I became aware of my hearing loss around age 27-28. I had my hearing tested and started with my first aid in my right ear. The adjustment went fairly easy and I started wearing my aid 24/7 as I was a mother of 5 young children and worked as a nurse all three shifts. Though my children have all grown, I still wear them 24/7. I think this has helped me adjust to them and feel my hearing has improved. The advantage also is that I don’t have to go looking for them. My first audiologist was Cheryl Kloer at this clinic. She was amazing and I looked forward to seeing her at visits. As I have a smaller inner ear it took patience on both our parts to get the right fit. Sometimes she would do a mold 4 times before the company got it right. She knew I was a busy mom and nurse and was so kind to accommodate my schedule. I recall meeting her at her home one evening as I needed to work at the hospital in the morning. It was hard to lose her to cancer. I feel blessed and fortunate that I came to know Brooke Steckelberg. We bonded immediately not surprisingly because of her bubbly personality and her enthusiasm to see that I received the best hearing possible. She shows interest in her patients, helping with past vertigo episodes. She has amazing skills and keeps with current knowledge to give her best. Having a hearing loss is not easy, but the staff here is dedicated to being helpful and make the journey easier. Aids are not a one fit for all and it takes time and patience from both the patient and the audiologist to get the best fit for each person and ongoing adjustments are what makes this work. Over the counter purchases are not for those who want great hearing. Thank you for all you do.
J.W. -Patient with St. Cloud ENT for 46 years.
I am hard of hearing. All my Ear, Nose and Throat needs are met at the ENT clinic of St. Cloud. It is a model clinic with all the necessary licensed physicians and audiologists located in the same clinic, a one stop convenience. I appreciate the desk receptionists who honor my wish to have my appointments scheduled with my physician of choice Ronald Hanson, Otolaryngologist and My Audiologist of choice Brooke Steckelberg, Au.D. So what is good about all this? These professional registered/licensed staff members are educated compassionate, qualified competent practitioners of excellence. Brooke has been very influential in educating me about assistive equipment that enables me to remain engaged in life. She has respected my request to have a coil programmed into my hearing aids, allowing me to hear homilies in church and speakers at in-services. She introduced me to a neckloop telecoil coupler that is paired with my hearing aids. I wear it around my neck eliminating the need to remove my hearing aids to listen. An added accommodation to my programmed hearing aids is that it has a feature that I can utilize to eliminate all external noises like loud laughter, coughing, sneezing and babies crying when someone is speaking from a podium. Brooke also introduced me to a wireless Phonak system for use in a one to one conversation. It consists of two pieces: a ComPilot and a remote mic. I wear the ComPIlot around my neck and the other person wears the remote mic. Both of these pieces are paired with my hearing aids and both are rechargeable. I think of these assistive devices as essentials in promoting my listening ability and comfort. Recently I had a Caption Call phone installed in my room. Hearing aids and these assistive devices cannot restore me to normal hearing but they do improve my ability to hear. I am blessed and grateful.
G.G. – Patient of St. Cloud ENT for 47 years.
When I first realized I needed hearing aids and began looking for them some 27 years ago all I heard were horror stories about them. While continuing my search a friend of mine recommended St. Cloud ENT to me and been here for 26 years. The clinic over this period of time, in my opinion, has been a sincere effort to educate the staff to make them the most knowledgeable in their field and then backing them up with cutting edge technology available for the hearing impaired. I have worked with Audiologist Jessica Landucci for the past many years. She is bright, helpful, always kind and considerate, cheerful and a joy to work with. She has always been patient and understanding with me and is always willing to help me with my hearing loss in any way she can. I almost always ask her about anything new for hearing loss or about something I read and she is very informed in her field and gives me an honest answer if it will help me or not. She has been very good at explaining the reality of my hearing loss and reality of what to expect; No miracles yet. This really helps me cope with the problem and I thank her for the honesty, sincere help, and service she has given me. I have really appreciated working with Jessica and the staff at the clinic.
R.N. – Patient of St. Cloud ENT for 26 years.