Surya blossoms as hearing improves
Twelve-year-old Surya is a lively, precocious seventh-grader, an A-student who loves math and science, and is a competitive runner and soccer player. While that description might fit many girls her age, Surya, who had cochlear implant surgery in both ears at Children's Memorial Hospital, has overcome challenges that might have stopped others in their tracks.
Surya was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in her right ear and severe to moderate loss in her left ear when she was 18 months old. She began wearing hearing aids at age 2 and was enrolled in a special program to learn listening skills and sign language. As she got older, Surya's hearing in her better ear began to decline. Even a switch from an analog to a digital hearing aid provided little improvement. When Surya was 10, her doctor, Nancy M. Young, MD, Head of the Section of Otology and Neurotology at Children's Memorial, ordered tests which indicated Surya was a candidate for cochlear implant surgery in her better ear. Her mother, Lawanda Gardner, was concerned because the surgery could destroy any remaining hearing she had in that ear. "It was a bit of a gamble, but in the end I trusted Dr. Young to do the surgery," she says.
The surgery took place in June 2005, and Surya did so well that her mother requested a second implant, which was performed four months later by Dr. Young.
Since she received bilateral implants, Surya's hearing has improved dramatically.
"She's able to hear things she never could before," says Gardner. "She told me she could hear snow crunching under her boots and her sister unwrapping candy. I'm confident that as time goes by and technology continues to improve, she'll be able to hear even better than I do."
Surya's mom says she couldn't be happier for the care her daughter has received at Children's Memorial, and is particularly impressed by the way the audiology, otolaryngology and social services staff all worked together to help her daughter.
Today Surya continues to blossom. Her mother says that when Surya was experiencing hearing loss, she was reluctant to interact with the hearing world, and would get upset when other kids became impatient because they had trouble understanding her. Now that her speech has dramatically improved, people who thought she had cognitive disability instead of hearing loss interact with her in a different way.
Surya says she wants to become a lawyer and start a foundation to help other kids with challenges. She can now hear the subtler nuances of music and wants to learn to play a musical instrument.
"When people say I'm 'disabled,' I tell them that I'm just 'challenged,'" says Surya.
"I'm happy and I feel like I can do anything!"
Children's Memorial Hospital seeks philanthropic funding to enhance its programs and services. As a proud partner of the Children's Miracle Network (CMN), all funds raised in the Chicago area through CMN also benefit Children's Memorial. To find out how your support can help the hospital better serve children and families, please contact the Children's Memorial Foundation at 773.880.4237 or Foundation@childrensmemorial.org.