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4- PORT PERRY STAR - Tuesday, January 6, 1998 "Scugog's Community Newspaper of Choice" ... A Port Perry man does, after a new technique restored the hearing he lost In an accident 15 years ago By Heather McCrae Port Perry Star "I've never been one who believes in.miracles, but I sure do now," says Bob Howsam. For more than 15 years, Mr. Howsam had been deaf. A freak injury to his head, sustained in a fall, resulted in the loss of his hearing. A neurologist at Toronto's Sunnybrook Hospital said he'd never seen a skull so badly fractured before, Mr. Howsam said. After three months in Sunnybrook Hospital, he spent a further three weeks of rehabili- tation at Riverdale Hospital. "I couldn't hear anymore after the fall" and could only decipher what people were saying through lip reading, Mr. Howsam said. But he managed, with the support of his family and friends, to communicate as best he could. A year ago last October while on vacation in North Carolina he learned through his niece, Karen Carnegie-Fraser, an RN in the otolaryngology depart- ment at the University of North Carolina Hospital, about a new procedure being done in the U.S. called a - cochlear implant system. . "People who were deaf before were having results with this new high tech computer system that restored hearing in deaf people," he said. . "After Karen saw me lip reading she said she'd try to have me assessed at the hospital and be seen by the hospital's otolaryngologist, Dr. Harold Pillsbury," Mr. Howsam said. "They were doing several implants at the hospital, and she felt I might be a good candi- . date." : All reports confirmed Mr. Howsam was a good choice for the procedure. - Coming home to Port Perry, he consulted with his physician. Dr. Tom Millar made an appointment for his patient to be assessed at Sunnybrook, one of three hospitals in Ontario that performs cochlear LT TEE 5¥ REA She E RA Bob Howsam has had his hearing restored after an accident 15 years ago left him deaf. He heard the voices of his grandchildren for the first time this past Christmas season. implants. | The rest is history, and it's a success story. The nucleus cochlear implant system consists of three parts; the cochlear implant, a speech processor and the headset. Together, these components convert sounds from the environment into coded electrical information that is interpreted by the brain as sound. Do you believe in miracles? On Oct. 16, 1997 Mr. Howsam endured a four-hour operation when Dr. Joseph Chen made a six inch inci- sion, starting from the bottom of the right ear, and implanted a receiver stimulator and electrode array which was placed in the inner ear. After this initial procedure, he was told to go home and let everything heal for the next six weeks. When Mr. Howsam and his wife Norma returned to the hos- pital, audiologist Linda Hanusaik hooked him up to a headset and a speech processor. Mr. Howsam said he will never forget the four words Ms Hanusaik spoke to him after three hours of monitoring his device: "She said, 'are you Robert Howsam?'. "I couldn't believe it when I heard her voice so clearly, especially when she had cautioned me I might here unrecognizable sounds at first," he said. "But I heard her well and clear. It was a miracle, and an emotional one, at that." Mr. and Mrs. Howsam's three daughters, Lee Warner, Shelly Howsam-Scott and Judy Jeffrey each have two children. It was wonderful listening to the happy family chatter over Christmas and celebrations as the new year approached. On Dec. 13, the couple's latest grandchild was born. "I'd never heard a word before from any of my grandchildren," said Mr. Howsam. "It's wonderful now to hear a baby cry." | In order to be able to hear, Mr. Howsam wears a magnetic headset which is held by the force of the implant in his skull. A microphone case is worn behind the ear and a long piece of cable worn under his shirt connects the microphone to the speech pro- cessor, worn on his belt. To talk on the phone Mr. Howsam must attach a special adaptor to the unit, which also connects the speech processor directly to the telephone. Next month he returns to Sunnybrook Hospital to have the speech processor reprogrammed. "It's wonderful being able to communicate with people again," he says. It's also a miracle, he feels. And fate had a part in 'it too: "If I hadn't gone to my niece's home after that golf game (in Nort» Carolina), I probably never would have learned about this surgical cochlear implant. "Having my hearing restored was a wonderful Christmas present," he said. "Santa Claus was really good to me." The long-time organist and choir master at Greenbank United Church, Linda Hunter has resigned to concentrate on her music studies. She's been making music with church choir for more than 20 years Choir director honored by church By Heather McCrae congregation, Norinne "That really was an highlight in Mrs. Port Perry Star For nearly 25 years, the organist's bench at Greenbank Church has been like a second home for Linda Hunter. For 16 years the accomplished musician was full-time organist and choir director at the village church, and before that was supply organist. But now when she attends weekly worship, she'll be sitting in a pew alongside her husband, Bob. On Dec. 28 Mrs. Hunter resigned after leading the choir and con- gregation for a period that has spanned more than two decades. At Greenbank U.C. two weeks ago, Mrs. Hunter was thanked for her dedication to music by Hugh Baird, chairman of the music committee and Betty Stone, her associate. : "Mrs. Stone has fille my shoes several times, whenever I've been absent," said Mrs. Hunter. LE And on behalf of the United Cook presented Mrs. Hunter with a dozen assorted long-stemmed roses. "It was a touching moment, one I'll never forget." Being organist and choir director has been a serious commitment for Mrs. Hunter over the years, but it's been an undertaking she's never regretted. Music has played a major role throughout her life. Under the guid- ance of her mother, she started her career as a full-time church musician at Manchester United Church when she was 12 years old. The old adage practice makes perfect holds true for her. Having just fin- ished her Grade 9 Organ exam, Mrs. Hunter received the top marks in Ontario. She and other leading musicians across the province received sil- ver medals at a special ceremony held at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto on Nov. 8. exciting night, to meet all the other top musi- cians," she said. Currently working towards her Grade 10 exam, she felt she should resign to devote time towards this goal. "Grade 10 is a very big exam," said Mrs. Hunter. "I just finished my writ- ten exam for the theory requirement for my ARCT degree, and now I'm preparing myself for the practical side." Because organ exams have to be played on a pipe organ, Mrs. Hunter's been practicing on the organ at Port Perry United Church. "The organist, Glenn Taylor, has been very. encouraging and' has made the organ available for me," she said. "He and the congregation have been really kind to me." At All Saints Anglican Church in Whitby she 'takes lessons from organ- ist Elaine Broughton, an examiner with the RCM in Toronto. Music isn't the sole Hunter's life. She also helps out on the family's dairy farm in Greenbank. "I really enjoy my active role on the farm as wife and mother," she said. Mrs. Hunter's also been teaching music for the past 10 years, instructing students at the Greenbank and Port Perry United Churches. Although now retired Mrs. Hunter is still com- mitted to playing at sev- eral weddings that had been booked before her resignation. "I started out playing for friends' weddings, and now I'm playing for their children," she smiles. "It's beginning to make me feel old. "Music has been a won- derful part of my life," she said. "I've met so many incredible people through music." On Sunday (Jan. 2), Jackie Crawford of Sunderiand took over as organist and choir master at_Greenbank United Chiirch. ~