The MED-EL Messenger - Amazon Web Services

Newsletter
The MED-EL Messenger
Winter 2016
1
A Note from Our CEO
Dear MED-EL Recipient,
As we begin a new year, I
would first like to personally
thank you for choosing to
become a part of the MED-EL
family. Each of you inspires
us to grow as your cochlear
implant provider, and there
are a number of ways we
plan to do that in 2016.
Customer service, as always,
will remain atop our priority
list. Nothing is more
important to me than making
sure we are providing you
with the best hearing
experience possible. That’s
why MED-EL offers 24/7
customer support, as well as
access to our In-House
Audiology Team and Patient
Support Team. Our scientists
and engineers are also hard
at work, and they have made
several advancements that
I’m excited to share with you
in the year ahead.
We owe the progress we’ve
made to all of our recipients,
as developing the best
cochlear implant technology
in the world is simply just not
possible without your
support.
Sincerely,
Ray Gamble
CEO, MED-EL North America
Cochlear Implant Story:
A Real-Life Robocop
An MRI Safety
Breakthrough
For years, Chuckie Butler wore
hearing aids and succeeded with
them. But then his hearing
deteriorated, and hearing aids no
longer did the job.
Did you know that there is almost
a 100 percent chance that a
person will need an MRI at least
once during his or her lifetime?
That’s why MRI safety is of vital
importance for all cochlear implant
recipients.
Seeking a better hearing solution,
he visited his doctor, who
determined that Chuckie was a
candidate for a cochlear implant.
Chuckie was implanted in August of
2003, which enabled him to pursue
– and achieve – his lifelong dream
of becoming a police officer.
With that in mind, MED-EL
developed the SYNCHRONY
Cochlear Implant – the only
cochlear implant on the market
that enables 1.5 and 3.0 Tesla MRI
scans without the need for
additional surgeries to remove the
implant magnet.* With SYNCHRONY,
recipients avoid unnecessary
surgery and experience maximum
comfort and security during an MRI
that they can’t get with any other
implant.
Rehabilitate with
MED-EL’s Listening Up!
CD Series
“Having the implant has allowed
me to flourish as a police officer,
and I strive every day to be the
best police officer that I can be,”
he says. “My CI gives me the ability
to communicate better with the
public that I serve.”
You can read more about Chuckie’s
story on The MED-EL Blog at:
www.medel.com/robocop.
Note: The MED-EL Blog is an international
blog. As such, some of the published
content may reference products or
features that are not FDA approved for
a U.S. audience.
Listening Up! is a series of three
CDs that provides independent
listening practice for teen and adult
cochlear implant recipients. Each
CD is approximately 30 minutes in
length and comes with two
booklets.
• CD 1 is Listening Training for
Beginners; CD 2 is Listening
Training for Advanced Listeners;
CD 3 is Music Training for
Beginners.
• Each CD contains 11 to 12
different listening exercises and
comes with both an Exercises
booklet and a Solutions booklet.
To order the Listening Up! CD
series, call (888) 633-3524 or email
[email protected].
Quattro 4.0:
A Perfect Sidekick
for the Bimodal User
TIPS & TRICKS
Toni Barrient, 68, says she doesn’t
go anywhere without her Quattro
4.0, a Bluetooth assistive-listening
device made by ClearSounds that
helps cochlear implant recipients
hear their cellphones and other
Bluetooth-enabled devices. Since
the Quattro can also be used with
any hearing aid equipped with a
telecoil or direct audio input, we
asked her a few questions about
how the Quattro provides a great
listening experience for bimodal
users like herself:
Q: How do you use your Quattro?
Toni: I mostly use my Quattro 4.0
with my cellphone, and that
includes telephone calls. I’m a big
fan of talk radio, so I also like to
listen to podcasts. I occasionally
use the remote microphone that
comes with it, and I use that if I’m
sitting in a meeting to hear the
speaker.
Q: What’s the advantage of being
able to use your Quattro with both
your hearing aid and cochlear
implant?
Toni: When using the Quattro with
my CI and hearing aid, I’m able to
reduce background noise from
both sides. The combination of
Using an Audio Cable with Quattro 4.0
acoustical sound and digital sound
makes for a richer, fuller fidelity of
sound, and my overall confidence is
boosted because I can relax more
during a phone call.
Q: What’s one big advantage of
using the Quattro?
Toni: When you’re listening to a
conversation, you are actually
rehabbing yourself. I’ve had my CI
for about four and a half years,
and in the last year or so I think
I’ve noticed a remarkable
improvement in my hearing. I have
to wonder if it’s not because I’m in
“listening mode” with the Quattro
for a greater part of the day.
Walk4Hearing 2016
MED-EL is the proud presenting
sponsor of the 2016 Walk4Hearing,
organized by the Hearing Loss
Association of America. We hope
you’ll join us for one or more of the
walks listed below:
Spring
May 14 – Chattanooga, TN
May 14 – Dayton/Cincinnati, OH
May 14 – Westchester/Rockland, NY
May 21 – Milford, MI
May 21 – Milwaukee, WI
June 11 – Long Beach, CA
June 11 – Hartford, CT
June 12 – Littleton, CO
The design of the ClearSounds Quattro 4.0 Bluetooth
assistive-listening device features a telecoil loop worn
around the neck. There is also a jack located at the
top of the Quattro to connect headphones (standard
3.5 mm stereo plug). Telecoil is subject to interference
in certain listening environments, and this provides a
unique option to use headphones.
For MED-EL users, the headphone jack also allows
connecting an audio cable to the Quattro. Simply plug
an audio cable into the Quattro’s headphone jack and
connect the end with the three pins to your FM Sleeve
or Mini-Battery Pack.
NOTE: Telecoil — “T” or “MT” — is NOT used with
audio cables.
For more information on connecting with Bluetooth,
telecoil, or audio cables, visit medel.com.
Fall
September 24 – Minneapolis, MN
September 25 – Chicago, IL
September 25 – New York City, NY
TBD – Houston, TX
October 2 – Rochester, NY
October 8 – St. Louis, MO
October 9 – Philadelphia, PA
October 16 – West Windsor, NJ
October 16 – Cary, NC
October 16 – San Diego, CA
October 22 – Washington, DC
October 30 – Brighton, MA
November 5 – Jacksonville, FL
November 12 – Mesa, AZ
Hearing Loss Association of America
Consumer Outreach Managers
Do you know who your Consumer Outreach Manager is? At MED-EL, the Consumer Outreach Managers
are responsible for giving candidates and recipients all the support and educational information they need
to succeed. They can provide you with:
•Information on all MED-EL technologies and our BRIDGE rehabilitation program
•Troubleshooting tips and tricks
•Support for the MED-EL child in the classroom
•MED-EL programs and counseling for recipients
If you would like to learn more, the Consumer Outreach Manager in your region would love to hear
from you!
West Region
AK, CA, HI, ID, MT, NV, OR, WA, WY
Jennifer Parenti
[email protected]
Southwest Region
AR, AZ, CO, KS, LA, NM, OK, TX
Keri Reynolds
[email protected]
Nathalie Davis
[email protected]
Midwest Region
IA, IL, IN, KS, KY, MI, MN, MO,
ND, NE, OH, SD, WI
Lyra Repplinger
[email protected]
Christine Pett
[email protected]
Southeast Region
AL, FL, GA, MS, NC, SC, TN
Virgi Mills
[email protected]
Taylor Sands
[email protected]
Northeast Region
CT, DC, DE, MA, MD, ME, NH, NJ,
NY, PA, RI, VT, CT, WV
Jeanne Fredriksen
[email protected]
medel.com
* The SYNCHRONY Cochlear Implant is approved for MRI scanning at 1.5T and 3.0T without magnet removal. Please ensure that all conditions described
in the IFU for scanning are followed. For MRI scanning instructions and information on potential risks and contraindications relating to implantation,
please visit www.medel.com/us/isi-cochlear-implant-systems/.
25812 r1.0
MED-EL Corporation
2511 Old Cornwallis Road, Suite 100 | Durham, NC 27713
[email protected]