a little reminder.....

The whole time Gage was without his ci the last few months, he longed to hear a truck motor (typical boy). He also wanted his sister's voice too but more than anything....it was a truck motor, in particular the farm truck we have "Old Yeller" (haha). Today I was rewarded with just as a little reminder, my husband cranked it up as he does a couple of times a week and Gage was in the back yard with his sling shot. I hear a small voice from about 50 yards say "Mama, I hear Old Yeller!" in a very proud manner. And it was enough to bring a tear to my eye, he couldn't have heard it a month ago.

Looking at the Bright Side

After today's seven and a half hour trip (yes, my math is correct, 7 1/2 hrs!) with my two kids........I've had to remind myself to look at the bright side. So for all you professionals that read this (I know who you are) and you wonder sometimes why your patients (or their moms)look like they've just ran a marathon (a little exhausted, sweaty, make-up running) or look a little stressed, this should clue you in. Number one, we accomplished the mapping with no issues. He played games and competed with Emily (one of the Audiologists) and then we left for our lunch break. We had an hour and a half to kill which was fine, he took his candy prize (which I mistakenly let him have thinking the break would be enough time for it to leave his system) and we went for lunch. Everything went fine and they enjoyed their break.....but then we returned for some auditory therapy. This could have been his last visit, but unfortunately his ADHD and candy DO NOT MIX ! But the bright side is we get to visit our lovely (and pregnant) AVT again next week, who may be having second thoughts on that second child of hers after today's visit with the Blakely's(but it's too late girl, your #2 is on its way!)
And yet again, I met so many local celebrities at the HEAR Center today! First I saw a little boy and his mom I'd met about a year ago. Nice seeing Jacob again, and glad he's doing so well, and I saw (again) two of my Facebook buddies. Then I saw a lady who owns the forum EP of AL (exceptional parents of Alabama). I recognized her little girl right away and it nice for us to finally meet in person! Then guess who else I met? I was sitting there, this sweet little man who had oxygen tubes in his nostrils asks "Who did your son's surgery?" and I replied with "Dr. Woolley" and he tells me that his son is Dr. Hill who practices with Dr. Woolley. This was a treat to say the least. You rarely get to meet the parents of one of your kids' doctors. Dr. Hill is the surgeon who did the plastic surgery on Gage's external ears, by pinning them back or making them not so cupped as they were when he was born. He's very happy with his ears now(see the difference at the bottom), he had that surgery the day before Kindergarten started (though he started two days late).Another bright side is that we're back home, safe and sound and I can turn this Pirate and her brother loose in the yard (and they can play with Daddy for a while, I think we three need to be separated for an hour or so, haha!) And the rest of the week, no appointments, just S C H O O L !

Just about the Girl .........

For all you new parents out there w/newly diagnosed children who have hearing loss or deafness, here's a little story for ya. I usually have stories that involve Gage because he's the one that keeps me on my toes for sure, but let's not forget that my five year old daughter is also deaf and wears cochlear implants since she was around age 3. Today we were sitting outside, catching some rays from the morning sun after we had finished our chores of sweeping, mopping, laundry, the usual. We sat down, got comfy in the Adirondack chairs, and out of the blue Brook says "Mama, when does Santa Claus land on the roof and come look in our bedrooms?" I had already seen what shape her room was in so I had a feeling she was trying to get out of her final chore for the day. "Oh, he could come peek in anytime he wants." Just to let the girl know, ya might want pick up in there a little bit! She went on to ask what he might bring "Emma" (her baby) and like many mothers she never asked for anything for herself, just her baby. "He might come anytime to look?" she questioned. "Yes, he can come anytime." Then she gets up to go inside because she tells me she might have heard him coming. I'm very confused by this, and I give her my best puzzled look......and she stops dead in her tracks ands says "See, I hear him!" and she looks up to the roof.
The whole time she was questioning this, there was a slight breeze. Around the corner, not visible, her pink metal license plate that is attached to the front of her bicycle was blowing in the wind and bumping back and forth on her handlebars. We have a tin roof so I can totally see where she would think it was coming from the roof. So she was hearing something that sounded just like Santa's sleigh on the roof without even TRYING to hear it. I was very impressed at how natural the whole episode was.

She and I went out to eat last night and she chose Cracker Barrel. This is the same place where Gage had that great experience over a year ago. Click here to read that if you haven't already. Of course I took the opportunity to play some auditory I SPY and ask things like "find something that goes on a horse" and she searched for the saddle. That occupied her til they brought our food.Would you believe that she knew to cut up Emma's fries and even asked the waitress for a booster seat (all on her own) for her "child". It was quite cute, people would walk by and speak to her and Emma who had watched her give the baby drinks, wiping her mouth, you name it.(I had to take a picture from my mobile phone!) Brook is a great mama, you see Emma goes everywhere with us, she rides in shopping carts and goes to her cousin's birthday party too. Happy Birthday Kendall ! They jumped in the jumparoo (ci's off, just for the static concern) and all the kids screamed at about 115 dbs if I had to guess, it was painfully loud. But Brook didn't scream, she never heard a peep, and it's probably good too 'cause she's got some lungs!!But luckily she didn't see them scream or the adults would have left if there had been one more voice in that room!

Family Day at the Zoo

I hope to see all you local parents next weekend at the HEAR Center's annual zoo party. We met several folks last year and I'll be in the hospitality area from 2-3 so please come by and say hi!! It's Sunday May 3 !! I can't wait to meet all the parents of these amazing kids with hearing loss.



The flowers are bloomin' at the Blakely's and we will be planting our garden soon. Thanks to PawPaw Doyle for getting our garden spot ready, oh....and thanks to Gage too! He's just waiting to get big enough to really use that tractor!

the bicycle.......

Ahhhhhh, the sweet sound of silence. Only this time I was enjoying it. Don't get me wrong, I love to talk to my kids, there was a day when I assumed that would never happen, at least not verbally anyway. But there's something you should know about AVTs(auditory verbal therapists). They take great pride in teaching those with new found hearing, how to listen and then eventually how to turn that receptive language into expressive language and speech. They use those skills they've learned and tested over the years to give these kids a voice. Once the kids have mastered these skills, the therapists then release them into this big world hoping they are prepared to survive with their basic language and speech. But here's something they don't tell you. Once these kids start talking, they don't stop! At least my kids haven't stopped. They seriously talk from the time they get up til they fall asleep and Brook doesn't even stop then! And I do blame the AVTs! (haha)They are the ones that tell us to narrate and talk thru everything we do, so then our kids do the same thing. So, yes....I shamefully enjoyed my two hours of silence today while Brook was in preschool and Gage had his first full day back at school. Brook was released after the two hour class was over and she and I had some girl time, which we haven't had in a while.
Gage was so nervous this morning before school and yet excited at the same time. He requested me to blast Back In Black by AC/DC to pump him up and it must have worked. Though he can't hear well yet in background noise, he was given his listening breaks or either ADHD breaks, whichever caused him to need the break first. He was well taken care of I'm sure, but you know we moms want details. I got none. All I got was "yea, I'm fine, I gotta new girlfriend." So it was just like riding a bicycle! He's getting right back on and riding.

Look Out Now......

Look out all you second graders, he's coming back tomorrow morning!!! I'm so excited. I mean, he's so excited! We all are excited. We visited our favorite doctor in the whole wide world today who said to send him back! He's basically been out since November and Gage and I both know his homebound time is over. He misses his friends, he's having no symptoms of infection, so he's cleared to head back in. We are still pretty booked between audiology and therapy so for the next couple of weeks at least, it'll be more like part-time school. However, his teacher assured him today when we saw her that he has a TON of work to do! He visited another one of his favorite teachers and she got caught red handed! He literally walked in on her and she was reading this blog! We had to go by the school and register Brook for Kindergarten this morning! What am I gonna do when they are both in school in this Fall? I've about decided to get my substitute teaching certificate so I can sub from time to time, even if it's a couple of times a month, it'll be something to do. I still have my daily volunteer activity with Deaf Village and with my other blog activities. I just may have to get myself a hobby! (I'm sure I'll manage) Oh, and Gage must be hearing better, he's asked me to NOT sing the AC/DC and Fergie songs...and I was having so much fun.

.....and that's just today

So today was the day I've been dreading for two weeks now........the dentist! Not for me but these two. Gage was not an issue and never is. As long as he has someone who will listen to him talk about himself and his trucks and whatever he so desires, he's good. (We'll work on the words self centered and selfish when I get a minute to do so!) It's Brook that's the problem. Usually the dentist and her army come out with full face shields (no joke!!) and sometimes have to use the metal bite plates or whatever they are called so they pull out the same number of fingers they poke into her small mouth.
I first was a little unnerved by the fact that when we get there, the dentist had sold the practice and it was now a new dentist. This unfortunately means that he doesn't know anything about my kids, Gage's syndrome which causes major dental problems, etc. But I must say everything fell into place. The hygienist's daughter has a friend who wears cochlear implants and she said she spends the night with them sometimes so she knew what they were and what they were for....great! Gage goes in and finds his usual hygienist and I don't see him til they finished. Brook gets the lady who's familiar w/the ci's and we were actually able to convince B to get one type of x-ray, Brook's never had any teeth x-rays . We got the top row of teeth cleaned w/out incident. Then came the spitting. After she'd tasted the strawberry formula of cleaner she began spitting and I had to then hold her down. I began sweating.....three hygienists later, we all managed to get the bottom ones cleaned and that's all we did with her today. The dentist walks over and introduces himself as I begin to wonder if I still had the bottle of Teen Spirit in my console (yes, I did!!) He tells me that Gage did great and that he is quite a businessman. I roll my eyes because there is no telling what this man is about to tell me my child has been talking about. Apparently Gage has a truck he wanted to sell the guy for $200.00 . I try not to burst out laughing but I look at Gage smiling and say "What truck are you selling Buddy?" He tells me about his old yard dump truck (Tonka) that he's painted black and with a very serious expression he tells me, "Yep, 200 dollars, it's made of steel." The dentist declined, it was apparent Gage was NOT coming off that price, so we scoot out of there for our next appointment, listening therapy.
What a treat we had today. Walked into the HEAR Center and first I met the most handsome guy ever. I did notice he was drinking, but you couldn't help but love his little orange man shirt and tiny hearing aids covered with a white pilot cap. Lucas, I hope you finished that bottle before your mom got on the road.
Then out walked someone I usually just see on Facebook with her two kiddos. The one with the ci's wasn't feeling too hot (actually she was, she had a fever and an earache)and we hope she feels better soon.
We did our listening exercises and out the door they flew, hoping they'd behaved well enough for a milkshake. We then see another Facebook friend and her little boy. We hope to see them all at the zoo in two weeks when all those little kids with hearing loss gather for the annual zoo party. What a treat, seeing all of those guys made my day...
Whew, and that was just today!

We visit the ci surgeon tomorrow and hope to get good news from him, and Gage should be able to return to school the next day! Cross your fingers! That's after we go register Brook for Kindergarten!

Weekend Update

We had a nice weekend, kind of relaxing after a busy week last week and yet another ever busier week planned for next week. Brook spent the night with my mom (aka Nanny) and the remaining three of us sat out last night with a small fire in the outside fireplace. Gage enjoyed just chatting but I secretly had listening skills on my mind. I noticed how dark it was, and how he sort of turned his listening on...meaning he had to listen not being able to see us very well, so I was sharpening up his skills as we chatted.




We just drove over to cousin Ethan's house to visit him and his new German Shepard puppy. We took "Old Yeller" (our farm truck) and it was kinda nice.....at first. The old truck has a bench seat and it does have functioning seat belts for us all to wear (or we wouldn't take it on the road) but we all sit side by side. Like I say, it was fine at first. Gage was petting his sister's hair, and for a brief moment, I almost thought..."how sweet, they love each other." But then again, it was all just for show because about a second later, he knocked her coil off of her head.......ON PURPOSE which started the coil battle all the way. Luckily everyone survived the twenty five minute drive thru the country and we had a nice little visit.
Oh, by the way Aunt Christie, Gage wants to know when he can spend the night! I told him to ask YOU!! lol.

Learning to Hear........Again!

He began our "listening boot camp" so to speak, today. He did really good, already doing three and four elements w/his week and a half of re-hearing (I doubt that's proper English). We have our homework to do before attending AVT (auditory verbal therapy) again next week. He'll likely be released after a few weeks if he continues to do well and we'll continue our efforts at home. I actually did learn that he did follow directions much better today w/the therapist than he does at home.........so I'm gonna have to be a little firmer at home 'cause I know he can do it, he's just forgot how to listen and w/a few months of silence he just needs to brush up his skills. And I will say that ADHD does factor in as well!
He's off the antibiotic in just a few days so we'll see how that goes, and hopefully he can start school after we see our surgeon next Wed.!!

Old Ear vs. New Ear

So which ear is old and which one is new? Well, we are calling his "new ear" the reimplanted ear, and his "old ear" the one that had never been implanted until now. Can you believe that he already prefers both processors rather than just one. I can't wait til we start auditory or listening therapy tomorrow. He can already repeat most babble or nonsense words (wa-we-wo, ba-ha, etc.) with each ear alone!! So if your kid only has one ci-and you're thinking of going bilateral should they qualify...you should hear this...Even after over four years of his old ear being unaided, he CAN REPEAT BABBLE with that ear alone, so it's working well for him! He tried to tell me he couldn't understand me well enough with his new ear alone, but he still was able to repeat the babble I gave him. He just like wearing two now.

Triple "A"

A is for Audiologists, who make my children hear better every time we visit them. (They should get an A+ just for having to deal with me and my kids so much!)

A is for AC/DC. Because he can hear them better now. He actually requested to take the cd out of the car and into his room so he can listen during lego time.

A is for the "A word". Yes, you heard me. This is just one of the curse words he has the opportunity to hear, not just in the AC/DC songs but in almost any song played on the radio today. (He loves it, though I'm lucky he doesn't repeat the naughty words, he enjoys his ability to hear such naughty-ness!!)

so this is why....

As I was combining all the Cochlear goods last week, I had the nerve to ask myself "do I really need 36 microphone protectors?"...today I got my answer, "YES! so this is why I own so many" Cochlear recommends you change them every three months whether you see dirt or not. Don't know if you can tell from the picture but this one is six days old and already covered in mud. Gage says it fell off as they were pushing trucks in the mud and he made it Brook's responsibility to keep up with it. We all know what happened last week. Anyway, so now his nice black processor is sporting a silver mic cover to add a little color.It obviously rained last night, heavily and the wind caused our power to be knocked out for a few hours beginning at 3 am. Thanks to the blood-curdling screams from B's room, she was escorted to our bed along w/Emma. She just can't stand to not hear AND not see. And don't worry, I'm keeping my eye on Emma, I'm sure that sitting on the edge of a table falls under neglect, but we'll work on that. Oh, and don't you love her glasses, she got them from the Easter Bunny yesterday for her visual impairment. (yes, she got a basket of goodies too! she's REAL) Tomorrow is our third mapping, my kids always did much better after their third mapping session. We'll see how much easier he can hear after tomorrow's appt. I already called his name from pretty far off this morning and he turned his head!!

Rhinestones & Wranglers Charity Event and Easter

It's time once again for the annual Rhinestones & Wranglers charity event to raise money for hearing impaired children. The Charity League has a commercial this year and apparently we are in it, we've not seen it in full yet but I've had a few people tell me they've seen it. We have been on their site for years now, I'm a fan of the organization for obvious reasons. They helped us out years ago when we needed to purchase an FM system for Gage when he was two and could barely hear w/hearing aids, they stepped in and paid for half the cost! So if you can make it out to the event, it's a worthy cause. I hope everyone had a great Easter Sunday, we sure have.

Almost a full day of hearing....

Woohoo! He made it almost a full day wearing both cochlear implants. Earlier this morning he did call me into his room stating "Mama, something's wrong." I went into find out the left side (the once removed now reimplanted ear) was itching really bad and he had to remove his coil and processor. After about 30 min we tried it again and he wore both all day with one-one hour break mid day! And he doesn't seem exhausted either. So that's great for the fourth day out.

Today was Good Friday and it was a indeed a good Friday. However I learned two things, #1, her boots have a hole in them...and it was too late when I discovered it, she was already doing this



And #2, I learned he is never to go shopping alone! Look what he wore today! That would be pants of a whole 'nother color w/shorts on top, nice work bud...





and to finish off our day we were blessed with this:

2nd Mapping

On the way back from mapping yesterday, we stopped for lunch at McDonalds (his choice). As soon as they slid the glass back to pass over drinks, Gage shouted "Um, ma'am, excuse me, ma'am? Look, I can hear now!!!" I gave her the info she needed to understand what he was talking about and the lovely Mickey D's crew gave us a big ole cheer and a 'congratulations, we're so happy for you!" He's a bit of a bragger with those new black processors, but he's so proud!

This was the scene late yesterday afternoon........he was exhausted. He took a well deserved 1 1/2 hour listening break at the end of the day.


Today we went for his second mapping and this was his face....as long as he was winning. He was in a heated battle with Emily (an audiologist) during some porcupine game.




And this was his face when he was not winning.






And this is what I did when we got home!!! I made this.........




into this...........
Thanks Cochlear for all the stuff, I had already combined B's two ears w/Gage's one a couple of years ago, but now I had to take it a step farther and break it down again w/the additional two new ears. Whew!



And because I can't leave out the Queen, she loves to take pictures....of her baby's clothes and of herself!!

Welcome to the Lost and Found

"I once was lost but now am found" from the old Gospel hymn just sums up my very exciting but exhausting day. It began with our search for sound. Most of you know my seven year old was born deaf, received his cochlear implant before age four and quickly and miraculously, not only learned to hear and speak, but had basically caught up with his hearing peers by age five when he began Kindergarten.Here he is at age six (keep in mind, results do vary quite a bit and a lot of therapy and at-home work went into this):

He lost his ability to access that sound when a mean old nasty infection decided to room in his ear and took that ability away when his implant was removed in December. Today, having been reimplanted already and sporting two cochlear implants now instead of just one, we had our first stim(ulation) and turned his hearing back on today. So what was lost, has been found.

Then we get home to practice our skills. He runs to his room to listen to all his trucks and see what they sound like.

He had to take about three 10 min breaks during the day and by 5:00 this afternoon he was really tired of it. So I plan to put them back on for a few minutes before bed time and then back to the audiologist we go first thing in the morning for our second mapping. But here is a clip of him four hours after leaving the audiologist's office today:

Then approximately, five hours after leaving her office, Gage decided he wanted to hear birds. He just begged me, "Please, I gotta hear those birds, Brook will go with me" so I let them....go....in the freezing cold wind....toboggan(hat)down tight over those magnetic coils that cling to his little head...and I let them go....I LET THEM GO! and guess what? Fifteen minutes later they returned with only ONE, do you hear me? ONE!! So, I stop what I'm doing, re-bundle everyone up, we go outside and began an impossible search. We worked the front area first and after 10 minutes of no luck, we came back inside so I could clear my head, pray, think, pray, and out we went again. Having watched the two chase birds thru the overgrown field outback, and enter the woods, and exit from the cane or bamboo...I knew it was just LOST. I went ahead and warned the audiologist that this may be a less than happy ending, we began our second search. I was freaking out, yes, admitted. The kids knew the importance of finding the item since they both value hearing...so we walked, and walked, only guessing at paths they may have traveled. Here's a picture of the cane patch and just one area we had to search.

Oh, but once again, miraculously...what was lost, was then found....in this cane! So, for those of you who know me, you may understand or pity my stress levels, and maybe you see how these kids are never boring! What could tomorrow bring??
We are keeping a close watch on his re-implanted ear (which he loves!! he hears best with that ear as expected). He seemed to be in pain when we attached the magnet, so we removed it...tried it again later and has not complained since. So, who knows, it's still watch and wait for now. But he's doing GREAT!!

Back In Black

Oh, the anticipation! It was just a nail biting experience for us all.......





Um, Mandy...turn it up....it's not working!!!






And we leave a bilateral boy! I obviously have videos to caption, lots more to report, but for now.....we have too much to listen to!



I will say that we picked Brook up and hour and a half after leaving the audiologist's office and he could already hear better than when we left. In the car, on the way to our house, he smiled so lovingly at Brook and said "Brook, your voice...it's nice" I almost cried. Then we got home and they starting fighting again. I'll report more later! And yes he wanted all black processors!!!

Ready to Rock !!!!!!!!

Because he wants more of this!

Because he wants his little sister's voice, because he wants to hear what Legos sound like, and our puppy Marley, but most of all a truck engine...

Tomorrow is the long awaited activation day.
This is his first cochlear implant activation four and a half years ago.

....Crazed Mom sends out her Apologies....

I don't know who I'm foolin' here, most of you (especially moms) know it hasn't been the easiest past few months for us. So I'm gonna get a little of my chest here today, as I feel I owe a few people an "I'm sorry". First, I want to give a general apology to the local Children's Hospital who has been forced to see us many times over the last few months. I want to apologize to the nurses who have walked into our room at 10, at 12 and 2 am to see my eyes pop open with not a speck of make up on, pretending to be awake when I'd been resting peacefully. Sometimes these nurses would be giving me bowls of cereal, one after the other because, although it may be midnight, he's finally keeping food down. Not one of them complained. They even gladly made me a fresh pot of coffee at 5am while I reapplied makeup so I wouldn't scare the residents who came in at 6 to check on my healing child. And thank you to the volunteer at the one day surgery a couple of weeks ago who pretended to not know that my 7 year old swiped one of her paper clips. He played with it for 10 minutes thinking he had gotten away with something when she knew it all along. But that entertained the child until his name was called back to await his turn to have a very lengthy day in the O.R.

I have to apologize to Katherine from the ER. Who,back in Dec, only smiled though she choked back laughter as my 7 year old (who wears a 5 year old's body but has a 12 year old's brain) told her this, in his compelling, dramatic, and almost convincing performance..."Katherine, why are you doing this Katherine? Why are you collecting blood, I need that to grow. I don't want to be smaller, Katherine, please stop. Now look what you did, you made my arm smaller!" Thank you ER staff for being so patient with the patient and making him feel better.


I want to also apologize to the ENT's office. I'm sorry that my son darts right past the waiting area to come back and chat with you guys, as if he's part owner. You are always good about returning him to the waiting area where he must wait his turn like everyone else...even though he badgers the nurses each time a name is called that isn't his...."me? my turn yet, gah what's taking so long?" he might say. And I do apologize! I apologize directly to our ENT/CI surgeon Dr. Woolley, who has been on a very short leash over the last seven months. He now has to check his messages over the weekends to find out if he may need to fit us in, yet again with no appointment (sorry about that). I've already told the man he can never move or retire! In fact, I can't really apologize for that right now, we are in no way finished with him yet. (I'm in the process of checking w/the hospital though to see I can put the doctor on some sort of intrastate lock down but I'm not sure that's legal!) It likely won't be necessary though he's carried our issues and cared for us even when he was out of state. I can apologize to his family though (big sorry!) but he can't help being a really good doctor and wanting to fix what is ailing, even if that means directing his residents via phone from an airport at Christmastime. His whole staff has been nothing short of fantastic, even when a crazed mom (who had not slept in two days) saunters in, begging someone there to tell her she's seeing things, or is insane, anything other than 'the infection is back'. No one told me I was crazy (at least not to my face) but I know that one day I will be, I'm working on it.

And I apologize to our audiologist's office at the HEAR Center too. Sometimes it takes more than one audiologist to deal with us, and sometimes we take more prizes than we deserve or are supposed to get! Sorry...and to warn you guys, it's your turn next, to see us several times a week for a while...between our auditory training and mapping sessions, you might wanna fill that prize box up (just charge my insurance).

And finally, I apologize to the second graders at his school...for taking him before the Christmas Holidays and not returning him like I said I would. No REALLY, I'm sorry! If only for a day, before school lets out this year, if at all possible, he will return. I'll smile and wave goodbye when I drop him off, with a slight sadness upon my face....but don't mind the tires squealing in the parking lot, that's just me leaving rather hurriedly so he doesn't follow me....um, I mean that's me just leaving rather hurriedly so I don't change my mind and just take him back home with me.

Now, I feel better, whew! Funny how a little conscience cleaning can make a gal feel better!