{"id":21919,"date":"2013-02-20T20:28:17","date_gmt":"2013-02-21T01:28:17","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/?p=21919"},"modified":"2013-02-20T22:45:17","modified_gmt":"2013-02-21T03:45:17","slug":"family-flies-deaf-child-to-italy-for-surgery-not-approved-in-us","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2013\/02\/20\/family-flies-deaf-child-to-italy-for-surgery-not-approved-in-us\/","title":{"rendered":"Family flies deaf child to Italy for surgery not approved in US"},"content":{"rendered":"

Family flies deaf child to Italy for surgery not approved in US<\/strong><\/p>\n

February 19, 2013<\/p>\n

By Ellysa Gonzalez<\/p>\n

Lubbock Avalanche-Journal<\/p>\n

LUBBOCK \u2014 From an onlooker\u2019s perspective, Anna Burch is like any other 5-year-old.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s friendly, energized and quite interactive. But if you call her name, she won\u2019t respond.<\/p>\n

She\u2019s not being rude. She simply can\u2019t hear you.<\/p>\n

Amy Burch is a single mother of three adopted girls \u2014 Amelia, 8; Lucy, 3; and Anna, 5. Burch adopted Anna from Anyang, China, just a few weeks before her fifth birthday with the help of her parents.<\/p>\n

Debra Burch, Amy\u2019s mother, said she and her husband Mike were with her daughter when she made the decision to adopt Anna.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe knew she was deaf,\u201d said Debra.<\/p>\n

The disability didn\u2019t hinder the family\u2019s excitement to adopt her and figured Anna\u2019s deafness could be treated with a hearing aid or cochlear implant.<\/p>\n

The extent of Anna\u2019s condition was unknown until the family had her hearing assessed.<\/p>\n

Anna was born with no cochleas, said Dr. Steven Zunpancic, assistant professor of Speech-Language & Hearing Sciences at Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center School of Allied Health Sciences.<\/p>\n

The cochlea is what allows hearing, said Brittany Hall, clinical supervisor for SLHS at TTUHSC SAHS.<\/p>\n

Anna was profoundly deaf. Debra said cochlear implants and hearing aids would be of no use, so the family began looking into other options.<\/p>\n

Less than a month after Anna\u2019s arrival, the Burch family arranged for Hall to begin working with Anna.<\/p>\n

She was taken to Hall for an assessment in August.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnna is such an amazing little girl,\u201d Hall said. \u201cShe has no formal language of communication, but she is such a communicative little girl. \u2026 I saw her for an assessment in 2012. She was communicating, but it wasn\u2019t through words. With the help of the family, she learned sign communication.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said before Anna\u2019s departure to Verona, she was working to teach her Anna to pair signs with speech by reading lips.<\/p>\n

\u201cShe can look at my face and lips and tell the difference between two phrases,\u201d she said. \u201cPair that meaning with a sign. Gain meaning from reading somebody\u2019s lips. Also help understand, move her mouth and make sounds. She can\u2019t hear what she\u2019s saying, though.\u201d<\/p>\n

Debra said an option presented itself and set in motion almost two weeks ago in the form of Auditory Brainstem Implant surgery.<\/p>\n

The surgery is legal for adults in the U.S., but not for children, Zupancic said.<\/p>\n

On Jan. 22, the Federal Food and Drug Administration approved a trial for children 24 months to 60 months.<\/p>\n

The trial is sponsored by the Los Angeles-based House Research Institute and Children\u2019s Hospital Los Angeles and Dr. Vittorio Colletti of the University of Verona Hospital in Italy.<\/p>\n

Upon learning of the trial, the Burch family tried to get Anna involved, but failed, Debra said. She said they contacted a doctor at the House Research Institute who said Anna missed qualification requirements by a few months. The disappointment was inevitable.<\/p>\n

About 24 hours later, things began turning around for the Burch family. Dr. Colletti called and asked if they could \u201cbring her in next week\u201d so Anna could begin her journey to hear.<\/p>\n

Debra said the family accepted immediately. They were grateful for the opportunity, even on such short notice. She said Dr. Colletti explained he likes to perform the surgeries on children all at once. She said the next time an availability came up could be months from now.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think it\u2019s good this way because we don\u2019t have time to be afraid,\u201d Debra said. \u201cWe think she\u2019s going to win the world over. If there\u2019s something out there that will help her, we have to do it.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hall said the surgery involves an implantation of a device that will transmit signals to Anna\u2019s brainstem.<\/p>\n

A successful surgery means Anna would be able to process auditory signals, Zupancic said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe just don\u2019t know how much or the quality,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

The expense of the trip, which includes a six-week stay at the hospital for Anna and rental of an apartment for Amy and her father, is calculated at $88,000, Debra said.<\/p>\n

Debra said the family put the situation in God\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n

She said Amy was speaking to a lady from London in a chat room one evening when she donated $9,000 left over from her own child\u2019s surgery for Anna\u2019s. The stranger told Amy her child had had the ABI surgery and was doing well. She mentioned a visit to Dr. Colletti for a checkup during the time Anna would be in Verona. Debra said the money was paid directly to the hospital.<\/p>\n

The family also has an account for donations set up at First Convenience Bank inside Walmart locations called \u201cSo Anna Can Hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe have prayer chains all over the world for her,\u201d Debra said. \u201cWe\u2019re missionaries. We have a campaign called \u2018So Anna Can Hear.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Mike, Amy and Anna departed to Verona on Thursday.<\/p>\n

Debra said Anna is scheduled to have surgery on Monday.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey want her in the hospital a week ahead so they can quarantine her since it is a brain surgery,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

On Saturday, Anna met Dr. Colletti for the first time. Colletti has performed ABI surgery on kids in Italy, where it is approved. Debra said doctors from the House Research Institute will be present at Anna\u2019s surgery to learn from Dr. Colletti.<\/p>\n

Amy\u2019s blog post from Saturday reads \u201cAnna took to him immediately.\u201d<\/p>\n

After the initial meeting, Amy sat down with Dr. Colletti to discuss the surgery.<\/p>\n

She wrote: \u201cHe was very blunt and honest about the horrible things that could happen in brainstem surgery. I knew all of this from my research, but still, hearing him say it made my heart quiver. I started to tear up and then he took my face in his hands and said, \u2018Now ask me in how many of my patients any of those things has happened.\u2019 So I asked. He said, \u2018Zero. None.\u2019 \u201d<\/p>\n

Amy\u2019s latest update was posted Monday afternoon.<\/p>\n

It reads: \u201cTomorrow, Anna checks into the hospital. Pray for us! Anna is not used to being confined in a small space (her precious teacher asked us, \u2018what on earth will she do all those days?\u2019), and pray for us as we get used to the medical ways in another country. It is sure to be different! Pray that we can be a blessing to the other families whose children are also undergoing ABI. Pray for the financial details to work out. It\u2019s a stretch for us to even be here, so just pray things will work out.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost of all, we plead with you to pray for protection for Anna and for healing. Our heart\u2019s desire is that this surgery will be more successful than anyone thinks possible and that Anna will shock the socks off everyone. Yes, I am praying for more than I would dare to ever ask, hope, or imagine. Would you join me?\u201d<\/p>\n

Anna Burch<\/p>\n

* Money can be donated to Anna\u2019s medical expenses at any First Convenience Bank locations. Ask to donate to \u201cSo Anna Can Hear.\u201d<\/p>\n

* To keep up with Anna\u2019s progress, check out Amy\u2019s blog at morethanaskedorimagined.blogspot.com<\/a>.<\/p>\n

SOURCE:<\/p>\n

http:\/\/amarillo.com\/news\/texas-news\/2013-02-19\/family-flies-deaf-child-italy-surgery-not-approved-us?<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Family flies deaf child to Italy for surgery not approved in US February 19, 2013 By Ellysa Gonzalez Lubbock Avalanche-Journal LUBBOCK \u2014 From an onlooker\u2019s perspective, Anna Burch is like any other 5-year-old. She\u2019s friendly, energized and quite interactive. But…<\/p>\n

Read more →<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[17360,17359,17358,17362,4621,17368,17367,17371,17363,17364,17372,17357,17369,5146,17370,11838,17361,17365,17366,12437,17373],"class_list":["post-21919","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-deaf-news","tag-amelia-burch","tag-amy-burch","tag-anna-burch","tag-anyang-china","tag-article","tag-auditory-brainstem-implant-surgery","tag-brittany-hall","tag-childrens-hospital-los-angeles","tag-debra-burch","tag-dr-steven-zunpancic","tag-dr-vittorio-colletti","tag-ellysa-gonzalez","tag-federal-food-and-drug-administration","tag-italy","tag-los-angeles-based-house-research-institute","tag-lubbock-avalanche-journal","tag-lucy-burch","tag-speech-language-hearing-sciences","tag-texas-tech-university-health-sciences-center-school-of-allied-health-sciences","tag-united-states","tag-university-of-verona-hospital"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p752R-5Hx","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":28505,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2014\/09\/04\/award-winning-texas-teacher-may-be-deaf-but-she-uses-disability-as-motivation-not-obstacle\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":0},"title":"Award-winning Texas teacher may be deaf, but she uses disability as motivation, not obstacle","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"September 4, 2014","format":false,"excerpt":"Award-winning Texas teacher may be deaf, but she uses disability as motivation, not obstacle By NATALIE GROSS Lubbock Avalanche-Journal August 21, 2014 ABERNATHY, Texas \u2014 Keri Moore's most-used phrase as a child was, \"I can do it myself.\" It didn't matter that she was born deaf. Now a math teacher\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1759,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2007\/06\/11\/new-miss-deaf-texas-crowned\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":1},"title":"New Miss Deaf Texas crowned","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"June 11, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Congratulations to the new Miss Deaf Texas 2007-2009! Katherine Murch, Miss Deaf Corpus Christi was crowned by Miss Deaf Texas 2006-2007, Johanna Valenta. Katherine is from Corpus Christi. She will be representing Texas at the Miss Deaf America Pageant during the NAD conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. The results of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"Katherine Murch - New Miss Deaf Texas from Corpus Christi, Texas","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/deaftexas.org\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2007\/06\/katherine_murch.jpg?resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":17178,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/01\/12\/community-law-school-program-with-interpreter-lubbock\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":2},"title":"Community Law School program with Interpreter – Lubbock","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 12, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Community Law School program February 2012 Below is information about the Community Law School which is being presented by the Lubbock County Bar Association and the Texas Tech School of Law. The conference is free to the public. It will be held in the Lanier Auditorium at the Texas Tech\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":14127,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2011\/05\/02\/deaf-blind-events-in-lubbock\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":3},"title":"Deaf-Blind Events in Lubbock","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"May 2, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Deaf-Blind Events in Lubbock DATE: May 2, 2011 TIME: 7-9 pm ADDRESS: College of Education 3008 18th Street Lubbock, Texas You're invited to some upcoming events in the Lubbock area geared towards those interested in the Deaf-Blind community. A leader from the Deaf-Blind Young Adults in Action (DBYAA) group will\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":9621,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2010\/03\/09\/country-signs-around-the-world-the-middle-eastsouthwest-asia-lubbock\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":4},"title":"Country Signs Around the World: The Middle East\/Southwest Asia – Lubbock","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"March 9, 2010","format":false,"excerpt":"Workshop in Lubbock -- Country Signs Around the World: The Middle East\/Southwest Asia DATE: April 10, 2010 TIME: 10 am - 2 pm ADDRESS: 2414 34th Street Lubbock, Texas WEBSITE: http:\/\/www.aslresource.net Country Signs from Around the World: The Middle East\/Southwest Asia Presented by Carolyn J. Stephens BEI Advanced, NIC Location\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":17218,"url":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/2012\/01\/15\/court-interpreters-translate-into-high-cost-for-lubbock-county\/","url_meta":{"origin":21919,"position":5},"title":"Court interpreters translate into high cost for Lubbock County","author":"Grant Laird Jr","date":"January 15, 2012","format":false,"excerpt":"Court interpreters translate into high cost for Lubbock County Scant qualified court interpreters and increased demand has translated into higher costs for Lubbock County. January 14, 2012 By BY LOGAN G. CARVER AVALANCHE-JOURNAL Scant qualified court interpreters and increased demand has translated into higher costs for Lubbock County. In a\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "General"","block_context":{"text":"General","link":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/blog\/category\/deaf-news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21919","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/6"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=21919"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21919\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":21934,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/21919\/revisions\/21934"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=21919"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=21919"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/deafnetwork.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=21919"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}