Caesar Marino of Little Canada had been mostly deaf since age 7 and longed to hear birds chirp again. Now at age 63, he can, thanks to a cochlear implant performed recently at the University of Minnesota Medical Center, Fairview. When the implant was turned on for the first time, Marino heard a computer-generated tone from audiologist Emily Farmer. "Is that me talking?" he asked. "Holy! I'm gonna change my voice. I sound like Donald Duck here. 'What's up doc?'" Two weeks later Marino said his ability to hear was steadily improving and enriching the life he shares with his wife, Jackie, three sons, seven grandchildren and two great-grandchildren. "So let's say I was a 7 or 8. I'm a 10. I'm a 10 now because of what I'm hearing and what I'm anticipating... I'm feeling another sense of a whole 'nother world coming."
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