March 12, 2013

Cochlear Implant HELP Interview with Stuart McNaughton

Stuart McNaughton is the author of "He Is Not Me," a book about his life as a deaf child and a hearing adult after he chose a cochlear implant. Here is my disclaimer. I just purchased the book, so I have not yet had time to read it, but I will likely come back to give my thoughts when I am done. Implanted adults are giving the book rave reviews.

Click the link below to read the interview.

Cochlear Implant HELP Interview with Stuart McNaughton

Many things that Stuart said in the interview really resonated with me. Also, what his mother said struck a chord. Below is the direct quote from the interview.
What do you think your parents’ advice would be to the parents of deaf children today?
I am laughing at this very question.  In fact, I just called my parents and my mother answered the phone.  I posed this question to her, and this is what she said: get lots of advice, do the research, but don’t delay.  I guess this kind of ties in with the Author’s Message on the He Is Not Me website, in which I state that I honestly didn’t start living until I was twenty-three, the day I got my cochlear implant.
That is exactly what many professionals and implant patients told us when we started the process. We did our best to follow that advice, and I firmly believe it was golden. It's vitally important for a child to be implanted as early as possible, if that is the path that the parents intend to take. Time is of the essence. Today we wish we had known sooner that Audrena was deaf. But as it is, we are thrilled with the progress she has made, and we know in our hearts that we made the right decision for her.

Stuart's book is available via Kindle edition, but you do not need a Kindle to purchase and read it. You can download the Kindle app for PC, or the app for the android phone/tablet. Purchase "He Is Not Me" here. You can also visit Stuart's website or Facebook page.

March 11, 2013

Another Surgery Down. One More to Go!

Audrena had surgery last Thursday. It was a long night in the hotel prior to surgery, as Audrena kept waking up for a drink. She cried, "More drink," repeatedly for at least an hour. It broke our hearts not to be able to give her anything. Then, after she calmed down, she tossed and turned all night, finally settling into a good sleep at 4:00 a.m. Our alarm went off at 4:30, so it was a short night for Mommy & Daddy.

We arrived at Boys Town at 6:00 a.m. for surgery. She had a deep pocket recession in her ear drum that needed to be fixed, and she needed a tube. Dr. L. did both, as well as a cartilage graft behind where the pocket had been to help support the ear drum. He was able to save her from the radiation exposure of another CT scan by doing a visual inspection to make sure the cholesteatoma had not returned. We received a wonderful update from the OR nurse...NO cholesteatoma! I hadn't quite realized how stressed I was about the possibility of another delay until we heard those words. It was like a huge weight lifted from our shoulders.

After surgery, Dr. L. came into the room with a handful of photos. He showed us exactly what he had done from start to finish. It had all been accomplished through the ear canal, so she did not have an external incision. He said we should be able to proceed with the second implant in 6-8 weeks! Music to our ears!

They brought Audrena to us about 45 minutes later. She was madder than a hornet at the iv and kept holding her arm up to the nurse like, "Take it off!" After we got her comfortable, she fell asleep. It was a long afternoon as we took turns holding her while she caught up on her rest after a very sleepless night. By the time we could consider going home, we were both too exhausted to make the drive. Instead, we booked a hotel room. Thank goodness Grandma & Grandpa planned to keep Reyana and Kelton another night!

Audrena finally woke up, starving and thirsty! We gave her some crackers and apple juice, which she kept down. Then it was time to be released. Surgery number four down, and hopefully just one more to go!

Here are a few photos.

Before surgery. She put her coat on and tried to escape!
The play room is wonderful for keeping kids occupied before surgery!
Relaxing with a snack and a drink at the hotel. She was feeling pretty good, and she felt even better after a bath!

March 6, 2013

New Developments in Cochlear Implant Programming

On the eve of yet another ear surgery, which will hopefully pave the way for Audrena to become a bilaterial cochlear implant recipient, I am excited to have stumbled upon this article about a new implant programming technique developed at Vanderbilt University. I am always so interested to learn about new technology regarding cochlear implants! This one sounds promising. Check out the article using the link below!

 High Fidelity: Cochlear implant users report dramatically better hearing with new Vanderbilt process