Pink hearing aid offered to raise cancer awareness
Chemotherapy can result in auditory loss
The Dominion Post
Atiny pink behind-the-ear hearing aid is this month’s “special” at the WVU Speech and Hearing Center, Room 805 Allen Hall, Evansdale Campus. The idea is the brainchild of Janet Petitte, a clinic supervisor who is a breast cancer survivor, as a way the clinic could participate in National Breast Cancer Awareness Month. It’s part of a display at the clinic, and can be purchased by clients. The pink hearing aid, she said, is not only for women. For those who are hesitant to wear pink, it is available in other colors. It is a digital, state-ofthe-art aid, almost invisible behind the ear. “You can be positively pink about your hearing, if you want to show your stuff,” Petitte said. “What some people don’t know is, hearing loss can be a side effect of chemotherapy,” she said. So during October, the clinic is offering a free hearing test. And, “we have a free breast cancer awareness gift to give to clients coming in our clinic,” she said. The hearing clinic is staffed by students training to become audiologists, who are overseen by staff members. The clinic is open to the public from 9:30 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Monday-Thursday. Info: (304) 293-4241. Petitte is one of the supervisors. “We give hearing tests for children and adults, as well as fit hearing aids,” she said. “Students do the testing. Because we are a training institution, we can offer our services and our products at reduced costs to the public.” The “pink” focus “was my idea, because I had breast cancer, and I wouldn’t have known if I hadn’t got a mammogram,” Petitte said. “I didn’t even have a lump, that’s how early mine was. There was nothing to feel; that’s the scary part. And that’s the sign of our technology — it’s so advanced they can find it before we can.” Bob Gay/The Dominion Post photos The WVU Hearing Clinic is offering a small pink hearing aid (above) to help promote Breast Cancer Awareness Month. Joseph M. George (below, left), of Suncrest, has his ears examined by WVU Speech Pathology and Audiology second year graduate student Kim Richards during a visit to the WVU Hearing Clinic.
