In January 2010, my third son, Jacob, failed his newborn hearing screening, indicating that he had potential hearing loss. He was retested a week later, right before his follow-up appointment with Dr. Ziadeh, and still did not pass. We went into the appointment with heavy hearts, very concerned that Jacob might have a serious hearing condition. Dr. Ziadeh took our concerns and the test results very seriously, making us aware of Dr. Chi at UPMC Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh, who could perform cochlear implants if Jake turned out to be deaf.
Because of his early diagnosis, Jake was given hearing aides at three months of age and started the evaluation for cochlear implants with Dr. Chi. He received bilateral cochlear implants at nine months. Now, if you didn’t see the sound processors on his head, you would never know he was actually deaf. His speech is smooth and clear, and he seems to hear almost as well as his hearing peers. I know if Dr. Ziadeh had not given us that valuable information at Jake’s young age – he would not be doing as well now.
Marci, UPMC Children's Community Pediatrics – Norwin