So when we went to the 3rd activation, Michelle put Brianna in a booth to see how she is doing. Brianna just amazes me. She is at about 45dB in both ears straight across! Wow, before the implant she was at 90-95, and there were dips and dives. She has about 30% word recognition in the right ear (the one that had the hearing aid before) and 0% in the left. But she is hearing sound in the left ear, and by-golly, that's good enough for me. So in three weeks, she has come leaps and bounds. It just amazes me. So, she is a bit ahead of where we dared even hope before the surgery, and it's only getting better.
Sorry to all of you looking for her activation video. My home computer S&*T the bed, and I am sure most of you can understand, after working on a computer all darn day, I just don't feel like fixing mine quite yet. Too much else going on. I love summer. This weekend was Brianna's dance recital. For not hearing much of the music (she told me she could feel it in her legs), she did great. She performed at Shea's Performing Arts Center. The same place I have sung on stage in the past. It's just a beautiful place. They have restored some of it. It takes my breath away. I am going to see Wicked there in July. Fun Fun Fun!
The garden is blooming. The air is warming and the sun is shining. I love summertime. I love it so much, I don't know why I live here in Buffalo. Oh well. Maybe someday I can get a bit further south. I appreciate the comments and views. It really lets me know that I still have every one's support! Thank you!
Monday, June 9, 2008
Monday, June 2, 2008
Tomorrow is the 3rd mapping session...
So it has been a while. We are doing quite well. Brianna is doing wonderfully. She is hearing her name quite well. She tells me that people talking sounds "normal", but I don't really know what that means. She understands everything I say when she is looking at me, and she gets simple words and phrases when she is not looking at me. So I know it is working so far.
At tomorrow's appointment I think they are going to put her in a booth. Just to see where she is I guess. We also ordered ear molds to help keep the processors on her head. She is still too sensitive to wear the double-sided tape (but it really worked other than the irritation)! So the ear molds should be there tomorrow. They are blue and purple. My daughter is not afraid of color. If you saw my house, you would understand how different she and I are. Beige walls, off white trim...BORING! Oh well.
So, we still haven't had any "What's that?" moments. Maybe she is just not the type to ask. I tend to catch her investigating sounds, like the rain stick. My kids have a rain stick, you know, the one where it sounds like rain when you tip it, and the slower tipping makes a different sound than the faster tipping. Well, she played with this thing for a good 15 minutes the other day. I asked her what she was hearing, or if she had any questions and she said that it "sounds like rain". I wonder if she has really ever heard rain. She sleeps through the horrible, wake you in the middle of the night thunder storms. But without really knowing when she lost her hearing, it is hard to say what she has and has not heard before.
She is taking it all in stride. She always has. This Thursday she is going to the zoo. That should be a lot of fun for her. I will be at work, but I can't wait to get the recap of the smells and hopefully sounds that she experiences.
Last weekend (Memorial weekend) we got to see my family. We all go down to Maryland for the weekend. Everyone was glad to see Brianna for themselves I think. It's one thing to be told that someone is ok, it's another to see it for yourself. I do have to tell you what "Mother of the year" did. (Thank you, thank you, hold your applause please). I was getting the kids ready to go in the hot tub, and so first it's take off the shoes and then put on the bathing suits. Make sure you wear your shoes out to the tub so you can put them on afterwards. And don't forget the towels! What did I forget? Oh yes, to have Brianna take off her processors. So about 15 minutes into the splash-fest, Brianna hysterically screams "My processors!" and jumps out of the tub. Well, they shut themselves off, and that's when she noticed that they were on her head still. Of course she is soaked. I mean, she was going under the water, splashing, there were 5+ kids in the hot tub, water everywhere. And you know what? The darn things are still working fine. I removed the batteries, and no dampness or anything in there. They turned off because the batteries finally died in the right side. (We got 5 days off 1 set of batteries!). So I walked back to my rental house and got the rechargeable batteries. Put them in, and wha-la...they worked. Who knew that these are forgetful parent proof as well?
So all is well here. Hope you are all well, and I will keep updating!
At tomorrow's appointment I think they are going to put her in a booth. Just to see where she is I guess. We also ordered ear molds to help keep the processors on her head. She is still too sensitive to wear the double-sided tape (but it really worked other than the irritation)! So the ear molds should be there tomorrow. They are blue and purple. My daughter is not afraid of color. If you saw my house, you would understand how different she and I are. Beige walls, off white trim...BORING! Oh well.
So, we still haven't had any "What's that?" moments. Maybe she is just not the type to ask. I tend to catch her investigating sounds, like the rain stick. My kids have a rain stick, you know, the one where it sounds like rain when you tip it, and the slower tipping makes a different sound than the faster tipping. Well, she played with this thing for a good 15 minutes the other day. I asked her what she was hearing, or if she had any questions and she said that it "sounds like rain". I wonder if she has really ever heard rain. She sleeps through the horrible, wake you in the middle of the night thunder storms. But without really knowing when she lost her hearing, it is hard to say what she has and has not heard before.
She is taking it all in stride. She always has. This Thursday she is going to the zoo. That should be a lot of fun for her. I will be at work, but I can't wait to get the recap of the smells and hopefully sounds that she experiences.
Last weekend (Memorial weekend) we got to see my family. We all go down to Maryland for the weekend. Everyone was glad to see Brianna for themselves I think. It's one thing to be told that someone is ok, it's another to see it for yourself. I do have to tell you what "Mother of the year" did. (Thank you, thank you, hold your applause please). I was getting the kids ready to go in the hot tub, and so first it's take off the shoes and then put on the bathing suits. Make sure you wear your shoes out to the tub so you can put them on afterwards. And don't forget the towels! What did I forget? Oh yes, to have Brianna take off her processors. So about 15 minutes into the splash-fest, Brianna hysterically screams "My processors!" and jumps out of the tub. Well, they shut themselves off, and that's when she noticed that they were on her head still. Of course she is soaked. I mean, she was going under the water, splashing, there were 5+ kids in the hot tub, water everywhere. And you know what? The darn things are still working fine. I removed the batteries, and no dampness or anything in there. They turned off because the batteries finally died in the right side. (We got 5 days off 1 set of batteries!). So I walked back to my rental house and got the rechargeable batteries. Put them in, and wha-la...they worked. Who knew that these are forgetful parent proof as well?
So all is well here. Hope you are all well, and I will keep updating!
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