Brianna's activation is in one week! She is just doing great. For mother's day she made me the cutest hotpad. She is such a cute little girl. We were outside playing in the backyard, and she put on a "play" for me. It consisted of her singing (in her beautiful, off-key, out of rhythm voice!) "You are my sunshine". She had hand movements and everything worked out to go along with it. When she finished, she did a cartwheel. I almost lost it. My heart jumped, and I thought, "NO! You will damage the implant!!!" Of course she didn't. I guess those little moments where I overreact and my heart jumps, will be something I have to get used to. She is such a daredevil. Man am I in trouble!
So, one week away. I think we are ready. She is ready. She has been adjusting really well. Her hearing is back to where it was before the surgery, it's not much, but she can hear me if I yell for her. She can't wear the hearing aid, even though the doctor says it is fine. When we put it in her ear, it won't stop squealing. The audi said that this is probably due to swelling that hasn't gone down yet, so the ear mold isn't fitting well. But gosh darn it, my daughter can hear me yell! It's probably not the greatest for her, since all she hears is me yelling (If I need to get her attention or honestly just to test her to see if she can hear). But I am so happy about this.
I know why this makes me feel better... and in hopes that this will help someone in the future...I will share. I was scared that I was doing something to her to ruin her life. I really thought that even though her hearing was bad, and not going to get better, if she had it, all is not lost if the implants do not work. I don't really know how to put my feelings on this into words. I was just plain afraid of making the wrong choice, so I figured if her hearing stays the same, and she has the implants, the worst that will happen is she will be where she was before the surgery. Now knowing that she can hear as she did before, my gosh I am breathing easier. I know it was the right choice, whether her residual hearing was retained or not, but I just wanted some sort of "insurance"! So there's my deep, dark, inner secret!
On another note, thank you to all who have commented to me. Your thoughts, tips and information are so appreciated! I finally have the feeling like I am not alone in this. Even though none of you are here with me in person, you are here with me in thought. And that means so much to me! Now, for another favor from you guys...I want to record her activation (and post it if I can figure that out). I have a camcorder that records on mini-dvds. Anyone have any suggestion on how many disks I should get? I think I can record on SD Card as well. What do you guys suggest? How long is the activation? I have seen a bunch of videos, some with multiple parts, some only 5 minutes long. So, info on this would really help! Thank you in advance!
Michelle
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3 comments:
My activation was about an hour. I managed to get it down to 10 minutes because most of it was sitting there waiting or listening to some crazy tune of beeps. I don't know how long a child's activation last but most of the activations videos I see show the children with their initial "oh! I hear something!" face.
A mini-dvd should do the trick but an SD card would be easier to upload to the computer if you have a memory card reader. I am getting so excited for her! I am going to be on pins and needles waiting for her update!
I can't wait to hear how her activation goes! Wishing you good luck!!!
We wish you well with the activation. It is a wonderful thing to see.
Thanks for the tip about the tape. We are using her mold from her hearing aide and that seems to be helping. We made a cast for a new one yesterday, so hopefully that will come soon.
We will be waiting to hear how things go next week.
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