Trancript of cochlear implantation show
 Heather Kahn (host): The simple sounds of life are all around
us. Sometimes, we take our hearing for granted.
This is what most of us hear. [B-roll of buses,
cars honking, cell phones, baby laughing, etc.]
And this is what some people hear. [Audio abruptly
cuts off; video continues in silence.] It’s
a world of silence that soon becomes a world
of solitude.
Heather Kahn (host): Bev Webb knows all about
that solitude. Almost overnight, she has lost
her hearing without
explanation or warning – cutting her off
from family and friends.
 Bev: “What’s really hard about it
is, I could completely hear. Then all of a sudden
I just lost it, like that. That’s the hard
part, to be able to hear and then nothing. That’s
hard, that’s hard.”
Dr. Bigelow: “It’s been estimated
that there’s 1 to 2 million people that
have a severe to profound hearing loss in America.
It’s not a small number.”
Heather Kahn (host): Now, a skilled team of
surgeons, nurses and audiologists will try a
remarkable procedure
that could finally give her the chance to listen
to the one thing she so desperately wants to
hear.”
B-roll of granddaughter.
Bev: “I can’t wait to hear my granddaughter
just to say my name, and for me to be able to
sit and read a book to her.”
Heather Kahn (host): Join us for one woman’s
battle with the frustration and fear of deafness,
as she
fights to regain her hearing with the help of
an amazing technology. Will Bev actually hear
again? We’ll find out on this episode of
Penn Vital Signs.
Heather Kahn (host): Every week, thousands of
people gather here at Irvine Auditorium on the
University of
Pennsylvania campus to listen to the sounds of
singing and music. It’s something we all
take for granted, until we lose the ability to
hear. Surprisingly, hearing loss is the number
one disability in the world.
 Katherine Hines: Quote about the prevalence
of hearing loss; younger people who lost hearing
or understanding. You take for granted how much
you use your hearing.
Dr. Bigelow: “Everything you do on a daily
basis involves communication. If you can’t
hear what someone is telling you, if you can’t
hear what’s going on in your environment,
that affects how you can function. People become
withdrawn, they beome isolated, they become depressed
because they can’t communicate.”
Heather Kahn (host): Bev Webb never thought
she could lose her hearing. Then, at the age
of 47, she suddenly
had trouble hearing her husband during casual
conversations.
Bev: “My hearing was perfectly fine, and
then I started to notice I couldn’t hear
people too well, and I kept saying, ‘Could
you repeat that?’ And then all of a sudden,
it just completely went. Just completely went.”
 Ken: “Before Beverly lost her hearing,
I had someone that I could confide in every day,
talk to about problems, help make decisions in
everyday life. When you lose that person to talk
to, you feel alone, and she wasn’t able
to hear the music she loved, she wasn’t
able to hear the baby. I was away for about two
months for work and I wasn’t able to call
home and say, ‘Hey, how are you?’”
Heather Kahn (host): Now, after trying hearing
aids and medications, this desperate couple is
turning to the hearing
loss experts at the University of Pennsylvania
Health System for a new device called a cochlear
implant. They feel it’s their last chance
to give Bev back the life she has lost. Dr. Douglas
Bigelow will perform the surgery.
 Dr. Bigelow: “The nice thing about the
ear, what works well for the cochlear implant,
is you have the nerves from the brain to the
inner ear to the cochlea.” – describes
how the cochlear implant works.
Heather Kahn (host): When we come back, we’ll
see this incredible surgery, and you’ll
be there when Bev and her family find out if
it has worked.
Heather Kahn (host): In a moment, you’ll
also meet a Korean War veteran who received this
amazing technology
to restore his hearing. (b-roll of Phil Butler)
If you have questions about hearing loss or cochlear
implants, the doctors from this program will
be available live online now and for two hours
after the program to take questions. Just log
on to pennmedicine.org. You can even make an appointment
by calling 1-800-789-PENN. We’ll be right
back.
Heather Kahn (host): In a moment, you’ll
also meet a Korean War veteran who received this
amazing
technology to restore his hearing. (b-roll of
Phil Butler) If you have questions about hearing
loss or cochlear implants, log on to pennmedicine.org
right now. We’ll be right back.
Commercial Break One
Bev Webb: “My granddaughter just turned
one and she’s starting to talk… not
being able to hear her, that’s been hard. …I
was able to hear for so long, then losing it
so fast was the hardest part. Don’t take
your hearing for granted; you never know.”
 Heather Kahn (host): The ear is a complex organ,
made up of tiny parts. Working together, they
make it possible
for us to hear. Sound waves come into the ear
and strike the eardrum, then the small bones
called the ossicles. The sensations travel to
the snail-shaped part called the cochlea, and
on to the brain. But when even one part doesn’t
do its job, you can lose your hearing.
Heather Kahn (host): That’s what happened
to Bev. With her hearing totally gone, Bev’s
hope to hear again lies not with a hearing aid,
but with
a cochlear implant.
Dr. Ruckenstein: Hearing aid versus a cochlear
implant – a hearing device that replicates
the hearing when the ear no longer functions.
 Dr. Bigelow shows the cochlear implant, describes
how it works.
Ken Webb: “I was advised by U of P that
Beverly was a good candidate for the cochlear
implant, because her hearing loss has been very
short. They brought in another patient from U
of Penn. She had her cochlear implant in October
and when they activated, she could hear. I expect
the same for Bev.”
Heather Kahn (host): That former patient was Kelly Gutshall,
and she knows exactly how Bev feels. Years ago,
she lost her hearing – and her hope. Then,
she found Dr. Michael Ruckenstein.
 Dr. Ruckenstein: “Kelly is a special patient,
she was the first patient I worked on at University
of Pennsylvania. She is a vivacious woman with
children and thriving business, whose marriage
and business were put under enormous strain because
she couldn’t hear. … She underwent
the surgery without complications and to this
day is one of our stellar performers.”
Kelly Gutshall: “I lost my hearing over
approximately a 20-year period, and was hard
of hearing for about 15 years of that time, where
it was very difficult to understand speech and
communicate. I got the implant four years ago
at the point where I had lost to a point where
I could not communicate anymore.”
 Kelly: “It gives you a sense of independence,
the ability to communicate freely with people,
the guy at the grocery store, being able to pick
up the phone and talk to someone. …”
 Mark Gutshall: “After the activation of
the implant, the joy followed. … It was
a very thankful experience after Kelly could
start hearing again. … We’ve got
our life back.”
*Heather Kahn (host): If you would like to know more about
hearing loss or cochlear implants, log on to
pennmedicine.org. And for the next two hours, live
on-line, you can even ask questions of some of
the doctors you’ve seen in this show.
Heather Kahn (host): When we come back, surgery
day arrives for Bev. If you would like to know
more
about hearing loss or cochlear implants, or find
a family physician, log on to pennmedicine.org.
Heather Kahn (host): This is not an easy morning for Ken and
Bev Webb. The anticipation has turned to anxiety
on the morning of the surgery.
Bev: “I’m feeling quite anxious
and nervous, but happy. I have a good feeling
about it. I’m excited.”
 Surgery Day: Cut to Bev and Ken arriving for
surgery. Bev is prepped, taken into surgery,
Dr. Bigelow narrates. Lots of natural audio and
b-roll.
Bev: “I think is really going to change
my life.”
Heather Kahn (host): Only a small area of Bev’s hair around
the ear has been shaved for the surgery. Dr.
Bigelow prepares to make the incision.
 Dr. Bigelow narrates the surgery; natural audio.
He makes a small depression in the bone to hold
the receiver; inserts the electrode; sutures
the incision.
Heather Kahn (host): The device has been implanted, but will
it work? Before she knows for sure, Bev will
have to wait four weeks while the surgery heals.
Coming up, you’ll be there when she finds
out.
Heather Kahn (host): If you’d like to know more about
hearing loss or cochlear implants, log on to
pennmedicine.org. And for the next two hours, live
on-line, you can even ask questions of some of
the doctors you’ve seen in this show. We’ll
be right back.
Heather Kahn (host): If you’d like to know more
about hearing loss or cochlear implants, or find
a family physician, log on to pennmedicine.org.
Commercial Break Two
 B-roll of Phil at home with war medals, trophies.
Heather Kahn (host): Phil Butler is a proud veteran of the
Korean War. He returned with medals, lasting
friendships with other soldiers – and a
hearing problem from the deafening sounds of
war.
Phil talks about losing his hearing
Phil: “It was a real shock. You don’t
want to believe it but it’s a fact that
you’ve lost your hearing. You don’t
want to get upset, don’t want to lose control,
you just have to believe something can be done.”
Heather Kahn (host): That hope led him to Penn,
where Dr. Bigelow performed a cochlear implant
one month ago.
Dr. Bigelow: “The problem originated from
his time in the Korean War. There was a build-up
of fluid, then an infection, his hearing just
deteriorated and it got to the point that I asked
if he would be interested in trying a cochlear
implant. … He was interested in doing that
so we did the workup, and he had it implanted
a few weeks ago.”
Heather Kahn (host): Today, he will find out whether he will
actually regain his hearing. And until that moment,
there’s no way to tell if it’s been
successful.
 Katie: Talks about letting the surgery heal,
that he’s ready for activation. Talks about
what she will do during activation.
B-roll of Phil getting the implant turned on
and tested. Enters room, hooking up magnets,
checking inside parts on computer, measuring
how much sound he can hear, testing responses
to what he can hear. Phil listens for pulses
describing what it sounds like; shot over Phil’s
shoulder. Lots of natural audio.
Katie quote: It’s stimulating your ear
in a different way.
 Phil realizes he can hear; his wife says, “There,
you heard me!”
“When I was in church on Sunday, … I
heard most of the sermon, probably about 85 percent
of it, the first time I’ve heard a sermon
in church in six years. It was absolutely amazing. … I
would absolutely do it again, because I can hear
now.”
Heather Kahn (host): Bev’s cochlear implant
surgery was one month ago, and tomorrow she will
finally
learn if it has worked. She is both excited – and
nervous.
 Michelle Montes quote: “It is a very exciting
time for her, this is what it all leads up to.
This is what they’ve been waiting for.”
Heather Kahn (host): Michelle Montes, her audiologist,
uses a computer to activate the implant, first
placing
magnets on the device and then running a series
of computer checks to test Bev’s ability
to hear tones. This is the first indication of
whether the implant will work.
B-roll of Michelle asking Bev if she can hear
the tones, and Bev excitedly saying that she
can. Shots of the computer screen, Michelle testing
tones.
Michelle asks Bev if she’s ready; she
activates it. The family realizes she can hear
again.
Bev’s daughter: “I’m overwhelmed,
it’s an absolute miracle. I have my mom
back again. In time I’ll be able to call
her up on the phone and talk to her again. It’s
unbelievable.”
 Family hugs staff. Bev talks about what she
can hear. “I’m glad I got the implant,
it was the last resort. There was nothing else.
The medical technology today is wonderful. I
thank God that they have that now, and I really
recommend for people who cannot hear, that they
get it. It’s a wonderful thing.”
*Heather Kahn (host): For Bev, this is nothing
short of a miracle. Now it’s time to return
home to hear the one thing she’s been longing
for: Her granddaughter’s
voice.
 B-roll of Bev and Ken at home with granddaughter.
Bev talks about being able to hear again – the
chimes, voices, the TV, her granddaughter’s
voice.
Final quotes from Bev and Ken.
Heather Kahn (host): Not every cochlear implant
has this kind of result, but this amazing procedure
offers
new hope to those living in a silent world. If
you would like to know more, log on to pennmedicine.org.
And for the next two hours, some of the doctors
you’ve seen in this show will be available
to take your questions.
Heather Kahn (host): If you would like to know
more, log on to pennmedicine.org right now.
Heather Kahn (host): On the next Penn Vital
Signs… (info
about September show)
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