Bonitas Member Magazine B-Living Issue 2_2019 | Page 11

It was nothing short of a miracle. She responded
immediately with a smile, which then turned to cries. It
was all too overwhelming. The most important thing: Our
profoundly deaf daughter was starting to hear. It took
time for her brain to make sense of all the new auditory
input, to process it and turn it into meaningful signals. It
is all a process. But it really doesn’t get any better than
this.'
The therapy for Kara involves:
But at what cost?
'We discovered the combined procedures and devices
and therapy would cost around R1 million. Although
we were on a medical aid, each fund and plan differs
regarding what is covered. Some pay a portion but most
schemes have it as a total scheme exclusion.'
• Initial weekly mapping sessions where they adjust
the electrodes until it reaches the perfect 'map' for
her optimal hearing. These become bi-weekly, then
monthly and eventually she’ll end up seeing the
audiologist annually
• Weekly rehabilitation therapy that helps her learn
to 'hear'. The challenge now is to get her real age,
physical age and hearing age at the same level. Her
real age is 20 months and her hearing age almost 4
months
• Weekly occupational therapy
• And when the time comes, speech therapy.
‘It is a new life, new challenges and new ways for all of
us. Our son has learnt to help Kara keep her ‘ears’ on
and will quickly come and call us if they fall off. As do
all the other kids in our circle of family and friends.'
‘After all our expenses, there was absolutely no way we
could afford R1 million! We contacted Bonitas and they
went to great lengths to help us; you can imagine our
relief. The day Bonitas approved Kara’s first implant, I
cried. In fact I think I cried more than when we discovered
she was deaf. But these were happy tears, tears of relief
and our family and friends cried with me.'
‘I wanted to give Bonitas a big hug and say thank you
for changing our lives. The approval had an enormous
impact on our family and would change our child’s life
forever. The decision to pay for everything, even the
shortfall, was made by caring humans. What might have
seemed like a black and white decision for them, was
a life changing one for our family. I hope they realise
just how many people's lives were touched by this ONE
decision. How it created a ripple effect that will continue
for years to come.'
After the operation
'Kara’s first implant was performed on 9 October by
Dr Burden at Zuid-Afrikaans Hospital and on 15 November
it was switched on.
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