Frere first as toddler gets cochlear implant
A MDANTSANE mother waited with bated breath while her toddler son went under the knife in Frere Hospital receiving a cochlear implant, the first of its kind to be performed at the East London hospital.
For three hours Siphokazi Fufu waited while Port Elizabeth-based ear, nose and throat specialist Dr Iain Butler implanted the device in the head Imbo.
The hospital normally sends patients requiring such complex surgery to the Western Cape.
A cochlear implant is an electronic device that replaces the function of the damaged inner ear.
Unlike hearing aids, which make sounds louder, cochlear implants do the work of damaged parts of the inner ear (cochlea) to provide sound signals to the brain. Part of the of her two-year-old son, device sits on the outside of the ear.
The brave tot was all smiles ahead of his operation.
Imbo was first diagnosed with a hearing impairment in both ears when he was nine months old. His journey was not unheard of by his family as both his mother and uncle are partially deaf.
“It broke my heart and saddened me very much when I realised that he had profound hearing loss in both his ears. But I accepted it as I knew it was not the end of the world.
“When he was a baby, he did not respond unless you touched him. We once put a speaker playing music next to him while he slept, but he continued sleeping,” she said.
Fufu said Imbo first received a hearing aid and later they were told that he could be a recipient of a cochlear implant.
Frere CEO Dr Rolene Wagner said: “Our mandate is to develop and provide tertiary services at Frere. It is also more convenient for our patients to have the operations done here and not outside the province.”
Butler, who was joined by a team of specialists, pronounced the operation a success and said he was pleased to have been involved in it.
“It is always a pleasure to help out. A patient is a patient, regardless of their financial circumstances.”
There is a four-week wait before the device can be switched on. —