In her brother’s footsteps
On Sept. 16th, the Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC celebrated their 1,000th pediatric cochlear implant patient—a little girl named Tatum Lanier, whose older brother received a similar device at the center in 2010.
Tatum Lanier is a smart and happy 1-year-old girl fond of keeping her mother Melinda on her toes.
“She wakes up with a smile and keeps it all day long,” Melinda Lanier said. “She is very curious and is always ready to learn new things. She loves playing with her big brother Gavin and thinks she can do anything that he can.”
Tatum and Gavin were both born deaf. Gavin, now 7, received a cochlear implant at the Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC-Chapel Hill in 2010. On Sept. 16, 2015, Tatum had her own cochlear implant activated.
Holly Teagle, executive director of the Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC, said activation is an exciting experience, not just for the patient, but for their family and providers: “Every single time we activate an implant, it’s amazing.”
Cochlear implants were first approved in 1990 for implantation in children by the Food and Drug Administration. Since that time, the number of children receiving an implant at the Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC has been steadily rising. The center currently places well over 100 implants a year.
Tatum’s cochlear implant is the 1,000th to be performed on a pediatric patient at the Children’s Cochlear Implant Center at UNC. Melinda hopes that Tatum will be as successful as Gavin has been with his device.
“The device has been so amazing for Gavin,” Melinda said. “We have been looking forward to Tatum’s activation day for weeks. We are just so ready for her to hear and enjoy sounds as much as Gavin has.”
Melinda and her husband John first met at a camp for deaf children and became fast friends. They soon learned that his family had a beach house close to where she lived. As they got older they remained close, eventually marrying.
“I married my best friend,” Melinda enthused.
When their oldest son Gavin was born, his hearing loss first went undiagnosed, deriving from a genetic mutation that the Laniers’ local provider in Snead’s Ferry, North Carolina, was unable to test for. When his impairment was discovered, a friend recommended an audiologist at UNC Hospitals.
To keep reading, please see UNC Health Care: http://news.unchealthcare.org/news/2015/september/in-her-brothers-footsteps
