Cochlear Implants and Sports

So it's been a while, like a year, since I've updated on the Country Kids with Cochlear Implants. That's probably because I've gotten distracted and lazy and almost forgot I even liked to write during school "season" Brooklyn keeps us busy with her sports. She does well in school socially, keeps good grades, and is an athlete. She continues to play softball and volleyball each year and now that she's moving up to high school level, being in the 9th grade now, she'll be in the "big leagues" so to speak.

She has completed softball for the year and her team had a really good season with less than a handful of losses, and so begins volleyball. She will start workouts with the older girls upon her return from the beach and she really likes that part. She may groan and complain but she likes the feel of a good workout.

She finally got rid of the braces and the glasses and she looks forward to her first volleyball season without them! We continue to use double sided fabric tape to help secure her processors on her ears. This is her preferred method now, she gave up the small headbands but they could make another appearance when her first volleyball game rolls around who knows.

She still loves music and uses her over the ear headphones the ones that cost a small fortune or the higher quality ones at Wal Mart work just as well. Hopefully it won't take a full year to update on my two kids with cochlear implants! We wouldn't want you to think they are boring, they keep us full. 💗

Deaf Child Behind The Wheel

Radio off, windows up, minimal talking and we are off. I guess I am as nervous as any other parent giving full control of a massive deadly weapon to their 15 year old child.

Truthfully, I thought the fact that he is hearing impaired would multiply that fear ten fold but so far, that isn't really a factor. He does a great job. We have had him drive at various times, even at night and in heavy rain. Next on our list is completely deaf...just down the road and back. He has to learn what it feels like so if batteries die, he don't panic and wreck trying attain his sound back. He needs remain calm, remain in control and get to where his going safely.

I think our biggest concern is (as he gets older), if he were to get pulled over, would he be able to safely communicate to an officer at a distance that he is hearing impaired. We are hoping to find something tag or window related that would state or warn of this immediately. We also have this concern (and in his billfold) that if unresponsive due to a wreck or whatever that he can't have MRIs due to the magnets in his head without first removing them.

So far, just having a permit isn't that bad. As 16 approaches, my anxiety heightens when I realize he will not want me to ride with him anymore. 😭

I Want You to Hear

Sensorineural. Conductive. Audiogram. Milestones. What are all these new vocabulary words being thrown at me and my new baby? This became our reality years ago when my first child failed his newborn hearing screening. His tiny little ears were soon adorned with rather large super-powered hearing aids. The best of the best on the market and even those floppy devices couldn’t bring enough sound to those tiny ears, to hear my voice.

Having no history of hearing loss on either side of the family, we didn’t even know what questions to ask at that point. Months passed by, then years. We introduced him to his new little sister with what little signs and gestures we had developed as our communication methods. We were introduced into the Cochlear family by our doctor as our next step toward living in a hearing world full of possible speech, language, music, and voices.

While little sister was developing her babble, her various toddler words, we were shocked to find out she too had hearing loss. She soon progressed to severe levels as we prepared to our son to undergo his first cochlear implant surgery. Our hopes were high and expectations low as our now almost four year old would either soon begin to hear the world that had been so quiet, or he would remain in silence.

Not only would he receive the gift of hearing, but his sister would soon follow in his footsteps. We had therapy as a family to learn how to learn how to hear and how to develop appropriate speech and language. It was hard work for everyone on our team but both children are in public school, playing sports, playing instruments, enjoying their friends’ laughter and not enjoying their mother’s singing.

Now Cochlear introduces their new website as a resource for parents finding themselves facing a similar situation as we did years ago. A place to answer the daunting questions that linger can be accessed from almost anywhere. Find out more about the advanced implantable hearing solutions by Cochlear by visiting   www.Iwantyoutohear.com

This is a sponsored post from Cochlear written only by me. My opinions are my own.

New Ears Update

After a full ten week wait, we finally received B's new ears! She was so excited to go get them turned on a couple of weeks ago. She loves the fact that she can now change the colors without the messy stickers. We also figured out that the N5 covers (her brother wear N5s) fit her N6s and they are cheaper to buy so we ordered a few more colors for her along with the coil covers to match.

I am so proud for her and proud of her. She was asked to speak to a first grade class about her implants since their reading story was about a deaf child. The teacher has a deaf nephew and has taught my children in the past so she was quite familiar with the cochlear implants. Brooklyn was happy to show off her ears yesterday to the crowd of six/seven year olds.

We will take her back in a few weeks for some minor adjustments and put her in the booth for an audiogram so we'll have a better idea/comparison of how she's hearing. We only have two more weeks of school here in Alabama and we're out until the beginning of August! IEPs are done and State testing is underway. She has no special accommodations other than testing in a small group setting in case she encounters technical difficulties. I am sending her back-up ears just in case.

Brooklyn has also enjoyed the bilateral accessory cord she can plug into her electronics (and so do I). We have a few of the swim bags we will use over the summer but we will be looking into purchasing the new aqua devices Cochlear has come out with for both children so they can swim (without the embarrassing bags). All in all, we are very excited, very pleased and very Blessed people!

She's Not Been Approved

We've waited (almost) a month now since we had our fundraiser, since we sent in our initial paperwork, and finally we have a response...she has not been approved (YET). We are just now getting to that approved/not approved point. I did receive a figure (a total) on the amount of out of pocket expenses for the processors and WE HAVE ENOUGH FOR TWO!!!! Hallelujah.

I quickly responded with "Move forward, move forward. We have it!" Several thousand dollars is a lot of money but Praise The Lord He's seen fit for her to get two new ears, not just one. Now they are sending the "okay" to my insurance company to proceed with paperwork and when they approve her..(yes, I'm claiming it, V-vi-ctory!)...we will place our order. I already have her an appointment AEA week in hopes we will have them in our hands by then, and ready to TURN THEM ON!

And what's even better? We have enough to buy two new "ears", the accessories she wants, extra batteries, the aqua-packs for swimming, and maybe even enough left over cover the clinic bill once she goes in for her MAPping session to have them turned on and in tip top working order! Covered-in-full. If, and that's a big IF, anything were to be left over after I get her all set up, I will buy a few extra parts for Gman's CIs so he will continue to be in excellent shape and we should be set for a while!

We could not have done all that on our own, so thanks to HIM, HE guided our little community and provided a way. Thanks to those who followed HIS lead! My two PTO friends who worked so hard, the two wonderful families for singing, and every last person who donated money or food for the event or even prayers! I had one lady hand me a check one day and with tears in her eyes she told me that after her daddy died (recently) she had a little bit left over and instead of buying herself the earrings she wanted....she wanted to give it to my B to help with new ears. She said she couldn't stand the thought of her needing new ears and knowing she was spending money on "bling" so she wanted to give. Warmed my heart!

Because of this wonderful community, this rural, small town big-country place...it looks like my baby girl will be hearing better in no time! Thank you all. B is smitten!

Prepping for an upgrade

We are now prepping in high gear for Brook's upgrade to the N6 Cochlear implant processors. I suppose being out of the loop, not reading blogs like I used to, not reading the group messages, etc. I am just now getting the word from Cochlear that they do not bill my insurance company. That will be up to me to seek reimbursement for any durable medical expense. We will be required to pay the $7275.00 (I am aware they cost over $9,000.00 each but we will do a trade in to receive a discount) upfront for each ear. We are taking it one ear at a time at this point! We have some local friends doing a benefit for us which is scheduled for January 25, and we are very excited. We have a really good start and I thought it would help our friends and family keep up with the process/progress with a visual so each time we add to the "pot", I'll put up a new chart and carry it right through the upgrade process. It's sad that these things cost this much but a blessing that she hasn't got injured or had a failure to require surgery again. Insurance would be billed directly then and we wouldn't have such an upfront expense but we are excited for her, she's been needing an upgrade for years now and this will only make us work harder to get it for her! We aren't looking at it as a set back but a push forward. We've been praying about it, so we encourage all of you to keep praying for her, HE can and will make it happen. We're claiming this one!

Study Day

 Back at the first of the year, as my Dermatologist removed the cancerous tumor on my foot, we discussed my children. She was very interested in the oldest child's Goldenhar Syndrome. She had heard of it, but never seen a person who had been diagnosed to her recollection...so she asked us to participate in a large event held there each November where Dermatology Doctors come from far and wide to learn more...

My mom and I loaded the boy up at 5 am this morning and headed south, to UAB's Kirkland Clinic. They provided us with breakfast, coffee, cookies, other snacks, and more coffee. The boy earned a nice monetary prize from the University for his time and that is probably the only reason he wanted to go (typical). They placed us in a room (other patients were there also) and I kid you not...over a hundred doctors from all over the world came in small groups where I gave my "speech" on cochlear implants, Goldenhar Syndrome, skin tags, scars, dermoids of the eye, etc etc etc...

Gage did grow tired of the whole event after the first hour (we had already seen like 80 people at that point) but he was polite as expected and they all thanked him/us for coming and helping out over and over again.

I had explained to him before we ever went that this would help some child in the future. If they come across another child with these features, conditions, anomalies, they may have some idea what direction to point the parents...and that is all we wanted to do. They also reiterated that him as well so he was happy to help.

Both of the kids did well on their report cards this time, and we continue to mainstream as we always have. They are both participating in the church Christmas play again this year and we are about to leave for practice now. We still hope to upgrade Brooklyn's "ears" by April of next year as we must come up with the funds, since insurance will only cover 80%, we'll need over 3 grand before we upgrade to the N6s. Fingers crossed and praying now, we hope to accomplish this for her. She is on her last few spare parts right now! Until next time....

Where are The Blakelys?

I can't believe I haven't updated this blog since June! Such a slacking blogger! The Blakelys are still doing well, thank the good Lord! We have been very prosperous in our garden this summer and canned many-a-vegetable! I have pickles, tomatoes, soup starters, pears, spaghetti sauces, and so much more just packing my storage room shelves for this Fall and Winter. 

Since I have taken on a second job, I basically work full-time hours just at a more random schedule so that I remain home with my family as much as possible...makes for one tired mom, but aren't we all? Gage is doing well (as far as I know) over at the high school...yes, I said it...his middle school is all located inside the high school so he's forced to be even more independent. He has always thrived on independence and as long as he's doing well, he should be just that. He goes back for his yearly visit with the cleft palate clinic in December when we will again discuss his orthodontics, his dental issues, his possible jaw distraction for later down the road and we also meet with his nutritionist...kind of a full yearly exam to make sure he is getting as much nutrition as he can, gaining weight properly, etc. As bad as I hate the six hour appointment, it is loaded with information, so we must go.

Brooklyn is doing well in the classroom also. She is well into the fourth grade, very independent though she does still use the personal FM system. Her teacher is one of the softest spoken people ever, but she hears her very well inside the room, along with the mic. I am in and out of the classroom a lot checking since I do work there as a sub teacher, and she appears to be on task, and not really struggling with anything other than math which she has always found to be a little difficult.

The kids have friends, they are happy, they talk, they talk back sometimes, they get into trouble...but they are The Blakelys...happy to call 'em mine!

Blakely Updates

I think my child blogs more than I do now. That's what happens when you have two jobs, two kids, a husband and a wonderfully fun place to live! I keep extremely busy these days between all of that and PTO and church so I have my excuses for not blogging.

We finally have Brook's FM working again on both ears. She's back on track. Even though she's only in third grade, I never have to tell her to do homework, she just does it. The other kid is a different story and his grades reflect that! He just got his ears MAPped again so he's hearing better for now and will go back next month as usual. His nose bleeds have picked up once again. We were supposed to get that cauterized before, during another surgery, but we never had it written down for the surgeon to do, just a verbal thing, so with Gman's complications it got overlooked. We may end up having to take him back one of these days for a little procedure to fix that. He hates nose bleeds.

We are excited about Thanksgiving this week, and look forward to family time. I've actually been put in charge of two casseroles for the first time ever so let's hope they are edible. I'll be gone ALL DAY LONG on Friday for my annual shopping trip and we plan to put up our Christmas tree this weekend! I have so much to be thankful for and everyday is kinda like Thanksgiving for me so say your prayers, and let HIM know what you are thankful for this year!

Trunk or Treat

Our first Trunk or Treat at our church and the picture of my trunk decided to do a disappearing act on my phone! It wasn't that special but we had blue and white lights all in the trunk with snakes and candy everywhere. I did capture some other cute trunks though and Brooklyn being a rock star. Gage was too mature to dress up at the church event (lol) and he was too busy running 90 mph with his church buddies so I never got a shot of him.

I will tell you that even at close range, it is still to this day harder for Gage to "hear" in the dark which means he uses lip reading quite a bit. I don't mind I assure you in fact I encourage it with him. He's had way too many surgeries and although there was once a time he didn't rely on it at all, he needs the visual. Brooklyn is actually a better lip reader now than she used to be. She used to not be able to read speech at all, I could say watermelon and she's say shoe??? My mother actually pointed out that she was doing better (I didn't believe her at first) after Brook had spent the night with her, and sure enough...she is. However, during the day with her ears on, she doesn't need it at all.

She needs new ears

Gman had his much needed MAPping session this past week. I was in survival mode and trying to get well from a wild form of crud that unleashed inside my head and lungs, so I'm just now feeling bloggy!

We had hoped this tax season (around March or so) that we would have been able to upgrade Brook's processors. She's had them for years and they've been out of warranty for quite some time. However, with all of Gman's surgeries, we have always had extra parts to make do if something broke. We just never got around to it and the cost of such an upgrade is very steep. Like just under three grand steep (that is just a guess-our insurance will cover 80% of an upgrade-they are just under 20 grand for two ears-but we would have a trade-in credit with two of her old processors from what I can tell...

The bottom line is that by this next tax season, we will have enough saved back to upgrade the child to new ears. That is going to be hard with Christmas around the corner but she needs them, she wants them, and she deserves them. I am very excited about it and will be praying that we accomplish this and get that baby some new ears!!

She goes in for her annual MAPping in January and we will know more about the finances, and possible upgrade at that time. Gman is still going every six weeks at this point and will be MAPped again before our Thanksgiving break. He needed lots of changes on both ears this time, and he did so well...he actually earned a prize!! Blakelys never earn prizes there (they just give up) so that was a real treat!

We are torn between going to the 300th cochlear implant celebration next Sunday with The HEAR Center to the ever-so-awesome McWane Center or the Pumpkin Patch with our church. We signed up for both and if it rains we have decided to attend the science center (my kids have been recently already) and if not...Pumpkin Patch here we come!

MAP Day

Whew. That's all I have left to say about the MAPping appointment. Besides, I've already blogged it all HERE.

But Summer Break has started here for the Blakely kids and aside from the little incidences with today appointment, we are enjoying our time away...from almost everything.

At our appointment, we met a cute little dude from The Bell Center who had just graduated but is attending the summer program AND we saw a little girl and her mom who attended one of our PEEPs in the Park events last year. We have been wondering about her all this time. She is a cochlear implant candidate but the family still isn't convinced or ready to make that type of commitment. Loved catching up with her. We had hoped to run into another family that blogs, but we missed them, darn.

Little man is hearing better and should be good til next month while Brook will probably get a quick tune-up before school starts but she only needs a once a year MAPping these days. Fantastic. We discussed going back to the Geneticist office who may or may not be able to determine a cause or link between the two kids' hearing loss now.

IEP Number One

I wish everyone's IEPs were as easy as mine are...but I know lots of people have to basically fight for every little thing. This year is the first time I recall them getting input from Gage. I know I had asked him last night if there was anything he needed for sixth grade and he said, "YES! I have got to have more P.E. time. I mean at least fifteen more minutes! There's just not enough time right now!" Apparently he mentioned that to them too, listing that as his FAVORITE subject (such a boy).  

They will not test him for Gifted as it has been postponed for too long (he was referred in second grade) but now his SATs scores from the past few years weren't high enough for them to consider him (even though he did earn a medal for his scores!) He had surgery after surgery causing him to get delayed each year. So, I'm guessing I won't be satisfied until I know his IQ score which means I'll probably pay out of pocket and have those done this summer by the Psychologist who tried to test him before (when his ADHD was so bad and he couldn't even finish the testing) The good news is that his ADHD doesn't seem to be too bad right now so his meds are still working!

He basically has a similar IEP to last year, he needs his special equipment (static-free computer mat, FM system, cochlear implants) and he'll stay in the classroom except for ARMT testing which will be done in a quiet small group setting. He will not be testing on any movie that doesn't have proper captions and he won't be testing on material given over a pre-recorded device unless exact reading material is furnished that can be read while it plays. And no paddling without calling me first (shouldn't be an issue)

I shouldn't have any issues but if they do pop up, I'm certain his sixth grade teachers will be glad to get with me and we'll work to resolve any of these matters. She also asked me a quick question about his next year's IEP when he'll be going over to the high school. I almost started crying. I don't even want to think about my baby going over there!

I have got to get him in to see the Audiologist soon. His teacher stated that he's having a terrible time right now and is lip reading heavily! So I'll be scheduling that asap.

Now Brook's IEP is next week so hopefully her's will go as smoothly!

Bronze Medal Winner

It doesn't matter if you live in a very rural community where over 80% of the kids are on free or reduced lunches due to low income or being noted as homeless by the state or county we live in...

It doesn't matter that you have a disability, can't always hear everything, or if you are noted as a deaf child in a hearing world...

It doesn't matter that there are no "special schools" nearby to send my special children to which leads us into the public school system...

It doesn't matter. Gman earned himself a Bronze medal Friday for his outstanding SAT scores last year. This means he has learned enough in his regular classroom, with his regular teacher, without any pull-out time...to do very well, so well that earned a medal. This time, he's shooting for the silver or gold!

Some of you will ask about his SAT accommodations. He does take the tests in a smaller room, will fewer kids as opposed to the larger classroom full of his peers. This is because his ADHD is so severe and because they need to be certain he heard all the instructions but other than a change of rooms, he doesn't get any special treatment or anything. (Also, if he were to start having processor problems, he wouldn't hold up the entire grade while he troubleshooted-or is it troubleshot, lol)

Very proud of our Gman!

Blakely Updates

Can you tell it's tax season? I am usually a substitute teacher so I'm used to having off days which I use to play blog catch up but those "off" days are filled at the accounting office this time of the year so I rarely see them anymore. I'm usually at one place or another. I have just a few quick bullets for the Blakely kids and more on the way later...

• Brook will be performing as a Chipette tonight singing "Single Ladies". Yes, my deaf child will dance with her two buddies from church to music that she has been gifted to hear, and sing with a voice that God chose to give her even though He didn't have to. I hope to capture it on video and post a small section of later!
• Brook's FM mic is still out. She needs it, I hope it comes in next week so she can hear better in the classroom. She is doing fine without it, her teacher is fantastic but she needs her mic.
• Gage doesn't use his mic. I'm gonna talk to his Audiologist and see about changing his mix when the mic is on. They do a lot of class participation. He can hear his teacher fine, and clarity is much better with the mic. However, during class discussions or when someone else answers or asks a question, he can't hear them due to the mix on his processors. We have always had it set where the teacher is prominent and background is highly reduced but we are at a point where we need a more even mix so that he gets equal parts teacher and peers.
• He goes in a couple of weeks for Mapping again. He's always went monthly but we didn't have a Feb. appointment set up so he goes in March. He's already starting to need it too. For some reason, maybe his ear malformations, he can't "hold" a good map for more than five weeks. He never has. He's always went in monthly for mapping since he was three. Brook is at a point where she can go practically yearly, and for the common ci user, this is probably average at this point. She's had her's for 5 years now.
• Otherwise, the kids are doing great. They are talking, screaming, fighting, loving, "going out" with people (lol), hanging with friends, singing, dancing, riding four wheelers, going to birthday parties....basically the average kids.

Vestibular Study

We had an opportunity to participate in a study at UAB. The Physical Therapy Dept. wants to see about the vestibular functions of children with bilateral hearing loss and see if the expensive testing gives better results vs. less expensive testing. So we had our first round of tests yesterday. I was able to provide them with two children for the study and so were several of my friends since we have more than one child with bilateral loss.

The kids had a ball. It was very interesting and kid friendly FUN! Nothing was scary, nothing hurt, and in fact the kids laughed quite a bit (so did we). Gage of course investigated all the equipment and how things worked and they were kind enough to explain all the extra details he needed (lol). Our last set of tests will be the expensive set of tests (at no cost to us) down at the University of Alabama (Nat'l Champs by the way, ahem).

So what did we find out so far? First, I'll preface by saying Gage's ENT informed us a long time ago that his ears were severely malformed inside, even his balance organ. So I did give them all of that information before attending to make sure he was a fair test subject. I told them I never even remember a time that he's ever been dizzy.

After all the tests, it's been determined that Gman does not use his vestibular system at all for balance. He uses his vision and his sense of feeling. He could still balance pretty decently as long as he had one of those, however, when we took both away (blindfold and moving floor) he had absolutely no ability to balance...he'd fall completely. Brook was able to compensate better and on the third attempt, balanced with no vision and a moving surface under her feet.

Another test I found completely interesting...when people spin around, then suddenly stop spinning, their eyes typically pulse to the side for a few seconds as if you are still spinning. This isn't something you can control, it just happens. We got to see Brook's eyes jerk back and forth via tiny camera in a pair of goggles, she thought it was funny when we went back and showed her on the screen. When Gage stopped spinning, his eyes were perfectly still. No movement! So we got confirmation, he doesn't really get dizzy. He pretty much has a non-functioning vestibular system I suppose.

We are looking forward to going to U of A in a couple of weeks. The kids got prizes for going and they too look forward to going for more testing!

University of Montevallo

To some extent she's right. Implants are almost impossible to buy. They are expensive (covered by most insurances) and you need a prescription (so to speak). That was her point. She went on to write "Save your money if you can't hear!!!"

We went to our (almost) annual visit at the University of Montevallo Monday afternoon to talk to the up and coming Deaf Ed/Speech Therapy majors. The kids' former SLP is the instructor/teacher and we had a great visit.

Everyone was very respectful again this year about our choices. There's almost always some students in there that sign only and this year was no exception. We had a bonus this year and found out one of the students was wearing a cochlear implant too! Neither kid wanted to talk.......at first. Then after they warmed up, they did fine. In fact, Brook stood next to me and mocked me as I spoke...fabulous. She really liked one of the interpreters (she's often present at events we go to and I've ran into this lady for years). Brook even wrote on the board, "The lady in the green jacket likes me." Gage brought a vehicle he'd created and spoke on that subject for a little while.

I discussed our background, Goldenhar Syndrome, school, FM systems, parenting, language opportunities, AVT, ADHD, and so much more! We talked about home life and how they communicate without processors on, and the difference between bilateral and hearing with one implant.

We hope we shed some light on how "normal" yet insane at the same time, we can be. The kids got a gift card as a reward which I happily bought them prizes with on Black Friday. We look forward to hopefully returning next year. My mother even came this year with us and she kinda warmed up and spoke a little too.

Quickies

• Brook got a new rabbit since her's died. It is black and its name is Blackie....we are very creative!
• I'm back at the gym trying to complete 60 miles in 30 days ( a local challenge ) and I'm sitting at 27.5 miles with 18 days to go...shouldn't be a problem.
• Cochlear has tried to contact me twice about my last blog post to make sure Gman is doing fine. I did email them to assure them he's fine and I don't think the clicking sound was related to a failure.
• Gman did wake with pain on the other ci-side once this week but he simply removed the processor for most of the day and he was back to "normal" in no time.
• School is going okay. Gman is finding out the hard way that he DOES need to do homework and he DOES need to study or he won't make good grades. And Brook is finding out the hard way that you MUST keep quiet, and behave or you'll be sitting by yourself at lunch. But both are doing well otherwise.

Stomping is just common courtesy

Even though cheer clinic got rained out last night, I still found myself exhausted enough to crash out hard the minute I put my head on my pillow. Knowing I had to get up at 5:30am to assure I had enough coffee to drive my two down that hour and half strip of pavement to get little boy's ears MAPped.

Brook had slept in my bed again so I could make sure her pain levels weren't too high, which for the first time last night since her surgery, she didn't wake up for meds. She did however toss and turn, moan and cry in her sleep and hold her ears, but she was unaware of any of this by the time morning came. Shortly after midnight I heard a door creak. I then heard the kitchen faucet turn on and then off. No it wasn't a ghost, my son likes to drink from the faucet(why?) and it's very common for him to get up for a drink. But instead of hearing the door creak back closed, I heard paper rattling. I knew he was in the pantry poor fella, looking for a bite to eat. His ADHD meds keep his appetite down during the day and then soaring at night. Apparently, he'd not eaten enough before bed.

I didn't want to scare the child to death so I did a courtesy stomp on the hard wood floors. With each heavy step, I watched to see when he'd notice I was up. When I got about four feet from him (his head still in the pantry) he jerked his head around the door and knew someone was near. I smiled at the poor kid and he said, "I AM STARVIN'!!" So he finished what he'd grabbed up in his hands and I got him a piece of cheese to top it off and forced him to re-brush and back to bed he went.

He got his implants MAPped and again, he tries to answer the question of how many tones did you hear? with a riddle...just to see if we can figure it out. Today he would say DOG or LOSER and he thought we would sit and count the letters to his answers to figure out how many he heard but he was wrong. The Audiologist was not having it...so he finally rolled his eyes and gave us numbers! lol-And guess what? I found out I have not been changing his mic covers on the N5s!! I never saw anything to change but they are so tiny and round, nothing like the Freedoms, so he now has clean mic covers! I took my spat on the hand and shamefully left the Audiologist's office but I will surely be more aware of this in the future. (yea right)

We only have a few more days until school starts on Aug 15!

Four little ears

Could have been worse...

Gman has no problems behaving, finding something to do, staying on task as long as he's on his ADHD meds which are working great. He worked hard while sister got both her ears MAPped which only took about an hour (wish B had behaved as well while he was mapped but that wasn't happening). She's still on every 6 months and we had not noticed any issues with her hearing but since it was time, since we were going anyway, she got a quick 'run thru' and she's good for 6 more months (maybe even a year)...

B played with doll house toys while she counted the tones. At one point, she didn't hear the tone and growled at the Audiologist "Hurry up and make that weird sound!!" My apologies to our audiologist! She was in a horrible mood.

Gage decided he'd occupy himself while he counted tones as well with the dolls...

...only he needed more accessories...like a piece of paper to make a newspaper for the dad who had to take care of some business (lol)

So that's it, 2 hours and we were finished, quick tune up for both kids and they are hearing great!