tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-81326818924690903602024-03-05T00:42:14.642-05:00CI ParentThis Blog documents's my daughter's Cochlear Implant journeydeanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.comBlogger41125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-19649184444334252682011-01-18T10:10:00.004-05:002011-01-18T10:56:30.394-05:00College Life - 1/17/2011It has been so many months since I last posted here to talk about Nichole's hearing journey. I was so caught up n the end of her Senior year in high school, the college application processes, getting ready for her Freshman year at Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI) that I dropped the ball on this Blog. But as I think of it, that is exactly what I hoped would happen back when Nichole was newly diagnosed with a hearing impairment. Nichole grew into a young woman going off to college. Not specifically a hearing impaired girl, but an 18 year old who like all her peers was transitioning form child hood to adult hood. Facing all the same challenges, and succeeding!<br /><br />Nichole was accepted to WPI early decision to pursue Computer Science. It is very tough (her mother and I both graduated from WPI). She is working until the wee hours (2 or 3am) many nights, and loving it! She is absolutely thriving in the college environment. WPI has ben great as far as accomodations. They purchased a new FM system for Nichole. She has taken the initiative to schedule a meeting with each professor before classes start each term. She explains about her hearing, shows them how to use the FM and discusses how she can get the most from their classes. She had been asking questions in class (I can hear her in one of the recorded lectures), and going back for office hours extra help. It is so rewarding to see that she is advocating for herself. And to top that off, her first term (WPI has four 7-week terms versus two semesters, and students take three classes per term) Nichole earned two A's and a C (in her intro to programming class). She was concerned with the C, but I had looked at the language they use, and it is a really strange one that has no real-world application. I suggested she put that behind her and keep going with CS classes to see if she does better as the courses progress. Sure enough, she earned an A in the next CS class during B term, along with two more As! All her hard work is paying off.<br /><br />WPI also installed a remote Fire Alarm sensor with bed shaker that detects when the alarms sound in her dorm and shakes her bed. This has been one thing which has not gone smoothly. It kept false alarming, to the point where she was simply ignoring it. At my urging, she worked with the residence life people to get the unit and the remote transmitter changes for new units. That appeared to solve the problem, though as you will read below, it has since issued a false alarm again.<br /><br />After Christmas break, Nichole wanted to go back a few days before classes started in order to do some pre-reading for her classes. Classes started last Thursday (1/13/11). Saturday morning, about 3:00am, our phone rang. It was Nichole. She had gone out with friends to watch a movie on campus. When they returned (about 1:00am) and Nichole put her jacket in her dorm room, on the floor by her bed. All was normal. The group hung out in the common room on her floor to chat (such a great thing for a Dad to hear about a girl with her hearing background!). About 2:30am, someone came to the common room to say water was coming out from under Nichole's dorm room door.<br /><a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadh0K3SGR5gmVesLtYCVc4XZCdvKp2H18U5XaU7D_DEW4823s23xzBAhV3ZRPNjnmjyvZVsBaSsBvez2h9ffzM_uxaHjjNLFpNwm1k3mpDc8aCwkhk8IiIJY8L5srCo8Ze8IYqIWpjWI/s1600/Dorm_Room_Flood.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjadh0K3SGR5gmVesLtYCVc4XZCdvKp2H18U5XaU7D_DEW4823s23xzBAhV3ZRPNjnmjyvZVsBaSsBvez2h9ffzM_uxaHjjNLFpNwm1k3mpDc8aCwkhk8IiIJY8L5srCo8Ze8IYqIWpjWI/s320/Dorm_Room_Flood.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563554647433857762" border="0" /></a><br />She and her friends opened her door, to get a blast of hot steam in their faces! IT took a minute for the steam to clear, before they could see the room was flooded with 2" of super hot water. The radiator had leaked. Steam had filled the room, with condensation forming on the walls, ceiling and everything in the room. If she had been sleeping, she probably would have been scalded (her roommate had gone home for the weekend). Even if she had woken up, she would have stepped into the super heated water getting out of bed. It gives me shivers to think how lucky she was to have been hanging out with her friends.<br /><br /><br />She and her friends rescued what they could from the room. Facilities game around early in the morning to vacuum up the water, and eventually replaced the radiator. They shampooed the rugs as well. Nichole came home for the day to get some sleep (after this unscheduled all-nighter), and wash all her bedding and other items (like her jacket) that had been on the floor and were soaked. Luckily the only items that were destroyed was a 19" TV we had sent to school with her, and a bedside reading lamp. Her CI gear appears to be ok, though the battery chargers for her rechargeables did have lots of pooled water from condensation in them, and one of the batteries was super hot. We will keep an eye on that one, as WPI has offered to replace anything that got damaged by the flood. Oh, and the fire alarm bead shaker went off.<br /><br /><br />S<a onblur="try {parent.deselectBloggerImageGracefully();} catch(e) {}" href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGd-BDV1mKNErKpPbLe5LF5Jo5yPiCPQccR4UhIZjeYwxHzk-8x9GjP2J0xj81BjThJ1zDunZmsnTuPey2Sv9Wmdc2_zNl5z_0gMHK4_9PEGsKlWCnq13fgZIgRTB5BMo0rJ33Oxi5BI/s1600/Dorm_Room_Flood4.jpg"><img style="float: left; margin: 0pt 10px 10px 0pt; cursor: pointer; width: 240px; height: 320px;" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiOGd-BDV1mKNErKpPbLe5LF5Jo5yPiCPQccR4UhIZjeYwxHzk-8x9GjP2J0xj81BjThJ1zDunZmsnTuPey2Sv9Wmdc2_zNl5z_0gMHK4_9PEGsKlWCnq13fgZIgRTB5BMo0rJ33Oxi5BI/s320/Dorm_Room_Flood4.jpg" alt="" id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5563554977613661266" border="0" /></a>o now I am thinking that a fire alarm bed shaker is not the only thing she needs. A high-temp warning feature, and maybe even a Carbon Monoxide and smoke add ons to the alarm system would be a good idea. Maybe even a doorbell flasher type device so that if she were in the room and someone needed to rouse her, they could hit the button and it would shake her bed. But of course that would present an annoyance factor as anyone walking down the hall at night could simply hit the button (the old ring and run game) just to be a pain. Does anyone else have these type of "features" for their kids who are in mainstream colleges?<br /><br />That is all for now.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-44804503252573961272009-06-26T08:48:00.003-04:002009-06-26T09:22:02.442-04:00Nichole's Presentation to Teachers About Her Hearing Loss - 6/17/2009Each year since Nichole was in pre-school, I have given a presentation to her teachers describing her hearing loss and her need for them to use the FM transmitter. This includes a demonstration of them listening through her hearing aid as I move around a classroom, with and without the FM activated. When Nichole hit high school, the administrators requested that I come in at the end of the school year to "pre-brief" her teachers for the following year. I have it down to a well orchestrated PowerPoint presentation which walks the teachers through a hearing overview, where Nichole's hearing resides with respect to environmental sounds, and the importance of the FM.<br /><br />Two weeks before this year's meeting, I told Nichole that she would have to give the presentation. She is going to be a high school senior this fall, so this is her chance to get comfortable with talking to her teachers as a self advocate. For those who don't know her, Nichole is quite shy in these type of situations. The night before the meeting, she gave us a dry run. It was horrendous! She was mumbling, avoiding eye contact, leaving out any background information. We were considering not having her give the talk out of fear she would prejudice her teachers against her! But we forced ourselves to "let go" of the reins (tough thing to do as involved parents).<br /><br />Nichole, my wife and I got to the meeting room a bit early and got the laptop set up with the school projector. As the "new" teachers arrived, Nichole gave them each a hard copy of the presentation. Once they were all seated, she started her presentation. Oh My God. She was awesome!!! She spoke with volume, authority and confidence. She made eye contact with all the teachers. She introduced herself, explained why she was talking to them, then walked them through the presentation flawlessly. She answered questions from her teachers in a comfortable manner throughout the talk. We were so proud of her. This was the Nichole we only dreamed she might become when we put that shy little girl on the bus to first grade 11 year ago. I wish I had hidden a video camera in the room in order to capture her presentation!<br /><br />When Nichole finished her talk, she asked for any additional questions. Her chemistry teacher for next year said that he had an observation. He said that he was quite impressed that she was brave enough to stand before a group of new (to her) teachers and give such a good presentation. He said that it was obvious that she was comfortable talking with new people (yahoo!), and that he was impressed with her; that she seemed to be a fine young lady and he looked forward to having her in his class. <br /><br />While I know I will miss her in a year and a half when Nichole goes away to college, the fact that she rose to the occasion and advocated for herself so eloquently helps allay one of our concerns for her secondary education. Go Nichole!!!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-70860208573866298132009-06-15T12:03:00.002-04:002009-06-15T12:08:41.266-04:00Hearing in the noisy Emergency Room - June 15, 2009<span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">Since I haven't posted in a while, I will give you a very recent Nichole story . This past Friday, Nichole got the pinky of her right hand crushed in a car door. I took her to the ER, where they took x-rays and closed the cut that also came with the slightly broken finger.<br /><br />Nichole was in the exam room, and I was walking back up the hall with the Dr., having just looked at her films. He stopped me and asked how Nichole managed pain (</span><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">we were about 25 feet down the *<span style="font-weight: bold;">noisy</span>* hall, and Nichole was 10 feet into the exam room, a 90 degree turn from the hall - all in all, about 35 feet from me)</span><span style="font-family:Comic Sans MS;">. I explained that she has gone through two CI implantation surgeries, and handles it quite well (she is very stoic), and that she didn't like pain meds. <br /><br />When I got back in the room, Nichole asked me why I had been telling the Dr. about her two surgeries! I was shocked that she had heard most of our conversation. I walked her to the door, and pointed to the spot down the hall where the chat had taken place. A grin came over her face. This is certainly one conversation she wouldn't have heard two years ago before her first CI.<br /></span>deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-24186659693093364342008-11-19T17:37:00.002-05:002008-11-19T17:45:45.113-05:00Nichole's observation 3 Months Post Bilateral Activation - November 19, 2008We were in the kitchen the other night getting dinner ready, when Nichole said<br /><br /> <span style="font-style: italic;">"I came home from school today and decided to watch TV before starting my homework. After about 5 minutes, I realized that the closed captions were not on. I hadn't even noticed!"</span><br /><br />This from the girl who ALWAYS uses closed captions and gets annoyed if they are not present. In the past, she wouldn't even go to movies because they don't have captions. I guess that means that after three months with bilateral CIs, she is hearing better than before going bilateral. At least she is hearing well enough to understand television without the captions. Of course, once she realized they were off, she turned them on. Old habits are hard to break.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-14017085641960805782008-09-08T15:59:00.005-04:002008-09-08T16:35:37.984-04:00Bilateral CI helps Nichole with localization of sounds - 9/8/2008When Nichole just had one CI and one hearing aid, she didn't do that well locating the source of sounds. And if she turned off either the CI or the hearing aid, she of course did even worse. We were curious if having two CIs had any impact on her sound localization ability.<br /><br />This past weekend, the whole family played a game with Nichole - "Find the portable phone". Our portable phone has a button on the base station that causes the handset to start beeping, allowing you to find where it was last put down.<br /><br />We had Nichole stay in the kitchen, then one of us would go either in the basement, or upstairs, and hide the phone. We then started the phone beeping and Nichole had to use her bilateral CIs to locate the handset.<br /><br />We were amazed at how well she did. In all but one or two cases, she would zero in on the hiding place fairly quickly. Even when we hit the phone in cabinets and containers. She would walk into a room, turn her head left and right, then head off in the direction of the sound. Once, when I had hidden the phone in the ceiling of our basement (can't make things too easy for her :-), Nichole navigated herself to a spot directly below the phone, and was going crazy because she couldn't find the phone on the floor, or on the nearby shelf. Then, she looked up and noticed the open ceiling tile, and the phone. From then on , when she couldn't find the phone, but knew she was in the right area, she would tip her head to the side (one ear up, one ear down), in order to determine if the sound was above or below her.<br /><br />So besides the improvement in basic hearing, understanding speech and having a "backup" ear in<a href="http://ci-parent.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-day-in-11th-grade-for-nichole.html"> the event one stopped working</a><a href="http://ci-parent.blogspot.com/2008/08/first-day-in-11th-grade-for-nichole.html"> (or the FM in her case) </a>, we can add sound localization as another benefit of going bilateral! And that is only about 3 and a half weeks post activation!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-66664912417162651822008-08-27T21:52:00.002-04:002008-08-28T11:02:35.989-04:00First day in 11th grade for Nichole with Bilateral CIsToday was Nichole's first day in 11<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">th</span> grade after having gone bilateral this summer. I asked her during dinner how school went. She said it was pretty good, but ... her right (older) CI wasn't working for the first two classes. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Arggg</span>.<br /><br />She has Freedom FM receivers for both ears. During the first two classes, her older right ear was not picking up the FM signal, nor was it picking up sounds of the other students using the processor mic. But her newer left ear was working. She said she could hear the teacher clearly through the FM on the new side, and best of all, she understood almost all of what the teacher was saying (though she did say she supplemented with reading their lips). Not bad for just two weeks post-activation! But the point is, if she hadn't had the new implant, she would not have gotten much out of those two classes.<br /><br />Between her second and third class, she removed the FM receiver from the old ear, and re-installed it. This brought it on-line. She guessed that the FM insert was not properly seated, thus not working. Whew!<br /><br />So for the rest of the day, she had a clean FM signal to both ears. However, she said she still couldn't hear other students around her in her right ear. It wasn't until she got off the bus after school that it <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">occurred</span> to her that the night before, she had been playing around with the FM-only program her audiologist had put in P4, so she could listen to music from an MP3 player. That setting cuts the mic input to 1/9<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">th</span> the FM or direct audio input. No wonder she couldn't hear her class mates on that side. She will remember to user her regular P1 program from now on.<br /><br />So all in all, going bilateral was a good thing, since it gave Nichole a "backup" hearing capability over last year. And her brain is re-wiring nicely to utilize the new implant.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-80114162083046559112008-08-13T23:44:00.001-04:002008-08-14T14:12:12.959-04:00First full day with new CI - 8/13/2008Well, today was the first full day with Nichole's new left implant activated. I was at work most of the day, but saw her at lunch time, and she had not really tried much "listening" yet. We took a family walk after I got home from work, and I told her that it seemed she was much less interested in exploring sounds with this implant than she had been with her first one last year. She agreed. She said that with her old (right) CI, she now knows all the new sounds so it isn't as exciting trying to hear them with the new (left) CI.<br /><br />She said that in the late afternoon, she did try the different programs which Marilyn had saved in the Freedom processor. Program 1 (P1) is basically what felt comfortable at the end of her activation on Tuesday. P2 and P3 are increasingly louder versions of P1. Marilyn thought that those three would give Nichole enough to work with until her next mapping, which is 9 days after her initial activation. She wasn't even sure Nichole would get to P3, but gave it anyway. Well, Nichole is already comfortable with P2, at volume = 9 (full volume)! She has tried P3, but it is a bit too loud. I reminded her that this isn't a race, and that she shouldn't feel the need to push herself too fast.<br /><br />As for speech recognition, it didn't seem she was understanding much, if anything, by just observing her during normal conversations. So tonight, at about 11:15pm, after everyone else was asleep, I asked her if she wanted to play the "closed set" game. We pick a category (numbers 1 thru 10, or colors, etc), she faces away from me, and tries to repeat each word I say. I was not too optimistic given it was only day 1, and that I hadn't observed her understanding much earlier in the day. Boy was I in for a wonderful surprise!<br /><br />I started with the numbers 1 thru 10 in random order. Nichole correctly repeated 8 of the 10 on the first try. For the two she got incorrect, I repeated the number once, and she then got it correct. Yahoo! I moved on to colors. Out of 11, she got eight correct first try, two correct on my first repeat, and one (indigo) she couldn't get. Next was animals. She correctly repeated nine out of 14. She got seven out of 11 sea creatures and five out of six oceans/seas (south china sea, she missed the "china").<br /><br />So her "first try" success rate was about 80% for most lists, with 65% for the two really hard ones of animals and sea creatures. I have shown her raw results below, so you can get a feel for the difficulty of the words I picked, and so I can keep a record somewhere.<br /><br />We have her first Listening Therapy session tomorrow afternoon.<br /><br />Raw Closed-Set Listening Results, I have bolded those items where a mistake was made. Where two percentages are shown, they represent raw score on first try, then with a word repeated if it was wrong the first try. If she had no guess, I put a ????.<br /><br /> Numbers (80%, 100%)<br /><table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="25%"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>I said<br /> </i></u></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>She repeated<br /> </i></u></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>5<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>7, then 5<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">3<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">3<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">4<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">4<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">10<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">10<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">1<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">1<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>7<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>6, then 7<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">9<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">9<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">6<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">6<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">8<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">8<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">2<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">2<br /> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br /> Colors (72%, 91%)<br /> <table style="width: 258px; height: 388px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><i><u>I said<br /> </u></i> </td> <td align="center" valign="top"><i><u>She repeated<br /> </u></i> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Blue<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Blue<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Yellow<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Yellow<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Red<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Red<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Black<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>White, then black<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">White<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">White<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Pink<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Pink<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Orange<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>White, then orange<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Green<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Green<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Brown<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Brown<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Indigo<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>????<br /> </b></td> </tr><tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Violet<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Violet<br /> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br /> Animals (65%)<br /> <table style="width: 224px; height: 466px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>I said<br /> </i></u> </td> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>She repeated<br /> </i></u> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Cat<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Cat<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Squirrel<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Squirrel<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Bird<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Bird<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-weight: bold;" align="center" valign="top">Dog<br /> </td> <td style="font-weight: bold;" align="center" valign="top">Bird<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Snake<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Snake<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Fox<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Smocks<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Beaver<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>????<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Robin<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Robin<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Chickadee<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Chickadee<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Hawk<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>????<br /> </b></td> </tr><tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Bat<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Bat<br /></td> </tr><tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Blue Bird<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Little Bird<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Great Blue Heron<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Great Blue Heron<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Owl<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Owl<br /> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table> <br /> Sea Creatures (63%)<br /> <table style="width: 224px; height: 352px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>I said<br /> </i></u> </td> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>She repeated<br /> </i></u> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Whale<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Whale<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Dolphin<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Dera fin<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Tuna<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">????<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Oyster<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Oyster<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Clam<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Clam<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Sea Horse<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Sea Horse<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Skate<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Snake<br /> </b></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Jelly Fish<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Jelly Fish<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Shark<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Shark<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Walrus<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Walrus<br /></td> </tr><tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Seal<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Snail<br /> </b></td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br /> Oceans/Seas (83%)<br /> <table style="width: 301px; height: 222px;" border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>I said<br /> </i></u> </td> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>She repeated<br /> </i></u> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Pacific<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Pacific<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Atlantic<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Atlantic<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Arctic<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Arctic<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Indian<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Indian<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Red Sea<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Red Sea<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td style="font-weight: bold;" align="center" valign="top">South China Sea<br /></td> <td style="font-weight: bold;" align="center" valign="top">South ???? Sea<br /></td> </tr> </tbody> </table><br /> Shapes (88%)<br /> <table border="1" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="2" width="25%"> <tbody> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>I said<br /> </i></u> </td> <td align="center" valign="top"><u><i>She repeated<br /> </i></u> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Circle<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Circle<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Oval<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Oval<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Square<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Square<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Rectangle<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Rectangle<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Star<br /></td> <td align="center" valign="top">Star<br /></td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Ellipse<br /> </b></td> <td align="center" valign="top"><b>Erect<br /> </b></td> </tr><tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Octagon<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Octagon<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Pentagon<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Pentagon<br /> </td> </tr> <tr> <td align="center" valign="top">Triangle<br /> </td> <td align="center" valign="top">Triangle<br /> </td> </tr> </tbody> </table>deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-32718352296714057952008-08-12T14:09:00.002-04:002008-08-12T14:41:15.662-04:00Left CI Activated - 8/12/2008Early today Nichole had her new left side CI activated. Her audiologist, Marilyn, got her all hooked up to the programmer, and started out setting the T-levels (threshold levels). This is the minimum stimulation which Nichole can detect. Nichole then used the keyboard and software to set the C-levels (comfort levels) herself. This sets the stimulation level where she can hear, and it is comfortable, versus being too loud.<br /><br />Once all the T and C levels were set, Marilyn turned on the microphone (after reducing the overall volume a bit to avoid Nichole being overwhelmed with sound). Nichole said that it hurt, kind of like an electric shock. Using a little electronic keyboard, Nichole played the notes, and told Marilyn exactly which notes caused discomfort, and which felt <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ok</span>. Based on <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">this</span> information, Marilyn modified the T and C levels to a point where Nichole could hear sounds, while at the same time feel no pain. In fact, the contour of the new levels (viewed on a graph on the software) closely follow the "telemetry" readings that Marilyn took while Nichole was still on the OR table. I am not 100% sure what these are, but Marilyn said they can predict what her C-levels will probably look like after she gets acclimated to the implant. Nichole was happy with how the new levels felt.<br /><br />An interesting observation was how Nichole described what she heard when she played a scale on the small electronic keyboard (left to right which would be low to high pitched notes). She said the first 6 or so keys went from high to low pitch (opposite what I hear), then the next bunch of keys went low to high (correct), then the last two were low again. I seem to recall her making the same observation at an earlier mapping session with her right CI. Not quite sure what it means though.<br /><br /><div style="text-align: left;">I asked Nichole how it sounded when we spoke (with her other CI turned off). She said that if she looks at our lips, she can make out some of the words we are saying. Wow! That is much better than when her right side was first activated a year ago. At that time, she could hear us talk, but had no idea what we were saying (we sounded like a waterfall or birds chirping). Maybe the fact that that this ear was her better ear helps. Or maybe the fact her brain has had a year with the right side CI will help it decode the new left CI. It could also be that Marilyn is using a slower stimulation rate (720Hz) which is what Nichole eventually settled on with the right side (so we wouldn't sound so "chirpy"). Most likely, it is a combination of all of the above. In any case, all the electrodes are working, and I am confident her brain will re-wire to <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">accommodate</span> the sounds from the new implant. I just hope it happens as quickly as it did last year (see my <a href="http://ci-parent.blogspot.com/2007/07/day-1-update.html">Day 1 Update</a> post from last year to see how quickly she started understanding speech). She starts junior year of high school in two weeks!<br /><br /><br /></div>deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-61087016314984096532008-07-03T11:28:00.000-04:002008-07-30T11:05:54.046-04:00Participating in CI/HA research at MIT and NortheasternNichole has been participating in two different research programs. The first is at MIT. They are testing Nichole's hearing ability with her <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Cochlear</span> Implant. There are a number of different tests they are running. Some deal with her ability to identify vowels, some consonants, others the pitch of musical notes. The main researcher, Ray <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Goldworthy</span>, who has a single CI himself, is eventually hoping to modify maps to allow CI users to hear better in <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">vaious</span> situations. he even spent some time in Australia at Cochelar learning more about their processors.<br /><br />The second study is taking place at Northeastern University. Dr. <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">Ying</span>-<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">Yee</span> Kong is the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">principal</span> investigator on this study, which is looking at people with one CI and one Hearing Aid (HA). They are running similar tests as those done at MIT, but with some variations, including testing in noise. They are interested in testing Nichole, because they want to see how she performs using one CI and one HA, then retest her after her second CI is fully "integrated". The results of this testing will possibly help other single CI users decide if going bilateral is better or if keeping one HA and one CI is best.<br /><br />Nichole has enjoyed participating in both studies. She likes the idea that all this testing (and it is quite tiring - I know because I enrolled in it as a normal hearing study subject to help out), will eventually help other people struggling with the decision of going bilateral, or staying with a single CI. In addition, she is earning money, which for a 16 year old approaching her coveted driver's license, is a big deal :-), <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">especially</span> at $4 for a gallon of gas. <br /><br />In addition to the main thrust of the NU study, Dr. Kong recorded Nichole speaking in order to determine if her speech generation improves, declines <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">or</span> stays the same after going bilateral. Here is a 3.5 minute long MP3 sound recording of Nichole telling a story. They gave her just the starting point, and told her to make up a story on the fly (thus some "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">ums</span>" as she pauses to figure out where to take the story next). <br /><br />I thought some parents of smaller kids would be interested in hearing how Nichole speaks. Keep in mind that she was not diagnosed with a hearing loss (70dB flat - moderate-severe bilateral <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_9">sensori-neural</span> hearing <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_10">impairment</span>) until 18 months old, and only spoke a handful of words to that point. She started wearing hearing aids at 20 months. We did Auditory Verbal therapy until she was 3 years old (though of course we continued doing it at home). Her hearing stayed at that level until her teenage years, when it started getting worse. She was at about a 100dB loss when she/we decided to get her first implant (right side) at age 15 (last year). <a href="http://mysite.verizon.net/deanholman/downloads/Nichole_Story.mp3">This recording was made on July 2, 2008, just before her surgery to implant her left ear</a>.<br /><br />Of course, I understand Nichole perfectly, but I would really like to hear from other parents to see what they think of her speech. Does she sound "normal" to you, or can you tell she has a hearing problem? I am too close to tell. Any comments?deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-51935425129426619612008-05-17T09:38:00.000-04:002008-05-22T08:46:35.836-04:00Hearing at a Carnival - 5/17/2008Last night Nichole went with her friends to the travelling carnival that comes to town each year. It comprises a bunch of loud rides, arcade booths, food vendors, etc. I walked through it with my other daughter <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">just</span> to see what they had. It was *very* loud there. Hard for us to communicate, and we have good hearing.<br /><br />I asked Nichole if she enjoyed spending the evening there with her friends. She had. Then I asked the inevitable question - could you understand any of the conversations the group had? Nichole said that last year when they went, she only caught a couple of words during the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">evening</span>. But last night, she understood almost all of the conversations! The only time she had trouble was when one friend <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">whispered</span> into her left (hearing aid) ear. She couldn't make out what she was saying. But when she turned her head, to use her CI, she did get what was being said.<br /><br />Can't wait for the second implant. Hope it will make hearing in these noisy situations that much better!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-52069737741879726922008-04-25T22:25:00.000-04:002008-07-30T10:27:59.455-04:00Vestibular Testing at Mass Eye & Ear - April 25, 2008Today Nichole underwent vestibular (balance) testing at Mass Eye & Ear. Because of the size of the testing room, they didn't allow me to come in (which for an engineer, is a bummer!). I will get a description of what they did from Nichole later and back-annotate this post.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-30258487864071072112008-04-18T09:39:00.005-04:002008-04-18T10:12:25.550-04:00Bus Stop Listening - Woodpecker getting breakfast (4/18/2008)I walked Nichole to the bus stop this morning. As we were going down the driveway, she stopped and looked around, scanning the tree tops. She said "I hear a woodpecker". I too heard it. It was near the top of a 70 foot tall tree, who's trunk was about 70 yards away (about 75 yards from the bird to her ear). While she could not locate where the woodpecker was "<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">ratatat</span>-tatting", she could clearly hear it (along with other birds chirping). Maybe after her July surgery to go bilateral, she will even be able to locate the sound source too!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-22763165918470101792008-04-11T08:30:00.002-04:002008-04-18T09:38:07.532-04:00Speech Perception Testing 9-month post-activation (4/11/2008)I received the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Speech</span> & Language <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">assessment</span> report from <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">Children's</span> regarding Nichole's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">referral</span> for a second (bilateral) implant. The <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">clinician</span> had interviewed Nichole, asking her lots of questions, and had her do a list of Word <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">Association</span> for Syllable Perception (WASP) words that she had been tested on last year, <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_6">prior</span> to receiving her first implant. On the original <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_7">pre</span>-implant testing, Nichole scored a 33% accuracy with auditory-only information. On the retest with her CI (now 9 month post-activation), she <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_8">scored</span> 96% accuracy!!! Now if *that* doesn't show people the benefit of a CI, I don't know what does!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-17209053121810092592008-04-03T22:03:00.000-04:002008-04-04T10:11:39.305-04:00Approved for Bilateral CI !!! - April 3, 2008We met with the Speech and Language Pathologist and Nichole's <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">surgeon</span> at <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">Children's</span> today. These were the final two appointments we needed to "pass" in order for Nichole to be approved for her second implant. The language testing went fast - Nichole has a very advanced vocabulary. <br /><br />The meeting with Nichole's surgeon went very well. Dr. L. stepped through all the <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_2">pros</span> and cons of a 2<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_3">nd</span> implant. She told him how the CI on her right side was *so* much better than the hearing aid on her left side, and that she had tested both in different situations, and really wanted to have her left side implanted. He said he fully agreed, then said, "lets go get you a date"!! I had been expecting that their team would have to meet to discuss her case, as happened with the first one last year. Nope. He walked us to Sarah, the implant team coordinator, and asked her to schedule us for surgery. She immediately asked if July 11<span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_4">th</span> would work for us! Yahoo. She knew we were looking for a slot right at the beginning of summer, and had lined things up for us. She is <span class="blsp-spelling-corrected" id="SPELLING_ERROR_5">fantastic</span>!. Nichole was very happy on the drive home! So now we wait.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-14137838621394392732008-02-24T20:40:00.000-05:002008-02-25T08:37:07.678-05:00Hearing a Distant Sound While Cross Country Skiing - 2/24/2008The family all went cross country skiing today. We were stopped for a few minutes, enjoying the peace and quiet while the kids were taking turns skiing down a little hill, taking a jump at the bottom. I was waiting to take a picture of the next run down the hill, and Nichole was standing at the top of the hill, about 40 feet from me, just resting after her last trip up, when I heard a snowmobile start zipping across the neighboring lake. It was about 3/4 of a mile away, through a line of trees. About a second after I first heard it, I noticed Nichole turn her head left and right, trying to see what she was hearing. She quickly spotted the snowmobile moving across the open lake, and returned her attention to the skiing. It was cool to see her being tuned in to the sounds of her environment!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-60946689280652240172008-02-20T21:05:00.000-05:002008-02-25T08:27:54.649-05:00Hearing with a CI on a Noisy Chair Lift While Skiing - 2/20/2008We were skiing at <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_0">Sugarbush</span> today (February Vacation week). I was riding up the chair lift with Nichole and her sister, Corey. I was sitting between the two of them, turned so that I could face Corey while I told her about a conversation I had with another skier on an earlier lift ride (when I was just with my <span class="blsp-spelling-error" id="SPELLING_ERROR_1">son</span> Mitchell). The snow guns were running (for non-skiers, they sound like jet engines, though a little "deeper" in tone). The wind was blowing at about 30MPH (yes, it was *very cold). These are about the worst conditions for listening. When I finished relating the story to Corey, Nichole asked me "what was that?". I turned around to face her, and stared to retell the story from the beginning. She interrupted me, and said "I heard all of that. I just wanted to know the very last thing you said". I was amazed. With my back to her, over all that noise, with her wearing a helmet, and my voice muffled by a neck warmer pulled up to my nose, she had heard and understood a one or two minute story, only missing the very last sentence! She certainly never would have heard *any* of that with just her hearing aids. From past ski trip experiences, Nichole usually would just space out and turn "inward" on the lift rides, never even trying to participate in conversations, since she couldn't hear anyone, and with face masks on, couldn't read any lips.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-89252339159076893202008-02-05T20:12:00.002-05:002008-02-25T08:17:15.731-05:00Nichole's "Bilateral" E-mail to her AudiologistAt dinner tonight, I told Nichole that I had exchanged e-mails with her audiologist, Marilyn, regarding Nichole getting her other ear implanted. One thing Marilyn noted was that with two implants, she would not hear *anything* when her processors were removed. Nichole then sent the following e-mail to Marilyn, copying me. For those with very young kids, who can't really give you feedback, this is what you can look forward to as they get older.<br /><br /><div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Hi Marilyn,</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">My dad asked me if I was willing to give up my remaining hearing in my left ear for a second implant. Definitely!! I would give my residual hearing in an instant because as my little investigations have shown, a CI is about 100% better than a hearing aid. The only hearing (without the hearing aid in) I would be giving up is:</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">-hearing the water hit my ear in the shower</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">-myself humming with my hands over my ears</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">-an MP3 player on Volume 30 (maximum volume setting-I can barely hear it)</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">So I wouldn't be losing anything really except the title of having a hearing loss.</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> </div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Thank you for the tip on how to turn off the FM microphone but keep the CI one on. It has made school life a lot more tolerable than before : D</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);"> </div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Thanks,</div> <div style="color: rgb(51, 102, 255);">Nichole</div>deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-35015070149662063212008-01-30T12:29:00.000-05:002008-01-30T12:38:01.421-05:00Second (bilateral) Implant Insurance Approval - 1/30/2008I just got off the phone with Blue Cross of Mass. They pulled up Nichole's records, and confirmed that an implant for her left ear would be covered 100%. Look out bilateral hearing, here she comes!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-52141099390383143962008-01-29T22:02:00.001-05:002008-01-30T12:35:56.200-05:00Audiologist agrees with Nichole going Bilateral - 1/29/2008I received an e-mail reply from Nichole's audiologist at Children's Hospital Boston (Marilyn) regarding Nichole wanting to get her left ear implanted this summer (1 year after her right was done).<br /><br /><pre style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0); font-style: italic;">I see no reason why Nichole can't get a 2nd CI and in fact it's a great idea. She just has to be prepared how<br />quiet things will be with her ear gear off (she may hear a few loud sounds now.)</pre><br />I had to go to Nichole's High School at lunch time to check her FM transmitter (it was having some issues). After dealing with that, I told her what Marilyn said in the e-mail. Nichole's face lit right up! You would have thought I told her she won the lottery. Now I just have to check with Blue Cross of Mass to ensure it will be covered.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-4170398108365074582008-01-28T11:21:00.000-05:002008-01-30T14:04:07.840-05:00Decision on second (bilateral) implant - 1/28/2008<pre><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Unbeknownst to me, Nichole has been doing a lot of thinking about getting her second ear implanted. </span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">She loves her CI, but at first, she thought she would wait until the summer of 2009 to get the left done.</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">That would have been a two year delay following the first implantation.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">On her own, she has been doing experiments in different settings over the past few months, </span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">enabling only her<br />hearing aid (left) or CI (right) to compare the benefits/drawbacks of each</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">. Her basic</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> comment is that with<br />just her hearing aid, she can't really understand many of the words her teachers are</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> saying (even with the FM). <br />If watching TV, she only gets about 1 word every few minutes. With her implant</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> only, she understands almost<br />all of what the teachers are saying, and is able to understand TV shows quite a</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">bit (though she still uses the<br />captioning). The *only* thing about her hearing aid that she lists as a Pro, is that</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> if her teacher is wearing the<br />FM transmitter, and has left it on while conferring with another student, thus</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> disturbing Nichole, she can flick<br />a switch on her Hearing Aid's microlink to kill the FM input. Conversely, the only</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Con in the CI column (and yes,<br />she made a Pro/Con table :-) ), is that there is no way to shut off the FM input</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> on the Freedom receiver. This<br />would be a good piece of feedback for either the Phonak rep, or the Cochlear</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> rep - allow the wearer to easily<br />shut off the FM input while still using the processor's mike. I passed this to</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> Nichole's audiologist, who told me<br />what sequence of buttons to push to disable the FM input. While not as</span><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);"> easy as flicking a single switch, like<br />with her hearing aid boot, it should be a usable option.</span><br /><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">Driving home from one of Nichole's last driver's ed class (yes, she is eligible to get her learner's permit in just</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">another week!) , Nichole informed me that she wants to have her left side implanted right after she gets out of</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">school at the end of this year (June 2008), similar to what she did just six months ago. Time to start talking</span><br /><span style="color: rgb(0, 0, 0);">with the team at Children's Boston to start the process!</span><br /><br /></pre>deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-88267794061554567442008-01-15T11:15:00.000-05:002008-01-28T11:21:23.390-05:00Ski Racing with a CI - 1/15/2008This is Nichole's second year racing for her High School Alpine ski team, thought the first with her CI. I asked Nichole how the CI worked, what with wearing a ski helmet and all. She said it was *much* better than her hearing aids. She can hear a lot more, especially because she doesn't get any feedback with the CI. Last year, she would turn the volume down on her two hearing aids, to keep them from whistling. Now, since she can hear so much with the CI, she simply is turning off her hearing aid and relying completely on the CI!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-86391643699108023812007-11-09T12:13:00.000-05:002007-11-09T12:19:14.067-05:00Hearing the Television - 11/9/2007I was talking with Nichole in the car last night (which in and of itself is a miracle, since conversations in a car were very difficult before her CI). I asked how school went. She indicated they had a substitute for Chemistry. They watched a movie and then had to take a quiz about the contents. I asked if she had the substitute put the FM beside the TV. <span style="font-style: italic;">"Well, no, because the TV is mounted hi up on the wall"</span> (since it is a lab setting). Ok, well was the movie captioned? <span style="font-style: italic;">"No. There were no captions"</span>.<br /><br />Nichole sits about 15 feet from the TV (I now know). <span style="font-weight: bold;">Before </span>her CI, she would not have been able to hear <span style="font-weight: bold;">any </span>of the movie. So I could feel my protective dad "turbine" starting to spin up at the thought of her being quizzed on a movie under such conditions, when Nichole's face brightened and she said <span style="font-style: italic;">"I understood most of what they were saying in the movie, and I think I did pretty well on the quiz"</span>!<br /><br />Having her be able to hear electronically produced speech has been one of the goals that I wasn't sure would be achieved (see my earlier post <a href="http://ci-parent.blogspot.com/2007/06/straw-that-broke-camels-back.html">The straw that broke the camel's back</a>). Her experience with her CI just keeps getting better !deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-22779390376533089552007-11-01T09:46:00.000-04:002007-11-01T09:54:02.670-04:00Trick or Treat - 11/1/2007Last night was Halloween. While Nichole was not going to go out trick-or-treating with the family, her Sister was able to convince her to join us. Nichole dressed up as a skier (she is on her high school ski team). We went through the neighborhood. At one house, the wife greeted the pack of kids at the door, while the husband was inside, about 15 feet from the front door, up a set of stairs. He called out Nichole's name, asking how "it" (the CI) was going. Amidst the noise of kids saying "thank you" for the the candy, and bags rustling, she heard him, looked up at him, and said "good" (which for my 10th grader, is verbose :-). He commented that it "must be going well" for her to be able to respond to him like that.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-64563766761226409302007-10-29T11:03:00.000-04:002007-11-09T10:57:59.696-05:00When hearing your kids argue is great ! - 10/29/2007As most parents will agree, hearing your kids argue with each other can be quite exasperating. Last night, Nichole was up in her room doing homework. Her sister Corey was on the same floor, at the opposite corner of the house in her room, also doing homework. They were about 40 feet away, with a bit of a dog-leg left "jog" caused by the hallway and location of their desks (not direct line of site). I was in the kitchen straightening up after dinner, when I heard Nichole bellow at Corey to "stop that whistling, I am trying to do homework". Ok, whistling is high frequency, which Nichole never used to hear, let alone from 40 feet away. Hearing her frustration at the distraction, and her vociferous displeasure with her sister's whistling talents was pure music to my ears!deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8132681892469090360.post-335729571612916402007-10-25T09:37:00.000-04:002007-11-01T09:46:18.092-04:00Listening Therapy - 10/24/2007I know it has been a long time since my last post. Sorry about that. We have scaled back Nichole's listening therapy to every three weeks. Yesterday, I took Nichole for her session. Dorothy (her therapist) did the normal Ling sound checks (still cool that Nichole can hear the "s" ans "sh" sounds with her CI, where as she can't with her Hearing Aid). One of the major exercises she did with Nichole was to read her one of Aesop's Fables (without visual queues) and Nichole had to repeat back each sentence verbatim. Nichole scored a 96% with just her CI !!!<br /><br />Dorothy asked if we had been doing any exercises at home. I had to confess that we have not. The fact that Nichole has been doing so well (96% with her CI versus pre-implantation word recognition of 32%), has, for better or worse, made us relax a lot. I think the only area in which we really need to do more work is having Nichole listen to electronically produced speech. Time to put that on the "front burner" I guess.deanatmcdotcomhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11648630417325363650noreply@blogger.com0