Baby Owen’s Hearing Journey

Dear friends,

In September of 2017, my husband, Mike, and I were blessed with the news that we were expecting our third child. We were surprised and ecstatic. Our sons, Joseph and Luke, were just as excited to have a new brother. After months of waiting, growing, and preparing, we welcomed Owen into the world on May 9, 2018. He was born healthy and loved.

However, we almost immediately knew something was not right. Owen failed all of his hearing screens at birth. At this point, we were told that it was likely due to fluid behind his ear drums. Unfortunately, this was not the case.

Owen babbled and met most milestones, but would not turn to look at me when I or anyone else entered the room. After multiple trips to the ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist), we were sent to Dell for an ABR hearing test. This test measures brain stem response to noises. On August 2, 2018, my family and I were told that Owen had profound sensorineural hearing loss (deafness).

Since this diagnosis at the age of three months, Owen has worn hearing aids with little to no response. In the first ten months of life, he has missed 7,320 hours of hearing.

Owen’s only hope of being able to communicate verbally is cochlear implants. With these implants, he will hear his brothers’ laughter for the first time. He will hear his father’s timber voice for the first time. He will hear my ‘I love you’ for the first time.

We, as well as all of his doctors and nurses, have fought hard to get insurance to approve Owen to get the implants as young as possible (10 months). This fight led to eye appointments, an MRI, two ABRs, a genetics specialist, a neuropsych evaluation, multiple ENT appointments, and ECI therapy since three months of age with audiologists and teachers.

Insurance finally approved Owen for cochlear implants on March 6, 2019. His surgery is scheduled for March 27, 2019. During the surgery, a six hours long procedure, there will be 22 electrodes implanted into each cochlea. These electrodes will be able to send messages to his brain that will enable Owen to interpret sound.  Owen will stay overnight at the hospital and will have a two week healing period.

After the healing window, we will be able to turn on his implants. That is when the miracle will occur. Owen WILL be able to hear his brothers’ laughter. Owen WILL be able to his father’s timber voice. And Owen WILL hear my ‘I love you’ for the first time and every time after.

The the cost of the surgery after insurance for implants and hospital stay is $5500. We have worked to get insurance to cover as much as possible and written grants and scholarships. We are now only $2500 short of being able to cover the surgery.

This is where you come in. With the help of generous friends, family, and even strangers who are touched by Owen’s journey, we can gather the final amount to help our family begin our exciting new journey.

Any amount will help us toward our ultimate goal. Thank you and God bless.