Friday, May 22, 2009

Aided Audiogram After a Reimplant !!


Okay, lots going on here. First, my 8 yr old now weighs a whopping 48 lbs. He visited the pediatrician this week for his yearly checkup and he says that's fine for him. He's growing consistently, he's still on the chart so he's okay. We went to audiology today and had his post op booth testing. He's been activated for over six weeks now. His old ear (the one that went unaided for over 4 yrs) was almost as good as the reimplanted side. He did very well on both ears with
speech reception. His reimplanted side is still taking the lead but does better in all
areas when wearing both! So bilateral is working well for him. As far as the audiogram, he's pretty equal at around 20dbs with either ear...but when he has both on, he's around 10 dbs or even better on some frequencies. Yea!! Plus he behaved as did Brook today! When he was almost finished with testing though, the ADHD kicked in and he said, "Uh, I guess I'm finished, I need to go to school." (as if he was doing them a favor by being there) We took a short break and finished up the testing and you can see Emma (the doll) sat quietly in a high chair and played with magnetic letters.
After that, I took him to school (he was there by 10) and Brook and I kept driving. We went to the location given to me on my paperwork for subbing, and had my fingerprints taken. It was kinda like a pawn shop inside?? Of course Brook vocally noted "this place is kinda stinky!" I don't think anyone heard her so I quietly "shhh" her and we make our way to the back. There is a real baby back there and that occupies Brook while I have my prints made. The young lady (mom to the baby) does a double take at Brook and says "Is that a BAHA on her?" Shocked and surprised she knew that word, I smiled and answered, "No, she's deaf in both ears, those are cochlear implants but how do you know what a BAHA is?" She tells me her niece has one who is fifteen now and only had it for two years. She was amazed at Brook's speech and in fact kept getting Brook to talk, because she loved her accent. She stated that she'd never heard such a southern accent on a little girl before (she was quite country as well though, and admittedly so). So we got that out of the way, now all I need for my final piece of the substitute teaching puzzle, is my 1993 high school diploma! After I round that up, (I think I know exactly where it is) I can drop those off after my 'surgery' next week. Hopefully since I'm not a criminal and my background check should come out fine, I'll be on the list to begin substituting at the special ed preschool and at Gage/Brook's school. I'll still have plenty of time to do my volunteer work (that's very important to me) but even if I worked as much as three or four days a month, I'll actually be a financial contributor again. Yea!

5 comments:

leah said...

What a great audiogram for Gage! It is amazing how well the "old" ear has been able to learn to hear. And Brook's baby Emma is quite advanced, playing with letters!

Good luck with your wisdom teeth!!

tammy said...

10-20db! That's FANTASTIC!!! WOOHOO!! Kailyn (my 8 yr old) is just about 45lbs, and her dr. says the same thing ... she's still on the charts, just a skinny little thing. If the pants don't have the adjustable waist, she can't wear them.

Isn't it just amazing how CI kids pick up the accents of where they're from ... and Brooke's is the cutest I've ever heard! Good luck to you and your subbing endeavors!

Tiffany C. said...

You go Gage! Brayden is hearing at 15 dbs. in the new right ear. Oh boy wisdom teeth! I'll be heading to the oral surgeon soon myself.

Anonymous said...

Great news....... good luck with your surgery.

Prince Andrew and the Queen Mum said...

so cool for Gage. you have me thinking again on those bilaterals! and..that brooke..she is just too cute.