Published: August 31, 2006
RCT-5 Doctors Examine Deaf Fallujah Girl
By 2nd Lt. Lawton King, Regimental Combat Team 5 
A deaf Fallujan girl holds the snack and stuffed-animal cow she received from RCT-5 and Fallujah Surgical doctors. The RCT-5 medical staff re-examined the girl at the request of the Fallujah city council to determine whether or not her hearing can be restored.
Photo: Regimental Combat Team 5 |
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq (Aug. 28, 2006) - Regimental Combat Team 5's medical team heard the call for a girl who could not.
At the request of the Fallujah city council, members of the RCT-5 medical staff visited Fallujah Surgical this weekend and examined the hearing capacity of a 6-year-old Fallujan girl who was pronounced deaf and mute last year.
The girl was evaluated by Navy doctors including Lt. Cmdr. Manuel Tanguma, RCT-5's surgeon, Lt. Cmdr. Curt West, the RCT-5 psychiatrist, and Cmdr. Elizabeth Beazley of Fallujah Surgical.
"It shows concern," said West a 39-year-old Naval Academy Graduate from Temecula Calif. "This is a goodwill gesture."
"It proves the relations we have with civil authorities and leaders," added Navy Petty Officer Orlando Soriano, a 24-year-old hospital corpsman from Martinez, Calif., who assisted in the procedure.
Doctors welcomed the girl by presenting her with snacks and a stuffed-animal cow. Her thank you to the doctors was returned as a warm smile.
"She's a real cute girl," Soriano said later.
Once she had grown comfortable in the medical environment, the doctors interviewed a family member through an interpreter to learn all of the pertinent information and reconstruct her medical history.
Doctors determined the hearing deficiency was not hereditary or spawned by birth defects. They momentarily stowed their notepads and began to check her vital signs.
"I can't find anything that's wrong," said Tanguma after the preliminary tests.
He then produced a two-pronged, oblong device that, according to West, enables doctors to gauge the audio capabilities of the ear drum.
Read more at: http://192.156.19.109/marinelink/mcn2000.nsf/main5/1D81C1AFB56E1626852571D80030A803?opendocument
alan@newsblaze.com
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