We're still struggling to figure out how to best attach Erin's various pieces parts, but we are getting there. I am sure this will be only a very small hurdle in the grand scheme of things.
We went to a festival today with both grandmas. A woman came up to us when she saw Erin's implant and introduced herself as a Childhood Psychologist who works for a Clinic for the Deaf in Philly. Apparently it is associated with the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). Small world!
She did so well today. She reacts to sounds on occassion and it is such a joy when she does! We feel so fortunate that she is already seeing a benefit.
She was in such a fantastic mood all day today. A part of me was worried that the implant and the influx of noise would somehow change her disposition. But as DadtoToes and I observed today, she is actually more Toes than ever.
Saturday, October 21, 2006
Friday, October 20, 2006
Video from Activation Day
Here is some video during the period when the audiologist was first working on the mapping. She was sending audio signals to the implant and waiting to see a response from Erin. You can see when she hears the tone and points to the visual stimulation device. A little later in this piece, you can see a bit of a negative response to a tone that was not pleasant to her.
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She nailed it!
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This is her first reaction to actual ambient sound... not generated by the computer. You don't see too much of a reaction, but you can tell she definitely hears.
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And, the ah-ha moment... she heard her daddy.
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She nailed it!
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This is her first reaction to actual ambient sound... not generated by the computer. You don't see too much of a reaction, but you can tell she definitely hears.
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And, the ah-ha moment... she heard her daddy.
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Activation Day
We had such a great day!
We started out by going over all the components of the CI while Toes had her lunch.
Then we attached the coil to her head and the audiologist started playing computer tones directly into it, to read what level she would react to the sound, so she could map the processor accordingly.
This is when we started to get some reaction from her. It was so cute. Mostly she would just sudddenly look up from her toy and then look to her right, where they had a visual stimulation device (a moving stuffed pig in a box that lights up).
The intent is to condition her to look and/or point at the box when she hears sound. By the end of the process she had it pretty well down pat and would point at the piggie when she heard the beep. That is some of the cutest video. (see seperate post)
Then she hooked the microphone up so Erin could hear our voices. She really did not have much reaction at that point. But a little later when Frank was talking she turned and looked at him and reacted to him. He said something back to her and she kind of bopped up and down in my lap. Then he told her he loves her. Sweet sounds to a little girl's ears!
We stopped at daycare on the way home so we could talk to all the teachers at once about how to take care of it. It was snack time, so we put her on the table to let her eat with her friends. She kept motioning to the CD playing and signing "dance". So funny.
We are already seeing little signs that she hears us. She came from the kitchen into the living room when I called her. She turned to look at me when I asked her to while I snapped some pictures. That kind of thing. But other times she seems to ignore what is around her. Which they told us to expect.
There are three stronger programs we can turn the processor up to over the next week. She said normally she suggests waiting two to three days before turning it up to Program 2, but with how well Toes took to it, she said we could give it a shot tomorrow.
We are still struggling to get the hang of all the components, and trying to figure out how things will work best for her.
Here she is with everything in place.
But it didn't last long. The ear piece is just too large for her little ear. Even with the hearing aid mold ancoring it.
After her nap, I tried pinning the mircophone and processor to her shoulder and it seemed to help. Here she is checking out all the stuff that came with the implant,
Tonight there was no doubt that she was hearing us. She doesn't react every time, but she reacts enough that tells us there is already some understanding of sound going on in that little brain of hers.
This was such a huge day! Our little girl's hearing was born today.
We started out by going over all the components of the CI while Toes had her lunch.
Then we attached the coil to her head and the audiologist started playing computer tones directly into it, to read what level she would react to the sound, so she could map the processor accordingly.
This is when we started to get some reaction from her. It was so cute. Mostly she would just sudddenly look up from her toy and then look to her right, where they had a visual stimulation device (a moving stuffed pig in a box that lights up).
The intent is to condition her to look and/or point at the box when she hears sound. By the end of the process she had it pretty well down pat and would point at the piggie when she heard the beep. That is some of the cutest video. (see seperate post)
Then she hooked the microphone up so Erin could hear our voices. She really did not have much reaction at that point. But a little later when Frank was talking she turned and looked at him and reacted to him. He said something back to her and she kind of bopped up and down in my lap. Then he told her he loves her. Sweet sounds to a little girl's ears!
We stopped at daycare on the way home so we could talk to all the teachers at once about how to take care of it. It was snack time, so we put her on the table to let her eat with her friends. She kept motioning to the CD playing and signing "dance". So funny.
We are already seeing little signs that she hears us. She came from the kitchen into the living room when I called her. She turned to look at me when I asked her to while I snapped some pictures. That kind of thing. But other times she seems to ignore what is around her. Which they told us to expect.
There are three stronger programs we can turn the processor up to over the next week. She said normally she suggests waiting two to three days before turning it up to Program 2, but with how well Toes took to it, she said we could give it a shot tomorrow.
We are still struggling to get the hang of all the components, and trying to figure out how things will work best for her.
Here she is with everything in place.
But it didn't last long. The ear piece is just too large for her little ear. Even with the hearing aid mold ancoring it.
After her nap, I tried pinning the mircophone and processor to her shoulder and it seemed to help. Here she is checking out all the stuff that came with the implant,
Tonight there was no doubt that she was hearing us. She doesn't react every time, but she reacts enough that tells us there is already some understanding of sound going on in that little brain of hers.
This was such a huge day! Our little girl's hearing was born today.
Thursday, October 19, 2006
October 19, 2006
One more day! Our appointment is at 11:00 AM tomorrow!!!
Erin was particularly chatty tonight, so I took some video before bed.
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She had her 15 month pediatrician appointment today. She weighed 21 lbs, 8 oz, 31" long. The doc said she is in the 95th percentile in height and around the 35th in weight. "A tall drink of water" as he said.
The Doc said he is still shocked that she is considered to have a severe to profound hearing less. He actually seemed rather skeptical because she was babbling to him so much. He said all of his other patients with that level of loss are not nearly as social as Erin is.
I love Erin's pediatrician... but how can you refute the ABR results?
Other than that, everything looks great. She took her shots well and was ready to go home.
Erin was particularly chatty tonight, so I took some video before bed.
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Photo Sharing - Upload Video - Video Sharing - Share Photos
She had her 15 month pediatrician appointment today. She weighed 21 lbs, 8 oz, 31" long. The doc said she is in the 95th percentile in height and around the 35th in weight. "A tall drink of water" as he said.
The Doc said he is still shocked that she is considered to have a severe to profound hearing less. He actually seemed rather skeptical because she was babbling to him so much. He said all of his other patients with that level of loss are not nearly as social as Erin is.
I love Erin's pediatrician... but how can you refute the ABR results?
Other than that, everything looks great. She took her shots well and was ready to go home.
Wednesday, October 18, 2006
Two More Days.
The big day is almost here!
We are getting so excited and so nervous.
We got a box in the mail today from Cochelar / Nucleus. I was so excited! I was hoping it was the toy processor and microphone for Erin's koala bear!!! I immediately opened the box up and found...
...a Tote Bag. *sigh* It is a nice tote bag. But I couldn't help but be disappointed. It would have been great to have those pieces ahead of time!
Toes has had a rough week and a half. She got over her flu bug, but is having trouble getting her schedule back on track. We have had a lot of middle of the night wakings and the last couple mornings have started hours earlier than usual.
It has made for a rough go at daycare. But it seems to be getting easier.
We started speech therapy up again yesterday. That went well. I can't wait to see how she reacts next week!
We have her 15 month Well Baby visit with the Pediatrician tomorrow. Hopefully the shots won't make her cranky for too long. She needs her rest Thursday night.
On a deaf boardI belong to, I found a very nice mom that has a 19 month son that was implanted the same day as Erin and will be activated the same day as well! Please check out my links to the right to follow along on Isaac's Journey.
I hope to get some video and still shots up on Friday night so everyone can see how our day went. So be sure to check it out!
We are getting so excited and so nervous.
We got a box in the mail today from Cochelar / Nucleus. I was so excited! I was hoping it was the toy processor and microphone for Erin's koala bear!!! I immediately opened the box up and found...
...a Tote Bag. *sigh* It is a nice tote bag. But I couldn't help but be disappointed. It would have been great to have those pieces ahead of time!
Toes has had a rough week and a half. She got over her flu bug, but is having trouble getting her schedule back on track. We have had a lot of middle of the night wakings and the last couple mornings have started hours earlier than usual.
It has made for a rough go at daycare. But it seems to be getting easier.
We started speech therapy up again yesterday. That went well. I can't wait to see how she reacts next week!
We have her 15 month Well Baby visit with the Pediatrician tomorrow. Hopefully the shots won't make her cranky for too long. She needs her rest Thursday night.
On a deaf boardI belong to, I found a very nice mom that has a 19 month son that was implanted the same day as Erin and will be activated the same day as well! Please check out my links to the right to follow along on Isaac's Journey.
I hope to get some video and still shots up on Friday night so everyone can see how our day went. So be sure to check it out!
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