Narrated by Marineh Vardanyan, Artyom´s Mom
Hello, my name is Marineh Vardanyan, I am Artyom’s Mom. I live with my family in the town Artashat, in Armenia. My son was born on the 22nd of January, in 2002. At that time there was no hearing screening for newborns, and this was the reason we did not know about Artyom being deaf right after his birth. When he was one and a half years old I noticed that my son was not reacting to noises at all. Immediately we took him to Arabkir paediatric hospital in Yerevan to be examined. Artyom was diagnosed 4th grade sensorineural hearing loss.
In 2004 the CI program just started in Armenia. We were offered to do a cochlear implantation and there was already a donor for Artyom. I must mention the fear and stress we experienced as we went through something quite new in Armenia and there were 1000s of opinions about Cochlear Implantation. People did not believe in a device, a cochlear implant, which could completely take deaf children out of deafness and give them a chance to be fully integrated in the society.
With the help of Dr.Arthur Shukuryan, Dr. Vigen Bakhshinyan and Inessa Harutyunyan we came to the not easily made but right decision. So we took the risk and now we have a perfect result, my son is speaking like all normal hearing people.
My son was one of the first three children implanted on the 16th of March in 2004, in Erebouni Medical Center. When Artyom started to attend therapy sessions with Inessa and I saw the first results, I understood that taking the risk was half of his success. My happiness was endless.
However, about three to four years after the surgery a fear came up and did not leave me. I did know Artyom’s SP with a bag should soon be changed. I did not have any means to buy a new speech processor. We hardly made both ends meet in our family. So we were in panic. The only thing I could do was to keep what we had. I was very attentive to the device and tried to keep it working as long as possible. Thanks God it worked for eight years, this is even more than the company guarantees.
In 2012 Artyom got a “new” SP from Dr. Monika Lehnhardt, the president of Prof. Ernst Lehnhardt Foundation. I must say that there were and are many people who were and are willing to support the CI program in Armenia, but there was no one to care about already implanted children. Every year I got news about newly implanted children. All donors were interested in providing new CIs for deaf children. Well, that is important, but what about Artyom and many others like him?
Monika Lehnhardt was and is the only one who supports cochlear implanted children in Armenia. In the frame of one of her projects for Armenia Artyom got a “new” Freedom speech processor. There are so many advantages in his Freedom SP. He hears better, and it is small.
Now my son is 13 years old. He is doing okay at school. Apart from school he attends painting lessons and paints very well. He got several honorary diplomas in different painting festivals for children. I am very thankful to Monika Lehnhardt. She is the one who again gave Artyom hearing. Without this “new” SP he would get back to deafness, which I consider even worse than staying deaf lifelong. Maybe I seem crazy saying this, but we experienced it, because when his SP had a problem and he didn’t hear for even an hour, it was a disaster for all of us.
Hello, my name is Marineh Vardanyan, I am Artyom’s Mom. I live with my family in the town Artashat, in Armenia. My son was born on the 22nd of January, in 2002. At that time there was no hearing screening for newborns, and this was the reason we did not know about Artyom being deaf right after his birth. When he was one and a half years old I noticed that my son was not reacting to noises at all. Immediately we took him to Arabkir paediatric hospital in Yerevan to be examined. Artyom was diagnosed 4th grade sensorineural hearing loss.
In 2004 the CI program just started in Armenia. We were offered to do a cochlear implantation and there was already a donor for Artyom. I must mention the fear and stress we experienced as we went through something quite new in Armenia and there were 1000s of opinions about Cochlear Implantation. People did not believe in a device, a cochlear implant, which could completely take deaf children out of deafness and give them a chance to be fully integrated in the society.
With the help of Dr.Arthur Shukuryan, Dr. Vigen Bakhshinyan and Inessa Harutyunyan we came to the not easily made but right decision. So we took the risk and now we have a perfect result, my son is speaking like all normal hearing people.
My son was one of the first three children implanted on the 16th of March in 2004, in Erebouni Medical Center. When Artyom started to attend therapy sessions with Inessa and I saw the first results, I understood that taking the risk was half of his success. My happiness was endless.
However, about three to four years after the surgery a fear came up and did not leave me. I did know Artyom’s SP with a bag should soon be changed. I did not have any means to buy a new speech processor. We hardly made both ends meet in our family. So we were in panic. The only thing I could do was to keep what we had. I was very attentive to the device and tried to keep it working as long as possible. Thanks God it worked for eight years, this is even more than the company guarantees.
In 2012 Artyom got a “new” SP from Dr. Monika Lehnhardt, the president of Prof. Ernst Lehnhardt Foundation. I must say that there were and are many people who were and are willing to support the CI program in Armenia, but there was no one to care about already implanted children. Every year I got news about newly implanted children. All donors were interested in providing new CIs for deaf children. Well, that is important, but what about Artyom and many others like him?
Monika Lehnhardt was and is the only one who supports cochlear implanted children in Armenia. In the frame of one of her projects for Armenia Artyom got a “new” Freedom speech processor. There are so many advantages in his Freedom SP. He hears better, and it is small.
Now my son is 13 years old. He is doing okay at school. Apart from school he attends painting lessons and paints very well. He got several honorary diplomas in different painting festivals for children. I am very thankful to Monika Lehnhardt. She is the one who again gave Artyom hearing. Without this “new” SP he would get back to deafness, which I consider even worse than staying deaf lifelong. Maybe I seem crazy saying this, but we experienced it, because when his SP had a problem and he didn’t hear for even an hour, it was a disaster for all of us.
Narrated by Marineh Vardanyan, Artyom´s Mom
Hello, my name is Marineh Vardanyan, I am Artyom’s Mom. I live with my family in the town Artashat, in Armenia. My son was born on the 22nd of January, in 2002. At that time there was no hearing screening for newborns, and this was the reason we did not know about Artyom being deaf right after his birth. When he was one and a half years old I noticed that my son was not reacting to noises at all. Immediately we took him to Arabkir paediatric hospital in Yerevan to be examined. Artyom was diagnosed 4th grade sensorineural hearing loss.
In 2004 the CI program just started in Armenia. We were offered to do a cochlear implantation and there was already a donor for Artyom. I must mention the fear and stress we experienced as we went through something quite new in Armenia and there were 1000s of opinions about Cochlear Implantation. People did not believe in a device, a cochlear implant, which could completely take deaf children out of deafness and give them a chance to be fully integrated in the society.
With the help of Dr.Arthur Shukuryan, Dr. Vigen Bakhshinyan and Inessa Harutyunyan we came to the not easily made but right decision. So we took the risk and now we have a perfect result, my son is speaking like all normal hearing people.
My son was one of the first three children implanted on the 16th of March in 2004, in Erebouni Medical Center. When Artyom started to attend therapy sessions with Inessa and I saw the first results, I understood that taking the risk was half of his success. My happiness was endless.
However, about three to four years after the surgery a fear came up and did not leave me. I did know Artyom’s SP with a bag should soon be changed. I did not have any means to buy a new speech processor. We hardly made both ends meet in our family. So we were in panic. The only thing I could do was to keep what we had. I was very attentive to the device and tried to keep it working as long as possible. Thanks God it worked for eight years, this is even more than the company guarantees.
In 2012 Artyom got a “new” SP from Dr. Monika Lehnhardt, the president of Prof. Ernst Lehnhardt Foundation. I must say that there were and are many people who were and are willing to support the CI program in Armenia, but there was no one to care about already implanted children. Every year I got news about newly implanted children. All donors were interested in providing new CIs for deaf children. Well, that is important, but what about Artyom and many others like him?
Monika Lehnhardt was and is the only one who supports cochlear implanted children in Armenia. In the frame of one of her projects for Armenia Artyom got a “new” Freedom speech processor. There are so many advantages in his Freedom SP. He hears better, and it is small.
Now my son is 13 years old. He is doing okay at school. Apart from school he attends painting lessons and paints very well. He got several honorary diplomas in different painting festivals for children. I am very thankful to Monika Lehnhardt. She is the one who again gave Artyom hearing. Without this “new” SP he would get back to deafness, which I consider even worse than staying deaf lifelong. Maybe I seem crazy saying this, but we experienced it, because when his SP had a problem and he didn’t hear for even an hour, it was a disaster for all of us.
Hello, my name is Marineh Vardanyan, I am Artyom’s Mom. I live with my family in the town Artashat, in Armenia. My son was born on the 22nd of January, in 2002. At that time there was no hearing screening for newborns, and this was the reason we did not know about Artyom being deaf right after his birth. When he was one and a half years old I noticed that my son was not reacting to noises at all. Immediately we took him to Arabkir paediatric hospital in Yerevan to be examined. Artyom was diagnosed 4th grade sensorineural hearing loss.
In 2004 the CI program just started in Armenia. We were offered to do a cochlear implantation and there was already a donor for Artyom. I must mention the fear and stress we experienced as we went through something quite new in Armenia and there were 1000s of opinions about Cochlear Implantation. People did not believe in a device, a cochlear implant, which could completely take deaf children out of deafness and give them a chance to be fully integrated in the society.
With the help of Dr.Arthur Shukuryan, Dr. Vigen Bakhshinyan and Inessa Harutyunyan we came to the not easily made but right decision. So we took the risk and now we have a perfect result, my son is speaking like all normal hearing people.
My son was one of the first three children implanted on the 16th of March in 2004, in Erebouni Medical Center. When Artyom started to attend therapy sessions with Inessa and I saw the first results, I understood that taking the risk was half of his success. My happiness was endless.
However, about three to four years after the surgery a fear came up and did not leave me. I did know Artyom’s SP with a bag should soon be changed. I did not have any means to buy a new speech processor. We hardly made both ends meet in our family. So we were in panic. The only thing I could do was to keep what we had. I was very attentive to the device and tried to keep it working as long as possible. Thanks God it worked for eight years, this is even more than the company guarantees.
In 2012 Artyom got a “new” SP from Dr. Monika Lehnhardt, the president of Prof. Ernst Lehnhardt Foundation. I must say that there were and are many people who were and are willing to support the CI program in Armenia, but there was no one to care about already implanted children. Every year I got news about newly implanted children. All donors were interested in providing new CIs for deaf children. Well, that is important, but what about Artyom and many others like him?
Monika Lehnhardt was and is the only one who supports cochlear implanted children in Armenia. In the frame of one of her projects for Armenia Artyom got a “new” Freedom speech processor. There are so many advantages in his Freedom SP. He hears better, and it is small.
Now my son is 13 years old. He is doing okay at school. Apart from school he attends painting lessons and paints very well. He got several honorary diplomas in different painting festivals for children. I am very thankful to Monika Lehnhardt. She is the one who again gave Artyom hearing. Without this “new” SP he would get back to deafness, which I consider even worse than staying deaf lifelong. Maybe I seem crazy saying this, but we experienced it, because when his SP had a problem and he didn’t hear for even an hour, it was a disaster for all of us.