Hearing restoration for Legend Napa Valley Estate Winery CEO vintner, CEO

AMERICAN CANYON, Calif. (KGO) -- For Andre Crisp, vintner and CEO of Legend Napa Valley Estate Winery, working in a loud environment is just part of the job. Powerful fans circulate air around his wine barrels to maintain a cooler temperature.

It's good for the wine, but a challenge for Crisp who suffered from hearing loss after a routine ear tube placement procedure. His right ear didn't heal properly and developed a hole, "I could not stand here and talk to somebody at our facility because I couldn't hear them."

Crisp struggled with recurring infections and a gradual decline in his hearing. In 2022, he wanted relief from his infections so he visited Dr. Daniel Ballard, a head and neck surgeon at Kaiser Permanente Vallejo Medical Center. However, Dr. Ballard offered Crisp a life changing repair surgery.

"It's usually an ongoing thing that eventually reaches a point where you have to do something about it," said Dr. Ballard. The surgery was a success, but just two days later Crisp was diagnosed with COVID, which led to a severe ear infection and re-perforation of his ear drum.

In 2024, Crisp was unsure if he would ever get his hearing back, but he was ready to try the repair surgery one more time. After the second surgery, he got great news when Dr. Ballard called and said he got 100% of his hearing back. "It's a testament to Dr. Ballard, to his skill, and of course to Kaiser," said Crisp.

Dr. Ballard said it was special for him to be part of Crisp's journey, "These surgeries that are relatively routine for me as a specialist have a huge impact on people's lives."

You can learn more about Legend Napa Valley by visiting this website.

For more information about Kaiser, visit this website.