An Earicle for Alyssa - BAHA Fund
Donation protected
We are Gene and Kelley Counce, two parents who are swallowing our pride and asking for your help. When we decided to have a second child, we knew there would be costs associated with having a new baby and we planned accordingly. There were no warning signs during the pregnancy, but sometimes there are surprises in the birthing room. This is why we have insurance, right? To cover the unexpected?
On March 18, 2016, our beautiful Alyssa was born. Happy, healthy, ten fingers and ten toes... Just beautiful! We noticed her left ear was misshapen but didn't think much of it. She was too precious to focus on something so trivial. Over the next few days came the hearing tests, and as we learned more, we found that she had congenital birth defects of her left ear known as microtia (meaning "little ear") and atresia (meaning "no ear canal"). These result in a conductive hearing loss as there is no ear canal through which sound would normally pass. Due to this, all sound on her left side has to pass through her skull.
In order to facilitate hearing in all directions and to ensure her development is not hindered by one-sided hearing, Alyssa will need a Cochlear BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid). The BAHA will act as a conductor which will vibrate her skull and in turn allow her cochlea to pick up sound. This device coupled with speech and language therapy is crucial for Alyssa to advance normally through life.
At least we have insurance, right?! Well... We have been working with our insurance company and Cochlear to get the BAHA for several months now. Unfortunately, Cochlear is considered an out of network provider and despite the medical need, our insurance company is unwilling to make an exception to allow this to be covered at in-network cost. Cochlear will not ship the device until they have received our payment.
Total cost: $6,085
Out of network deductible: $6000
We must pay our out of network deductible and insurance will then pay 50% of the remaining cost. That's right, math whizzes... Once we come up with $6042.50, our insurance company will gladly pay the remaining $42.50 and Cochlear can ship the BAHA.
We do not feel Alyssa should have her opportunities sacrificed due to a large expense that should have been covered through our insurance. Any contribution to paying for Alyssa’s Baha softband is appreciated more than words can express. Your help will ensure a brighter future for her with less struggles through her day to day life.
Microtia/Atresia/Hearing-loss FAQS:
• Microtia occurs in about 1 of every 8,000-10,000 births. 35% of those being female.
• MICROTIA= Latin for “little ear” - A congenital deformity affecting the outer ear where the ear does not fully develop.
• ATRESIA= Latin for “no opening” absence or underdevelopment of the ear canal and middle ear structures.
• Each ear processes sounds differently. The left side of the brain deciphers speech, while the right side leads in processing tones and music. The sounds our right ear hears go mainly to the left side of our brain. Once there, our brain interprets what a person is saying. The sounds our left ear hears go mainly to the right side of our brain. There, our brain interprets how the person speaking means it. The two sides of our brain have many interconnecting links so they rapidly “talk” back and forth to each other as they are processing this information. Therefore, only having one ear detracts from our ability to hear, understand and appreciate sound.
On March 18, 2016, our beautiful Alyssa was born. Happy, healthy, ten fingers and ten toes... Just beautiful! We noticed her left ear was misshapen but didn't think much of it. She was too precious to focus on something so trivial. Over the next few days came the hearing tests, and as we learned more, we found that she had congenital birth defects of her left ear known as microtia (meaning "little ear") and atresia (meaning "no ear canal"). These result in a conductive hearing loss as there is no ear canal through which sound would normally pass. Due to this, all sound on her left side has to pass through her skull.
In order to facilitate hearing in all directions and to ensure her development is not hindered by one-sided hearing, Alyssa will need a Cochlear BAHA (Bone Anchored Hearing Aid). The BAHA will act as a conductor which will vibrate her skull and in turn allow her cochlea to pick up sound. This device coupled with speech and language therapy is crucial for Alyssa to advance normally through life.
At least we have insurance, right?! Well... We have been working with our insurance company and Cochlear to get the BAHA for several months now. Unfortunately, Cochlear is considered an out of network provider and despite the medical need, our insurance company is unwilling to make an exception to allow this to be covered at in-network cost. Cochlear will not ship the device until they have received our payment.
Total cost: $6,085
Out of network deductible: $6000
We must pay our out of network deductible and insurance will then pay 50% of the remaining cost. That's right, math whizzes... Once we come up with $6042.50, our insurance company will gladly pay the remaining $42.50 and Cochlear can ship the BAHA.
We do not feel Alyssa should have her opportunities sacrificed due to a large expense that should have been covered through our insurance. Any contribution to paying for Alyssa’s Baha softband is appreciated more than words can express. Your help will ensure a brighter future for her with less struggles through her day to day life.
Microtia/Atresia/Hearing-loss FAQS:
• Microtia occurs in about 1 of every 8,000-10,000 births. 35% of those being female.
• MICROTIA= Latin for “little ear” - A congenital deformity affecting the outer ear where the ear does not fully develop.
• ATRESIA= Latin for “no opening” absence or underdevelopment of the ear canal and middle ear structures.
• Each ear processes sounds differently. The left side of the brain deciphers speech, while the right side leads in processing tones and music. The sounds our right ear hears go mainly to the left side of our brain. Once there, our brain interprets what a person is saying. The sounds our left ear hears go mainly to the right side of our brain. There, our brain interprets how the person speaking means it. The two sides of our brain have many interconnecting links so they rapidly “talk” back and forth to each other as they are processing this information. Therefore, only having one ear detracts from our ability to hear, understand and appreciate sound.
Organizer
Kelley Counce
Organizer
Lenow, TN
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