Hearing Restored: Life-Changing Surgeries Help Grandfather Reconnect with Family and Passion

PIH Health patient John Lopez

“Before surgery, helmets and hearing aids did not mix. Now, I just ride.”

But the biggest reward? “I hear my grandkids laugh, scream, play in the pool. It’s a blessing.”

For 61-year-old John Lopez, hearing loss had been part of his life for decades. “It runs in my family,” he said. “I didn’t really notice it until my late 20s or early 30s. Over time, I just got used to the muffled sound, the earaches, and the slight tinnitus.”

By his late 30s, John was using hearing aids in both ears, but even those eventually fell short. “I was still missing too much,” he said. That changed when his ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor referred him to William Slattery MD, a neurotologist, or ear surgeon, at PIH Health House Clinic, known for treating complex inner ear disorders and hearing loss. “Surgery was not something I had ever seriously considered—until I met Dr. Slattery.”

Dr. Slattery diagnosed John with bilateral hearing loss caused by otosclerosis, a condition where abnormal bone growth prevents the tiny stapes bone in the middle ear from vibrating properly. “The stapes is essential for transmitting sound to the inner ear,” explained Dr. Slattery. “When it becomes fixed, hearing fades. In a stapedectomy, we carefully bypass the immobilized stapes and replace it with a prosthetic implant that restores sound transmission.”

John chose to have surgery on his right ear first in April 2024 to experience the outcome before proceeding with his left – or “bad” – ear in May 2025. “After surgery, I started hearing right away. It was mind-blowing,” he said. “Sounds I had not heard in years came back.”The change has transformed his life. John works in an e-commerce warehouse and is back on his motorcycle. “Before surgery, helmets and hearing aids did not mix. Now, I just ride.”

But the biggest reward? “I hear my grandkids laugh, scream, play in the pool. It’s a blessing.”

For John, hearing again is not just about sound—it’s about reconnecting with life.

For more information go to PIHHealth.org/HouseClinic