CI Surgery - Again!

Well - AB had a recall on your internal devices and we started to see some major drops in hearing.

Once elective surgeries were allowed, you had double re-implant surgery by Dr. Labadie. The surgery went well, but the recovery was hard. You were so sick from the anesthesia, and completely deaf for 2 days. Thank goodness for voice to text apps- and that you can read well!

Jourdan was so nice and activated you 2 days after surgery. You said we sounded like elves and started crying. It was one of the hardest things- but by Friday - we said you could go to the $1 store for every hour you wore your ears. By Saturday, you said we were sounding a lot better...and you would wear them consistently all day.

We've seen Jourdan twice since then and you are doing great!

Meeting the President

I keep saying you are a Vanderbilt All Star for several reasons - stats, participation, and in general they are just fans of yours. Well they invited us to come to meet with the new President of Advanced Bionics, Dr. Vicky Carr-Brendel. We, of course, said yes!

You were apprehensive at first, but within a minute of the chat- you were crazy talkative- about school, your ears, The Greatest Showman, your backyard, Turnip Green, art, and more. You even sang for them, and then kept raising your hand when you wanted to interject something.

I though it went great, and hope we can visit the headquarters in California soon. Thanks for being great, as always, and a wonderful spokesperson for cochlear implants!

K Hearing & IEP Update

Xmas tree you recently made at Turnip Green.

The 2nd CI is going great. You were officially kicked out of school speech because you don't need it. Sometimes I think you like "turning us off" by taking off your ears which is super annoying. In the morning, you want everyone to be quiet when you put your ears on. I'm sure things are loud after things were pretty quiet while you slept. All in all..I think we made the right choice. :) 

From Ms. Jourdan after you mapping yesterday- 

Carter’s progress with his implants is INCREDIBLE. His hearing (even in background noise) is on par with his normal hearing peers.

I’m sure Ryan told you, but we didn’t even play games today—he just raised his hand like a little adult. I am so proud of him!

Take care & good luck with the new house!

Jourdan

Carter Left Ear

Car-car-

It was fast and furious, but we got your left ear done on Friday.

- All testing revealed that your hearing aid wasn't doing much.
- All the doctors thought the closer the surgeries were together, the better the brain will adjust.
- We convinced you to do the other ear with a chromebook and Dr. Jourdan was able to go back with you.
- We got the call on Tuesday, and Dr. Rivas was able to fit you in this year, this year's deductible- so we took it.
- You still hate prednisone and we spend several hours a day getting you to take it, promising and giving you the moon. (Only a few more days left...)
- You ordered carribean blue ears and don't plan to decorate them.
- Activation is scheduled for Monday, November 27th. I hope it goes well and you adjust quickly.
- We are happy to be done with hearing aids. You are doing so well with your CI; you've gone to school and have spent weekends without wearing your hearing aid. Whoops...

 He's awake and asking for his coke!

Clearly you are doing horribly with Ms. Lauren...jk :)

1 Month Post-CI Mapping

Car-Car-

It's only been a month and you are making tremendous progress. I think you finally admitting to everyone that you like the new ear. :)

With CI - you testing at 25db - way better than we ever got with your hearing aid
Without the CI - you still have some residual hearing, nice job - Dr. Rivas.

The real proof that things are going well - speech perception -
With both the hearing aid and CI -
68% words (from 27%)
91% sentences (38%)

You are smitten with Ms. Jourdan. She's really proud the progress you are making and did wonderful for all the tests and configurations. She turned it up quite a bit; so we expect that you'll be able to hear even better in the coming months.

Keep up the wonderful work!

Love,

Mommy

CI Surgery & CI Activation

Car-car-

It happened fast, but we got your CI approved by insurance and we took the first slot that Dr. Rivas had open.

Surgery went great. Dr. Rivas was very pleased. He said "it went perfect."

We kept you from school for just a few days and tried our best to keep you from running, jumping, and head injuries for 2 weeks.

CI activation also went great and we're really pleased with the remaining residual hearing in your right ear.

Week 1 - There were days that you hated it, days that you love it, and already 1 time where we lost it in the yard. You are still relying on lip reading and getting used to the new sound. But overall - you are doing well and willing to put in the work to get your comprehensive and listening back on track.

We've already have fun whisphering with and can't wait to see what progress you make in the coming months. Love you Car-car..so much! :)

Before surgery -

 Post- surgery -

 
At home -

 Day 2- you finally took a nap -

 Day 3- out and about - painted a pony mug!

 Day 6 - ear is healing up well!

 Day 6 - ready for church - with lovie -

Post - surgery - hearing test - with the CI - testing in the normal range! :)

Emergency Vehicle Expert + CI Work Up

Car-car-

After 2 nights of working on these art pieces before falling asleep, you declared they were done this morning. You said you were learning about fire safety at school and thought your drawings of a monster fire truck, police car, and ambulance would be helpful during circle time.

Another parent thought it was so adorable, she posted this picture on facebook for all the other parents to see.

On Tuesday - we had our long day of doctor appointments in preparation for your CI surgery. You were wonderful of course sitting through - a 3 hour audiology appointment, a speech appointment, and ENT appointment. (You fell asleep within minutes of getting in the car on our way home.) All testing results are pointing towards you really benefiting from a CI in your right ear. So I think we are ready to take the plunge as soon as we can get approval from insurance. 

The CI is really cool and it's pretty remarkable to think this spring you'll probably hear birds, wind, and whispers for the first time...and get to hear while swimming or even taking a shower. I'm not quite sure you are grasping it all- at this point- but you don't seem too apprehensive either.  Plus - who doesn't want to be able to put a fork on their head, right?

Pictures you took while Daddy and I were picking out which device to get you - 

New CI Audiologist - Dr. Jourdan - you have a total crush - 

 

We ate lunch in the Vandy cafeteria - where we saw lots of doctors and nurses...and you ate a whole orange. 

We're excited to start this new adventure with you. 

Love you, 

Mommy

Right ear - Aided Audiogram - 1/31/17

Post - CI - we expect your CI audiogram to be 20 across all frequencies - 

12/12/16- Unaided Audiogram - 

8/1/16 Audiogram/Hearing Test

Car-Car-

It was Mommy's first day back to work; so Daddy took you to your hearing test and Maevy even got to watch. You did great and they were able to get a full test. 

The good news is your word recognition testing was still great. The not-so-great news after reviewing your last year's worth of audiograms - it does look like your hearing has gotten a little worse. It's possible we're just getting better testing now that you're older, but I was little sad to see that 1000db test below 90. We're going to be pro-active and go ahead and test you in 3 months again. Then we'll decide if should do a more rigorous CI work up that includes additional testing. 

We'd love for you to be older and part of the CI decision making. But more than anything - we want your ability to hear speech to be the best it can be. One pro I can already think of with a CI - is they are now making water proof CIs...so pool time fun would be way more fun. 

In the meantime, keep up the great work! 

8/1/16
Word recognition:
Right:  96% at 100db
Left: 88% at 100db
(NU-CHIPS, 25 words)

3/8/16
Word recognition:
Right: 72% at 100db
Left: 68% at 100db
(WIPI, MLV, 25 words)

10/6/15
Aided Speech Perception Testing:
NU-CHIPS, 10 words @ 50db (quiet) = 100%
NU-CHIPS, 10 words @ 50db (with wind) = 100%
Unaided Speech Perception @ 100db = 90% 

Pure Tonal Average History -

1/4/13    65db

7/24/13  67db

10/2/13  67db

8/20/14  70db

1/6/15    70db

5/19/15  67db

10/6/15  72db

3/6/16    R82/L78db

8/1/16    R87/L82db

3/8/16 Audiogram

Carter  -

Hearing test time -


It went okay, not as great as last time, but still no worries.
Word recognition:
Right: 72% at 100db
Left: 68% at 100db
(WIPI, MLV, 25 words)

Notes on the report indicated that there was some change, but we started testing you with the headphones rather than inserts - which is the preferred testing - so that might be the reason for the change.

10/6/15 audiogram

10/6/15 Hearing Test/Audiogram

Carter-

Hearing test time - you performed pretty well. There was a slight variance for some of frequencies since your last test. Your audiologist isn't too worried, but we did turn them up a bit. But - we did do some speech perception testing and you did great!- 100% recognition!

The other great news is that you've met your insurance deductible for the year - so we went ahead and ordered you new hearing aids! We're going to go with a pretty bronzy-brown color that matches your hair. You're due for new ear molds, and let you pick out colors this time - blue/clear swirl. You really wanted pink- but we didn't want to commit to pink for 3-6 months. I think we'll have everything in just a few weeks.

We're hoping the audio is a little clearer and the new version will give your audiologist more programming options. We're still waiting to hear back from AG Bell to see if got the scholarship grant to help cover the cost of the remaining FM system. (fingers crossed)



10/6/15 Audiogram

Aided Speech Perception Testing:
NU-CHIPS, 10 words @ 50dbBHL (quiet) = 100%
NU-CHIPS, 10 words @ 50dbBHL (with wind) = 100%
Unaided Speech Perception @ 100db = 90%

5/19/15 Audiogram

Keep up the great work!   

Love you,  Mommy