LAKE NONA, Fla. – Macey and Blake Miller are all smiles when they describe their daughter Ava.
She loves to read, dance, and sing songs like “Wheels on the Bus” and “Old McDonald Had a Farm,” but what many don’t know is that Ava, 2, was born deaf.
Her mother, Macey, explained she had a normal pregnancy and Ava was diagnosed when she was born after taking several newborn hearing tests.
“That was the very first indication that something was off, you know, that she didn’t pass the newborn hearing screening but, of course, we were brand new parents and barely sleeping,” Macey said.
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Macey said there was no time wasted after receiving the news. They began to educate themselves about hearing loss and met with audiology doctors.
“We are really thankful for Nemours that they just jumped right in and gave us a plan,” she said.
At only 10 months, Ava had a 5-hour surgery at Nemours Children’s Hospital, where she received cochlear implants.
“We really didn’t know what was going to happen and that’s when the Googling starts. ‘OK what’s going on, what are we going to do,’ and that’s when we heard about, OK, cochlear implants this might be a chance for her to be able to enter the hearing world,” Blake Miller said.
The Millers said Ava’s hearing, with the devices, is as normal as a 15-month-old child’s hearing.
They said Ava continues to work with a speech pathologist at Nemours Children’s Health in Lake Nona every week while also learning baby sign language.
“Right now, we are focusing on the listening aspect and the verbal part so that she can, so that her brain can make those connections really, really, clearly,” Macey said.
The Millers also said they used Nemours’ Loaner Program for Ava’s hearing aid trial because hearing aids were not covered by insurance.
However, it’s Ava’s bright future they are looking forward to the most and are grateful for her progress.
“It’s something that definitely helps bring her to the hearing world and it’s going to be there for the rest of her life, but it doesn’t limit her in any capacity,” Blake said.
News 6 and Nemours Children’s Health will host a phone bank on April 17 to get results for young patients and their families.
One hundred percent of the funds raised will benefit the hospital’s Compassionate Care Fund, supporting children otherwise without resources to receive critical treatment and care.
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