Guests - Tamirat Gebremariam, an artist.
- Sandra Lee, Cochlear Implant Clinic Audiologist
- Madelaine, Cochlear Implant Clinic
Vale Kevin Walklate President Neville spoke about our old friend and fellow Rotarian of 30 years standing, Kevin Walklate who died on Saturday April 27th after a long illness. Neville recognized Kevin’s many contributions to club life and his untiring willingness to help. Kevin was awarded an Avenues of Service Award in recognition of the many roles he played in the club. Something he made no fuss about. We will remember Kevin’s courage in coming to meetings until quite recently despite the debilitating effects of his cancer. Neville will miss Kevin’s company and his regular feedback in the car on Tuesdays. Announcements - Rob Hines reminded everybody about the Oh Kolkata Night at the Duras Apartment on Saturday evening. About 60 guests are expected. Let Peter Duras know if you are a new booking.
- Warwick Cavell drew attention to the Changeover Dinner on June 28 at the Angliss Restaurant. Book via Try Bookings.
The Spectacular DIK Container at Docklands President Neville reflected on the recent forum which featured the many activities of the club and introduced Sean Car who gave us a colorful account of the week the Docklands Branch brightened up the waterfront with a hand painted container destined to go to DIK and when the funds are raised, onto Malawi loaded with medical equipment. This was the first project of the Docklands Branch and presented a very atypical Rotary image, attracting Channel 7’s interest quite apart from the local print media. Sean thanked Tamarit in particular for his artwork, though there were many contributors by the end of the week, including VCA students. Guest Speaker Sandra Lee on the Cochlear Implant Clinic Sandra provided a very clear explanation of how the Cochlear Implant works by stimulating the hearing nerve fibres. About 4000 Australian patients now have implants and many times that amount overseas. The inventors work in the business still and research is ongoing. The technology is world leading and many specialists in the field visit Melbourne. They do have competitors but not with the track record, research capability or international standing of Cochlear. Cochlear are increasingly applying the implant to patients who have severe but not total hearing impairment. Sandra pointed out the downsides of struggling with poor hearing saying if one reaches the point of withdrawing from social events due to increasing deafness, it is time to give her a call. Cochlear manage the cases with a multi-disciplinary team of audiologists, speech therapists and ENT surgeons. The surgery takes about 2 to 3 hours followed by an overnight stay in hospital. This is followed by a long period of therapy as the brain learns to recognize a different hearing signal. The total cost of the whole episode is around $40,000, but if you are a public patient it is fully subsidized! |