Treatment Brings a World of Sounds

Operation Corrects Bad Ear

Advanced Biomaterial
Restores Hearing

Miracles Happen at Saint Therese Medical Center

GOOD LIFE
Saint Therese Medical Center
Fall, 1995

"Dr. Gatti is a godsend from heaven. He gave me a gift that I never had before," said Betty McGraw, 61, a patient at Saint Therese Medical Center. Betty can hear now, due to the efforts of  Dr. Gatti.

"All my life I was told I had a birth defect - a nerve defect. I could never hear. I could never go to a movie, never go to church. My bedroom had the only phone I could use. It has a special hearing device on it. I could not hear it ring, but if someone told me it was ringing, I could go into the bedroom and use it.

I am alone now. I lost my husband of 40 years, my children are out of the house.

I was devastated when my husband died. I was afraid. I knew I couldn't hear a smoke detector. I couldn't hear if someone broke in. So, I was forced to stay up all night and sleep during the day. My husband was my ears. He heard everything. He died and there went my ears, because he repeated everything for me."

Dr. Gatti was a last resort. " I felt that if I could not get hearing aids, my life was over. I didn't want to be deaf the rest of my life. I had only 40% hearing in my left ear, and none in the right ear."

Betty wrote to the Lion's Club and was told that they would pay for glasses and hearing aids if they were medically necessary. They referred her to Dr. Gatti for evaluation.

Working with Dr. Gatti and an audiologist, Betty received her first real hearing test even though she had worked in a booth in a noisy factory for 25 years. Betty was diagnosed with conductive loss of hearing caused by a blockage between the outer and inner ear.

"Dr. Gatti knew about my (poor) hearing. So, he stood very close to me and said, "Betty, I've got good news and bad news. You have a birth defect, but you also have - "and he named my problem. My hearing problem had a name and it was genetic. Otosclerosis.

Otosclerosis is when the smallest bone in the body becomes fixed with a bony growth and prevents movement of sound. The smallest bone which is in the ear is called the stapes bone. That growth fixes it or makes it more and more immobile. The stapes bone needs to be able to move to conduct sound to the inner ear. It could be corrected with surgery called a stapedectomy.

During the operation, the non-functioning stapes bone is removed. That leaves an opening into the inner ear which is covered by a piece of fascia (muscle lining) from the patient, sealing the inner ear. Then a small wire (Dr. Gatti used platinum) is run from the incus to the inner ear sealed opening. After the wire is attached to the incus, there can be a transmission of sound through the fascia from movement of the wire into the inner ear.

"They scheduled surgery for Thursday, September 7, 1995, at Saint Therese, and I woke up on Friday early about 6 a.m. The nurse said to me, 'Betty, would you like a glass of water?' "

My eyes popped open and I said, "Yes! Yes! I heard you! I heard you! I heard what you said! Tell me anything, talk to me, tell me everything! I can hear! I heard everything you said!"

Betty McGraw now has normal hearing in one ear and is scheduled for surgery in her other ear. She wants others to be aware of the possibility that they might be helped even when told for years that they could not be.

Dr. Gatti encourages any person with any type of hearing loss to have a complete audiogram from any licensed audiologist. "Don't write off a hearing loss as something that can't be helped, " he states. "In a thousand people, 100 have otosclerosis. Twelve of that 100 have it at the stapes bone. Not all of those 12 are symptomatic like Betty. But it is always a possibility." Stapedectomy is NOT an uncommon operation. But the patient has to be identified.

For Betty diagnosis meant a changed life. "Dr. Gatti said I had a progressive condition. If the problem had not been found in 2 to 3 years, I would have been completely deaf. And it wasn't necessary, it could be fixed."

"I lost so many years. But there is help for all the people like me."

"If there is another 60-year old woman, or man, or a young girl with the same problem, I want them to know there is something that can be done. I want them to know that they can restore for them, what they did for me. I can hear and I can live a very happy life."

"This is the beginning of my life."