Michelle and her daughter Ellie have been selected to participate in the AdvaMed educational photo exhibition campaign on Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. in June of 2006. AdvaMed is the world's largest association representing manufacturers of medical devices, diagnostic products and medical information systems, education program designed to create awareness of the breadth and value of advanced medical technology (devices and diagnostics). Michelle and her daughter will meet the President of the United as well as members of the House and Senate and congressional members.

Lending an Ear for Future Generations

When Michelle Tjelmeland began college at Eastern Illinois University in 1991, she had no idea that her life was about to change drastically. Growing up, Michelle had some trouble hearing, but it was never bad enough to compel her to ask her doctors about it. However, during Michelle's first year in college, she realized she was struggling to hear her professors in the large lecture halls. When she went to the doctor at age 20, she learned the frightening truth--she was gradually going deaf.

Michelle is just one of 28 million Americans who have experienced some degree of hearing loss. In fact, hearing loss is the No. 1 birth defect in America. Every day, approximately one in 1,000 infants is born completely deaf, with two to three of every 1,000 infants born with partial hearing loss.

With the help of hearing aids, a tape recorder and hours of time listening and re-listening to her lectures, in 1995 Michelle graduated with a degree in education and began teaching 7th and 8th grade language arts.

A few years after college, at 22, Michelle married. Later that year, Michelle and her husband Joel were expecting their first child. Unfortunately, a difficult pregnancy may have caused her deafness to rapidly progress. She was forced into 24 weeks of bed rest and nine hospital stays. Within just a few months, Michelle was completely deaf, unable to hear or communicate with anyone in her life.

While Michelle adjusted to being newly hearing impaired, she and her husband welcomed daughter Ellie into the world - two months premature. Ellie spent the first two weeks of her life in the special care nursery, but unfortunately was not tested for hearing loss or deafness.

Michelle was frustrated that she could not hear the cries of her newborn, especially when she suspected that Ellie might be deaf as well. Nine months later and after nearly 50 visits to doctors all over the United States, Michelle's fear was confirmed - Ellie had been born completely deaf.

While performing hearing tests on babies shortly after delivery is becoming routine in most hospitals, nearly one-third of all infants still leave the hospital without having their hearing tested. Because only half of the 12,000 babies born annually with some type of hearing loss display a risk factor, newborn screening is crucial to early identification of hearing loss and deafness. Undetected hearing loss can have serious long-term consequences on a child's cognitive development, in turn impacting the child's future productivity.

Moving Into the Future

When Ellie turned 1, Michelle discovered that her daughter was a candidate for cochlear implants. Cochlear implants were first developed in the 1970s. A cochlear implant is very different from a hearing aid. Hearing aids amplify sound, while cochlear implants compensate for damaged or non-working parts of the inner ear. When hearing is functioning normally, intricate parts of the inner ear convert sound waves in the air into electrical impulses. These impulses are then sent to the brain, where a hearing person recognizes them as sound. A cochlear implant works in a similar manner. It electronically finds useful sounds and then sends them to the brain. Hearing through an implant may sound different from normal hearing, but it allows many people to communicate fully with oral communication in person and over the phone.

Ellie received cochlear implants at 17 months old, after six different pairs of hearing aids proved unsuccessful. She was one of the youngest children at the time to undergo the implant surgery. There are between 500,000 and 750,000 individuals with severe to complete hearing loss in the United States alone who could benefit from the cochlear implant. However, the Food and Drug Administration estimates that only 59,000 people world-wide have received cochlear implants. In the United States, about 13,000 adults have cochlear implants and nearly 10,000 children have received them. Ellie had been learning sign language since she was 1, and after receiving her cochlear implants, she began speech therapy to learn how to interpret the sounds created by the implants.

The cost of deafness, including education and special services, for a person born with hearing loss is over $1 million, compared with an estimated $70,000 for a cochlear implant, an impressive return on investment. For older adults who become deaf, a recent study found that cochlear implants were associated with statistically significant improvement in quality of life, especially concerning communication, feelings of being a burden, isolation and relations to friends and family.

In 2001, Michelle received her cochlear implants. Although her hearing is not completely restored, "The technology has given me my life back," said Michelle, referring to her active life that includes managing a successful Web development and consulting firm she started. Ellie's implants were a success, as well, and even though she did not speak her first complete sentence until she was 5 years old, now at age 8, her reading comprehension is higher than many of her hearing peers. In addition to Ellie's academic success, she loves all types of music and is learning to play the guitar. Convinced that every deaf person should have the opportunity to hear through the technology of cochlear implants, Michelle started the Cochlear Implant Awareness Foundation (CIAF). CIAF assists families with costs that are not traditionally covered by insurance, including hotel, travel and childcare expenses during hospital stays or expenses that exceed the limits of an individual's health care coverage.

"When you are unable to hear, the world becomes scary," Michelle confessed. However, determination to overcome the challenges of her and Ellie's hearing loss has given Michelle the passion to do all she can to help others who are facing the same struggles.

Medical Technology Innovators

There are currently 3 companies designing and manufacturing cochlear implants. These companies are dedicated to continuously making improvements to this technology so that patients like Michelle and Ellie can pursue their interests without being limited by hearing loss.