Regular hearing checkups are part of continuing care after cancer treatment

In an exam room at St. Jude, Johnnie Bass, AuD, PhD, St. Jude Rehabilitation Services, is adjusting a pair of headphones on 11-year-old Eli. Eli, who is in remission from osteosarcoma, a type of bone cancer, smiles as his father jokes with him during his audiology checkup. Eli is getting his hearing checked because some treatments for childhood cancer can place survivors at a greater risk of hearing loss than their peers.

Five years ago, Eli fell. He told his parents, Liliana Patino and Eutimio Castellon, about a persistent pain in his leg. Instead of the fracture they expected to find, an X-ray image revealed a mass on one of his leg bones. Liliana and Eutimio learned the news on a Friday, and by the following Monday, they were referred to and started treatment at St. Jude.

“At first, it was really scary because we didn’t know what was involved in his procedures,” Eutimio said. “But everyone at St. Jude was very compassionate, and they explained everything very simply and clearly.”

“We are so thankful to St. Jude for Eli’s treatment,” Liliana said. “He was taken care of so well because somebody decided to be a part of research here in the past.”

Through a combination treatment refined by St. Jude researchers, Eli is in remission. But during that process, he received chemotherapy with the drug cisplatin. Cisplatin is a type of drug called a platinum chemotherapy, and these drugs are known to damage the ear, which can cause hearing loss. Eli’s care team warned the family that the treatment could diminish his hearing, then screened for and found that loss afterward treatment was complete.

“Sometimes you lose something to gain something bigger,” Eutimio said. “It could have been a lot worse.”

All St. Jude patients receive regular checkups to watch for the side effects most likely to be caused by their specific treatment. That standard follow-up detected Eli’s hearing loss. In Rehabilitation Services, Bass assessed Eli to determine if he was a candidate for hearing aids and then helped adjust the hearing aids to ensure he was benefiting from them. Studies have shown that hearing loss can contribute to issues such as struggling in school or feeling isolated, so intervening right away to make sure Eli doesn’t experience those struggles is an integral part of survivorship care at St. Jude.

Bass researches how hearing loss affects survivors of childhood cancer and how to address it best. While not currently enrolled in one of Bass’s studies, the family is more than willing to help if called to participate in St. Jude research in the future.

“We are still getting a lot of help and support from the hospital even after finishing Eli’s treatment,” Liliana said. “Participating in research is a small way we can give something back to our cancer community.”

Despite the rigors of cancer therapy and developing his hearing loss, Eli still thinks of his time at St. Jude fondly.

“I’m thankful for St. Jude,” he said. “It was fun there.”