the sideline.
So we're hoping then afterwards that she will be able to hear everybody
better, and it won't be as hard on her.
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>> A cochlear implant is a device that measures sound using
a microphone, same way a hearing aid does.
But then instead of just amplifying that sound through a speaker
the way a hearing aid would, it processes the sound,
breaks it into different frequencies.
And then electrically stimulates parts of the cochlear nerve to bring
sound into a person who couldn't otherwise hear.
A candidate for a cochlear implant is really someone who can't hear
well enough, despite using traditional hearing aids that have
been tuned the best that they can.
For kids, it's difficult, because we can't use sentence testing, so
we rely on special tests designed to help determine if a small child can
hear or not.
>> I have the device.
>> Ooh, that's what's going inside, yep.
>> What was unusual in Sarah's case was that she had normal hearing and
language before she started to lose it later in her childhood.
So her brain, her auditory nervous system was already pre-wired
to receive sound from a cochlear implant.
>> She wore hearing aids for a number of years, and
did very well with hearing aids.
But as her hearing loss progressed, the hearing aids became less and
less useful for her.
And the compensation that they gave her was less, so
the cochlear implant became the next step.
>> When we first heard about the recommendation for
cochlear implants, we were very nervous and scared.
But then after talking with Dr. Bowditch and
his explanation of everything, it just really calmed us.
And we knew that that was the direction we wanted to go.
It was really nice how we were all able to be with Sarah right
beforehand.
Even on the way to the operating room,
they had an iPad where she was playing games on an iPad.
So she was totally distracted from the impending surgeries.
And it wasn't until she was asleep that they administered any IVs or
anything of that nature.
That was nice to know that she wasn't scared or
anything like that whatsoever.
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>> Cochlear implants don't provide an instant cure to hearing loss.
Cochlear implants require a long period of learning to listen again.
This starts with the surgery, and that is done as an outpatient
procedure, done right here at the hospital.
But then we follow up with the patient, both from audiology and
rehab perspectives, to help develop those skills that they're going to use
with the cochlear implant.
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>> Of course, I'm biased about Johns Hopkins, I've worked here for years.
I've been a patient here, and I've had excellent care.
But I think that we do a great job here by working together as a team.
We're tightly integrated.
We've done thousands of cochlear implant surgeries,
we've worked with thousands of families.
>> Looks like it healed really well there.
>> To get safe, reliable, effective surgery and
cochlear implant programming and auditory rehab therapy to optimize
the results that you get with a cochlear implant.
>> Those unstressed words, they're hard to hear.
The foundation of academics is listening and language, and
we have to ensure that those skills are strong.
>> Kathy Lehnert has been wonderful.
She's been with us even before the surgery, helping us
with the school and getting the proper support that Sarah's needed.
She's even gone and attended school meetings with me in
Sarah's behalf and has just been, I can't even describe.
[LAUGH] She's just been absolutely wonderful.
>> We're lucky here at Johns Hopkins that we have put together
a comprehensive team that we call the Listening Center,
which includes audiologists, otologists, rehab therapists,
and a group from our behavioral psychology team.
>> When we were referred to Hopkins, I mean, there was no need to search,
in my opinion and her father's, for another hospital.
I mean, Hopkins is the best.
It gave us comfort knowing she was in the best hands possible.
>> When you go through all the appointments and
surgery, it's worth it so you can hear and
understand everybody instead of being a person left out.
>> Everyone's been so supportive, and we've gotten so much help.
And it's made the experience much better in that we could focus just
on Sarah and her recovery.
>> It helps for me to hear better,
I almost hear everything my friend is saying.
Even though I like texting more than calling on the phone.
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