"Getting an earful Tiny device implanted by Hinsdale doctor"
April 20, 2005
(reprinted with permission from the Suburban Life newspaper)

By Jennie Korb

Staff writer

The minute Dr. Robert Battista turned on the device allowing
6-year-old Dillan Womeldorff to hear out of his right ear, Dillan
grinned and climbed up onto the chair next to his father, Kyle.

"Now whisper in my ear," Dillan requested quietly, leaning in.

"What do you want me to say?" Kyle whispered.

Dillan giggled, repeated what his father had said, then asked him to
do it again. Kyle obliged.

On their way out of Battista's Hinsdale office a short time later, an
emotional Kyle said he figures they'll be playing that game with Dillan
for quite a while.

The Womeldorffs, who live in downstate Pekin, visited Battista's
office on York Road April 8 for the short final step in a process that
lasted several months to allow Dillan to regain full hearing. Dillan's
hearing had been deteriorating since birth, until finally he could no
longer hear out of his right ear at all. He wore a hearing aid for a
while, but then even that didn't work.

One of his mother Shani's cousins had visited Battista for hearing
problems, and recommended the Womeldorffs bring Dillan up to Battista's
Hinsdale office to get checked out.

It was last fall when Battista told them Dillan was completely deaf in
his right ear — but also that a BAHA device could help him hear.

Simulating hearing

BAHA was developed nearly 30 years ago in Sweden, but was not approved
for use in the United States until 1996. Since then, Battista said he
has implanted the device in about 30 patients, most of them adults.

While Dillan can hear out of his left ear, he has to turn his head to
hear sound through his right ear, and it is difficult for him to
pinpoint where a sound is coming from or to distinguish sounds from
background noise, Battista said.

The doctor implanted the BAHA device in several stages. The first,
done in November, entailed placing a titanium screw in the bone of
Dillan's skull. Titanium is 100 percent biocompatible, meaning bone
will grow around it.

In a second operation three months later, the part of the device
called the abutment, which is visible on top of the skin, was hooked
onto the titanium fixture. The third and final step, done April 8,
involved hooking a small beige box called the sound processor onto the
abutment and turning it on, which prompted Dillan's request to his
father.

Shani said they chose a beige box because it was the closest match
with Dillan's hair, a tousled brown mop that contrasts with his big
blue eyes.

Battista, who is attending on staff at Hinsdale Hospital, said the
device simulates the experience of hearing out of Dillan's right ear by
conducting across the skull what the left ear hears.

"It's a really incredible device," he said.

Generous gifts

With the initial cost of the surgery and device pegged at about
$21,000, and having been told insurance would not cover it, Kyle and
Shani got to work for their son — and so did Battista.

The doctor called Entific Medical Systems, the company that
manufactures the BAHA device, and officials agreed to donate all the
equipment, which normally would run about $5,500 to $6,000.

He and his surgical team agreed to do the procedure at a reduced cost,
bringing the bottom line down even more.

The Womeldorffs held a benefit in their hometown, which netted about
$4,000. Also, an employee of the radio station that shared the news of
the event suggested the family talk to the Peoria chapter of a
motorcycle riders' group called Crusaders for Kids; 15 minutes after
Kyle made an emotional speech to that group, he had a check in his hand
for $2,000.

The family still owes between $800 to $1,600 for anesthesiologist
services, Kyle explained as he, Shani and Dillan, along with Dillan's
brother Devon, 4, and sister Amie, 15, waited in the reception area of
Battista's office.

Dillan, wearing double-knotted sneakers and a navy-blue T-shirt,
reclined on a couch, intent first on an issue of Highlights for
Children magazine, then on a book about insects, as his parents
described some of his experiences.

One day members of his class were clapping as they learned to spell
words, and because Dillan's condition makes him unable to filter out
background noise, he came home spelling the word "red" as "rdd." It
took them almost a month to get that out of his head, Kyle said.

Shani said when Kyle asked his son if he knew why they were going back
to Chicago, Dillan told him, "Duh, I'm going to hear!"

Flipping the switch

The family was called into one of the medical offices at about 11:30
a.m., and waited a few more minutes for Battista to arrive.

It was too much for Devon, a ball of energy who already had been
trapped in a car for several hours to get there, so Amie took him out
to keep him busy.

"Hey buddy, let's take a look. How are you feeling?" Battista asked
Dillan when he arrived and started preparing the shaved area on his
head to snap on the device.

Kyle and Shani were relieved when Battista told them the BAHA takes
size 13 batteries, because they had just bought a number of those for
Dillan's hearing aid prior to their first visit to Hinsdale last fall.

Dillan stood with his head cocked until the moment the family had
waited for, as Battista attached the diminutive box to the abutment and
flipped a tiny switch.

"Can you hear me, Dillan?" Battista asked.

A big grin spread across the boy's face.

"Yep!" he answered, then plugged his left ear and affirmed he still
could hear.

"That's awesome," Kyle said, tearing up as Dillan tested out his
newfound ability.

"I can even hear myself!" Dillan exclaimed.

His parents asked Battista to tell their son he can play outside at
recess, because he had been too afraid.

"You can do whatever you want — that's safe," Battista said,
hesitating briefly before amending his statement.

As the family made their way out of the doctor's office, Kyle said
Dillan seemed very excited, and thanked Battista for everything he had
done.

"It's been a blessing," he said.


Jennie Korb's e-mail address is:
jkorb@libertysuburban.com