Welcome to Living Healthy
Chicago, I'm Jane Monzures.
Let's start by talking
about the connection
between relationships
and hearing loss.
Being able to communicate
with your family
is key to quality of life,
and that's something this next
man couldn't agree with more.
He says getting help
for an inner-ear disease
has made him confident he'll
keep up with the conversation
for years to come.
(light pop music)
For Bill Lindberg, there's
nothing more precious
than quality time with his
wife and being on the move.
- Val and I, we love doing
active things together.
We love to go for walks
together on the weekend.
I try to be active in
maintaining my health.
- [Jane] He says seeing
other family members
struggle with health problems
inspired their active
lifestyle choices.
- I didn't wanna be that person
that was sitting on
the couch in pain
when I'm 65 or 70 years old.
I wanna be someone that's
active and can still do things.
- [Jane] But despite
his proactive approach,
Bill hasn't been without
his own health challenges.
- I've had ringing in my ear
for as long as I can remember,
so at least 20 or 30 years I've
had ringing in my left ear.
- [Jane] That ringing
eventually progressed
into episodes of vertigo,
which brought him
in to see his doctor
and led to a diagnosis
of Meniere's disease.
(light acoustic guitar music)
- Meniere's disease is
an inflammatory disease
of the inner ear.
And patients with
Meniere's disease
will suffer recurrent
bouts of vertigo,
hearing loss, and tinnitus or
pressure changes in their ear.
We don't really know what
causes Meniere's disease.
The majority of patients only
have that disease in one ear;
they don't have it in both ears.
You tend to have a progressive
inflammatory problem
of the inner ear.
- [Jane] The first thing
doctors had Bill do
was start medication
and change his diet.
- In Meniere's disease, salt
intake can be related to
exacerbated bouts of vertigo,
so we ask the patients
to try to keep to a
minimum salt intake.
Eventually, over time,
I had less dizziness
and I was able to control
the dizziness more
with medication.
- [Jane] Bill was also
fitted with a hearing aid
to help him handle hearing loss.
But after several years,
he began to struggle
with speech recognition
and grew concerned
about the future.
- I was kinda
thinking to myself,
"Is this how I'm gonna
be when I'm older?"
I didn't wanna be this old
person that everybody loved
but couldn't communicate
very well with,
so I wanted to make sure
that I could do everything
I possibly could to be
able to continue to work
and to continue to
communicate with my family.
(soft ambient music)
- [Matthew] The cochlear
implant is the tool that we have
that allows us to improve
patients' speech understanding.
- I'm good, Melissa,
how are you doing?
- Hearing aids for the most part
will increase the
volume for the patient,
but they will not increase
the sound clarity.
A cochlear implant is a thing
that could give him both.
- [Jane] Bill decided to move
forward with the implant.
- I had to wait a month
for the implant activation
because everything needs
to heal up in there.
I was eagerly waiting for that.
I was very, very
excited for that day.
- [Jane] Bill began to
practice using his implant
and soon saw a big difference.
- And my word recognition is
over 85% now with the implant.
I have better sound range
actually with the implant ear.
I feel great about where I'm at,
much more hopeful
for the future.
I'll be able to communicate well
and not just sit on the couch
because I can't participate
in the conversation.
- Vast majority of patients
who receive a cochlear
implant will respond
that their quality of
life was greatly improved.
There's a lot that we
can do for hearing loss.
There are treatment
options out there
for progressive
inner-ear disease.
- I think it is
life-changing for me
because I'm gonna be able to
communicate, so don't give up.
If you're experiencing
hearing loss,
the hearing aid isn't
helping anymore,
keep working at it, keep
looking for other options.
There's always hope.
