‘For the first time, I listened to Elvis’

Articles from Boomer Magazine in Richmond, VA

For the first time, I listened to Elvis’

Couple gains hearing on same day with cochlear implants

They shared 25 years of marriage with limited hearing — but now that’s changed. For the first time, Meg and Joe Duarte of Centreville listen to music, dance and chat with their children.
     Both had struggled with severe to profound hearing loss since birth, but last fall their hearing significantly improved after surgery at VCU Medical Center. The Duartes made history as the first U.S. couple to receive cochlear (inner ear) implants from MED-EL, a medical electronics manufacturer, on the same day.

THEY ‘THOUGHT I WAS MENTALLY RETARDED’
The Duartes’ childhoods were similar as some doctors failed to recognize the cause of their limited communication. “It was the 1960s, and [doctors] misdiagnosed me — even thought I was mentally retarded,” Joe recalls.
     By age 5, both wore “body aids,” which were large, radio-like hearing aids in harness-type vests. Their hearing remained limited even as hearing aids improved through the years. Yet both persisted through college, Joe majoring in biomedical electronic engineering and Meg in special education followed by a master’s degree in deaf education.
     The two met at the first young adults’ meeting of the Hearing Loss Association of America in 1982 and married in 1985.

‘SUDDENLY MY LEFT SIDE WAS THE DEAD ZONE’
Meg’s hearing range was somewhat broader, so at home she answered the phone and more easily communicated with the children, who have normal hearing. Then in 2006, Meg lost all hearing in her left ear, perhaps due to a virus. “It was like the cell phone commercials,” she says. “Suddenly my left side was the dead zone.”
     A hearing aid became ineffective, phones useless and sound unbalanced. Likewise, Joe couldn’t use phones or clearly hear family and clients. Something had to be done.
     “Since my college days, I watched the evolution of cochlear implants,” Joe says. A cochlear implant is a medical option for individuals with severe to profound hearing loss because of missing or damaged sensory cells in the cochlea, when hearing aids provide limited or no benefit.
     The system consists of an implant with electronics housing surgically placed under the skin, an electrode array inserted into the cochlea and a small speech processor containing a microphone that’s worn behind the ear to process sounds.

‘I WAITED FOR TECHOLOGY TO EVOLVE’
“I waited for technology to evolve, and [three] years ago I decided the technology was what I’d waited for,” Joe said.
     Joe underwent surgery for a cochlear implant in his left ear in 2008. During the following year, his ability to discriminate speech soared from zero to around 60 percent. With such phenomenal success, he yearned for an implant in his other ear. He wanted to enrich his hearing and improve his speech — plus persuade Meg to have the same surgery on her totally deafened ear.
     Meg eventually acquiesced. “He was like a little boy with a new toy,” she recalls. “He’s become more outgoing because he’s more confident approaching people. I wanted to be more comfortable mingling with others, too.”

‘A WONDROUS ADVENTURE’
Together, they received the Maestro cochlear implant system last September — for Meg’s left ear and for Joe’s right ear. Together, their implants were activated in October. They held hands as Sean Kastetter, senior cochlear implant audiologist, completed Meg’s initial programming, Joe grinning ear to ear with anticipation.
     For months afterward, the audiologist “mapped” or fine-tuned their implants through computer programming, slowly broadening their range of hearing as their brains learned new sounds. “The brain has a slow transition … as it builds up a dictionary of sounds,” Kastetter says. “The first two months are the hardest, but then it gets easier.”
    “For the first time I listened to Elvis Presley, and the bass was so rich that it left me in a state of awe,” Joe says. “Meg told me to keep my screaming down because I was hurting her ‘new ear.’”
     Meg agrees, “It’s been a wondrous adventure so far.”

Lynn Kirk is a Richmond-based freelance writer and public relations consultant. Contact her at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .