Monthly Archives: October 2022

Pastor Ross Feels Like Himself Again With Ponto 5 SuperPower

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Ross Wiseman, pastor and avid hiker, struggled to engage with his congregation and enjoy his leisure time after losing his hearing in one ear suddenly. Treating his hearing loss with a Ponto™ bone anchored hearing system was a life-changing experience. Recently, Ross upgraded to the Ponto 5 SuperPower, and in this new testimonial video, shares how much he loves this next-gen technology.

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The hair cells of my auditory nerves died over a weekend. Friday night, I felt like my ear was stuffed up. Didn’t feel sick at all. Saturday morning I was fine. Was coaching soccer later that day and it happened again. By evening I was fine. Sunday morning, I preached, went home, and took a nap. When I woke up, I couldn’t hear anymore. I thought maybe I was getting a cold or had an ear infection. I called the ENT. When that visit ended, he told me that I was permanently deaf in my left ear. They scheduled a CAT scan to see if I had a tumor. I did not; it was single-sided deafness (SSD) with no explanation.

For over 10 years I lived unaided and was miserable. I couldn’t hear my wife on dates when we would eat out, or when we hiked. She hikes in front of me and when she would speak it was useless to try and communicate. I struggled to enjoy watching tv with my kids or hear at events like ball games. Teaching would make me sick to my stomach as I had to turn my head back and forth to try and hear everyone at the table or in the room). I would often sit with others and just smile because I was lost by the conversations that were going around me. I never could tell what anyone was saying, so it created a disconnect.

When I got my first Ponto, we had our church’s tenth anniversary party. I had so many people come to me who had been with me before I went deaf and say it felt good to have their pastor back. I was out in the open talking to everyone rather than in a corner with one person talking. I was also smiling a lot because I was engaged. I didn’t realize that, during those noisy events, I used to zone out and my face showed it. My Ponto changed everything!

If your audiologist doesn’t use Oticon Medical devices, demand that they reach out to Oticon Medical or find an audiologist who will. I was my doctor’s first Ponto user and implant surgery. Oticon Medical was amazing in sending them a product representative, and when it was time, a surgical rep to explain minimally invasive Ponto surgery (MIPS). Now the majority of their patients who need a bone anchored option go with a Ponto.

 

Isla Feels More Confident Than Ever with New Ponto 5 SuperPowers

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Katelyn Harkins tells us how getting fit bilaterally with Ponto 5™ SuperPower processors have helped her eight-year-old daughter Isla blossom socially.

Isla was born with bilateral microtia/atresia. She was adopted from China at 20 months old and had no access to sound prior to coming home. She received Ponto bone anchored hearing processors on a softband as loaners from Oticon Medical the month she turned two and loved them immediately. She even insisted on wearing them to nap!

We are privileged enough to have access to excellent hearing solutions from Oticon Medical, which give Isla a near normal audiogram. We are also lucky to have a school for the Deaf nearby, which gives Isla access to education provided in both spoken English and American Sign Language (ASL).

We were very excited to hear OM was coming out with a Ponto 5 SuperPower! Isla’s hearing loss is severe enough that the extra headroom of the SuperPower allows for access to as much sound as possible, and equally little feedback. Isla was thrilled that the upgrade gave her onboard controls for volume and mute.

Isla’s upgrade included getting bilaterally implanted*. In researching implantation, I understood minimally invasive Ponto surgery (MIPS) was minimally invasive compared to the old “long cut” or “pocket” methods: one hole punched in the skin, one hole drilled and filled with a tiny screw. I brought my research to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) ENT and Isla was his first MIPS surgery. He expressed that he loved the process and was very impressed with the how easily it went. In this video, (Isla was still waiting six months to “snap on” her processors because her skull bones are thin).

The Ponto 5 SPs are amazing!  My daughter has loved her devices from the beginning, and we always made them fun by having a bunch of different colored softbands to choose from each morning. She has absolutely blossomed in public and more crowded situations with the upgrade to P5 SPs. She’s more willing to get out there and play or join a group of kids she doesn’t know. Absolutely worth it!

* Ponto surgery is contraindicated for patients under 5 years of age. The subject here is shown wearing two ponto 5 superpowers on a softband but has undergone the surgery stated by the parent. Outcomes and healing times wary patient to patient. Please consult your caregiver.