From Hearing Loss to High-Tech Fix BY ROSS WISEMAN
We asked Woodstock pastor Ross Wiseman to share his story of healing for his singlesided deafness. Nine years ago, on a Friday night, I was out to dinner with friends. I was 34 years old and felt perfectly fine. After dinner, my left ear seemed to be stuffed up. It didn’t feel full or painful. All of a sudden, I just couldn’t hear. I pinched my nose and blew trying to clear whatever may have been causing this sensation, but it did not alleviate the problem. Within an hour or so, I could hear fine and thought nothing of it. The next morning I woke Ross, wife Amie and their five children. up and everything seemed perfect. The incident with my ear was the last thing on my mind. That afternoon I coached a soccer game and the sensation happened again. All of a sudden I couldn’t hear anything. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or an ear infection, although I had no pain or other signs of getting sick. After the game that evening, my hearing returned just as it had left. It was like throwing a switch and I was fine. I am a pastor and the next day I preached, went out to eat and took a nap. When I woke up I couldn’t hear again. That day my hearing didn’t return. I thought surely I had a cold or an infection, but after a couple of days I still didn’t feel sick. I made an appointment and went in to see an ear nose and throat (ENT) physician. After an examination and a series of tests, I was expecting my ENT doctor at the time to prescribe an antibiotic to deal with some infection that was playing tricks with my inner ear. The doctor said I showed no signs of infection or inflammation in the middle ear. Instead he said what I had was a case of sudden sensorineural hearing loss and that I would have single-sided deafness (SSD) for the rest of my life. I didn’t see that coming at
The first step was to insert a 14mm implanted titanium abutment. Next, an Oticon hearing aid was attached to the abutment.
all. He explained to me that there are times that this just happens. That was nine years ago and some discoveries have been made regarding SSD. At that time the doctor said he didn’t know what had caused the hearing loss. He also couldn’t assure me that my good ear would remain healthy. Needless to say I lived in fear of that prognosis for nine years. My current ENT has explained that it was most likely a virus within the cochlea that the immune system attacked and in doing so, killed the hair cells that send sound to the auditory nerve. The chance of this is one in 10,000 and that there is little chance my good ear will ever go deaf. After years of fear and frustration, fast forward to this past Christmas season. My insurance wouldn’t cover a titanium abutment implant so that I could use a bone attached hearing aid. The cost for the procedure and device is about $30,000. This device transmits vibrations to the implant, sending sound across my skull to my working cochlea on the opposite side. Unbeknownst to me a group of ladies from my church, working with Dr. Jennifer Smullen Tirino of Northside ENT in Roswell, came up with a cash upfront plan that would greatly reduce the price. These ladies began raising funds in an eightmonth period and with hundreds of people giving, were able to raise about half of what it would take to allow me to hear sounds from the left side. The staff at 104.7 The Fish radio station heard about my need and made me a recipient of their Christmas Wish experience, surprising me with the news on air. The Fish gave $7,500, which was the balance of what was needed for the procedure. Tears streamed down my face because of the generosity of so many. I now have the implant and have greatly enjoyed the use of the device. My anxiety in crowds and certain environments would get so bad at times, that I would often become nauseous because of stress headaches - a result of trying to hear conversations. I have not experienced one stress headache since having the device. I can hear my children playing, while listening to music as I work in the garage. So many things I had taken for granted for years. It’s a new day and I am thankful for my high-tech fix.
Ross Wiseman is the founding and current pastor of Momentum Church since 2005. He can be reached at ross@momentumchurch.tv. SIXES LIVING | May 2016
51