Gearing Up for Surround Sound

Today I sit and reflect having just passed the halfway point between Jaime's surgery to receive her second Cochlear Implant and her second side "switch on".

Two weeks ago our home was filled with an air of anticipation and the usual anxieties that go along with watching your precious child undergo surgery.

Sunday evening Jaime was very exited...

"I go to the hospital when the sun wakes up..."

Yes

"I get my new Coc-ear Im-plant?"

Yes, Jaime, you get your new Cochlear Implant

"I get two Coc-ear Im-plant?"

Yes Jaime, you will have two Cochlear Implants

"Yay, Woo-hoo! Yippee!"

The undeniable joy expressed by Jaime at not even 3years old is inspiring. It's hard to know how much to explain to a 2year old about her upcoming surgery, however, its clear that she has a reasonable understanding and is becoming very excited!

Jaime is able to tell anyone that asks (and for that matter anyone that will listen!) that tomorrow is the day she gets her second "Coc-ear Im-Plant" and that first the doctor will give her some "special medicine" to make her sleepy.

The process has certainly been helped along by the fact that a very special friend of ours, Hamish, underwent Cochlear Implant surgery only a week prior. We visited Hamish in the hospital and discussed how brave Hamish had been; Jaime was able to see the drip and the head bandage that she too would be wearing in a weeks time. These two toddlers share a special bond that us as their parents will never understand, they share a special world all to themselves and take great comfort that they are not alone, someone else is the "same-same".

Time had come for Jaime's turn, we woke early and jumped in the car (much to Jaime's amusement as for some reason the sun had forgotten to wake up), and began the long drive to the hospital. Jaime coped incredibly well and was very accepting that we were not allowed to have any breakfast today (she may have been promised a chocolate frog post surgery... hey bribery... I mean, incentives... are sometimes more than appropriate). 

Once we arrived at the hospital Jaime marched through the front doors with her head high, clearly proud about what was going to happen today. We were shown to our room on the children's ward and settled down to some morning TV whilst awaiting our pre-op meeting with our anaesthetist.

Jaime falls into the category of an "institutionalised" child, sounds awful doesn't it! The term (one I don't really like, but I don't choose these things) refers to a child who has undergone multiple hospital admissions, surgeries and procedures. For these children they can either be confident in a hospital setting as they know the ins and outs, or they can be highly sensitised, carrying a fear of doctors, needles and procedures. Our anaesthetist was absolutely amazing, she started with a phone call the evening before surgery to discuss how Jaime normally reacts in hospital and how best to prepare her for surgery. The morning of surgery the anaesthetist met with us and introduced herself to Jaime and assessed if there was a need for a Pre-med (a relaxant to reduce anxiety), to her surprise Jaime was confident and ready to go. Satisfied that Jaime was ready for her turn in theatre the anaesthetist left to prepare in the operating room. I was handed a hat, gown and booties to wear so I could accompany Jaime.

Jaime and I sat on the edge of the bed, my little 'baby' all smiles (and giggles at mummy's "funny hat"), swinging her legs in anticipation. Around the door frame appeared a smiling face... "Ready to go?" chimed the nurse. Jaime jumped up and took the nurses hand and marched her down the hall to the lifts and into the operating room.

We were sat on a chair amongst tables of 'blue sheets' covering all the sterilised operating equipment, I felt small in the middle of that room, and would expect a small child to feel tiny; not my little girl however, like her father, she saw this as an opportunity to be the centre of attention! She was boss! "I do it!" She took the anaesthetic mask and placed it over her own face, smiling the whole time she drifted off to sleep, gradually becoming heavy in my arms.

With a quick kiss I left my baby girl in the capable hands of the anaesthetic team and her amazing surgeon.

Two hours ticked by, each second seemingly taking two. Although time was dragging its heals I felt surprisingly calm, reassured that my daughter was safe. At the two hour mark her surgeon came and met with me, the surgery was deemed an overwhelming success, placement of the electrode was as good as you could ask and the in-operative check of the electrodes showed that they all registered as expected. An hour more passed before I was able to head into the recovery room to see my child, check that she was indeed 'OK' with my own eyes. I scoured the recovery beds, glancing over half a dozen adult sized lumps of blanket, sleeping off their anaesthetic. Finally my eyes fell on a familiar figure, a little doll curled up peacefully, sleeping, resting. I enjoyed some lovely conversations with the nursing staff whilst we waited for Jaime to wake enough to return to the ward.

The next five hours where the hardest, disoriented from her surgery and uncomfortable from the pain we enjoyed cuddles broken by amazingly spectacular toddler tantrums! Not least of which was the demand for sandwiches, who would blame her, she hadn't eaten all morning; we certainly didn't have to worry about getting her appetite back. At the five hour mark we had a breakthrough, with a dose of strong painkillers the tantrums were banished and in their place emerged our fun loving girl. This marked the last of any evidence that she had just emerged from over 2hrs of surgery (aside from her large head bandage of course!)

After an overnight stay it was time to head home, Jaime was again in high spirits and in charge of her own suitcase ("Mummy, I do it"), happily trundled past the rest of the ward exclaiming "Hab a nice Day!!"

The following day we dropped Jaime's brother (BabyB) off at daycare to have a mummy and me recovery day. Whilst there Jaime was eager to go and visit her friends and wanted to stay and play, with a frown I had to tell her it was a 'stay at home' day, but promised she could return next week. It's truly amazing how quickly kids recover.

Now two weeks down the track we count the days until her "other ear, other Coc-ear Im-Plant" is switched on. 

During this time we have busied ourselves (4weeks feels like forever when you are excited!) We made the decision to share Jaime's headbands, that she has used throughout her journey for her Hearing Aids and Cochlear Implant, with the rest of the world. Sewing is a distraction and a hobby for me and I have taken much joy in being able to help both children and adults feel confident in wearing their hearing devices. Its a seemingly small thing that has turned out to mean so much to those that have received a headband.

The headbands have taken on a new role too, one that was unexpected but absolutely has made me smile (and shed a tear or two). During the process of making the first headbands I was asked to make a few special requests, these were for some very special mums, dads and siblings to have 'matching' headbands and bandanas. 

For our CI recipients headbands can play a much bigger role than a decoration, they serve as a vehicle to encourage recipients to wear their cochlear implants, whether that be in the early days when the processor is new and daunting, or further down the track so that a child(or adult) can partake in activities such as sport without worrying about their processor falling off. 

These families were able to show their kids that if mum/dad/sister/brother are able to wear their headband with confidence so can the child.

I was absolutely moved to tears when a beautiful daycare centre took this a step further. When they heard that Hamish (our little friend from earlier) was having a hard time adjusting to his new CI they surprised him, when Hamish arrived at daycare, all the staff and children were wearing headbands and bandanas to show him support and encouragement, at first he remained hesitant, but as the day progressed, success! Hamish finished the day by wearing his bandana and CI! I love to see our community rally together at support each other.

I can only hope that we and every other family traveling this journey can experience this same community support. It takes a village to raise a child.

We love including you as part of our amazing 'village' and I encourage you to share your story so that others can feel less alone. I also encourage you to reach out via your Cochlear Implant Clinic, Hospital, Audiologist or Early Intervention service, ask to find a family that is travelling your same journey. Don't sit silently in the waiting room, talk to the other parents, they are probably itching to say hello but may just be shy; if you get the chance to meet another child that is undergoing their CI surgery, see if your child can be involved to show them that it's 'OK'; band together and create the village you want to see raise your child.

Take care... We will be checking back in after Jaime's 'Switch On'

The Dating Game

Woo Hoo!!! We have a date!

Just Chillin'

Wednesday morning we dropped BabyB at childcare and trundled up to the city to meet with Jaime's ENT surgeon.

As we walked the ice cold city streets toward the hospital, Jaime and I shared an air of excitement...

We entered the waiting room,  Its glass and mirrored walls always reminds me of a fish tank; a holding ground for a wide variety of fish, all bobbing around awaiting their turn to be plucked from the tank. Sometimes the tank is full of old fish, and sometimes its a school of baby fish all fighting for prime position around the treasure chest of toys, sometimes you could swear a shark was on the prowl with all eyes fixed on the waiting room door, everyone in staunch silence.

Today it was a beautifully vibrant mixture, a tropical assortment that were more that happy to socialise and share stories.

I love seeing the different stages of the cochlear journey all in the one place, each supporting the other.

From those anxiously waiting for their first appointment, wondering "is this for me"; to those waiting in anticipation for their green light; then others who have taken their first tentative steps into the hearing world, to the experts that have been up and running for years.

The 'experts' are reminded how far they have come and the newcomers get to see how much they can achieve, its beautiful.

We are in-between, on one side we are entering the realm of seasoned pro, wonderful progress through the use of her CI, a fabulous example to others; on the other hand, we too are again newbies, taking our first unknown steps into the world of bilateral implants.

After 1hr20 of waiting (yep, our ENT was running just a tad late) we had watched the fish bowl slowly empty until Jaime was a lone goldfish racing laps around the now spacious bowl. Finally her name was called, finally it was time to sign the dotted line ready for hospital admission in less than two weeks time. Our date is set, June15 will mark our entry into the bilateral CI world.

Despite all the waiting, our appointment was brief, 5minutes later we were on our way. As we departed the office our ENT quickly checked if we were aiming to preserve Jaime's residual hearing or not, without too much thought my response was "as long as we get a good electrode placement, what will be, will be".

That night I tossed and turned, I like to think of myself as the fact finding sort, I like to be informed, yet I had rather flippantly brushed of the question of hearing preservation. After battling for approval for this CI you would think I would take this a little more seriously, should I indeed be pushing to preserve what little Jaime has left? Is one electrode better than another? I didn't want to regret my choice.

I made the call to our ENT, I didn't really know what I wanted to ask, so I just blurted something about making the right choice.

I was glad I picked up the phone, our ENT was fantastic and talked me through the electrode selection.

Jaime is a candidate for both the Contoured and Straight electrode arrays (some recipients will be restricted to one or the other due to their anatomy)  for us, there was somewhat of a choice.

The straight array is fantastic, it is thin and flexible enabling it to curve passively through the cochlear along the outer wall, the hair cells that will pick up the sound signals line the inner wall of the cochlear, so by avoiding the inner surface the straight electrode is less traumatic and therefor has the ability to preserve any natural hearing that may be present (not guaranteed but more likely).

The only downside is that due to the position of this electrode it requires a higher power input to bridge the gap from the electrode to the nerve endings, occasionally this restricts the ability to stimulate the deepest hair cells that are responsible for low frequency sounds (your bass sounds).

For those aiming to preserve hearing, the hearing they do have left normally resides in those lower frequencies so this type of insertion makes sense.

Image from: Slide Share

Although Jaime has a little hearing left, it has been gradually dropping and therefor in the next 10 or so years its feasible that she won't have any residual hearing anyway, so what would our reasoning be to try and preserve it for 10years?

The idea sounds great, leave her with 'something' for those times when she can't wear her CI; tho, she doesn't use that sound now so she isn't really about to start.

So, what about the contoured electrode? This is the big sumo when compared to the Slim Straight electrode, its fatter and not so delicate as it passes through the cochlear. The Contoured electrode is exactly that, contoured, it is pre-shaped to follow the tight spiral of the cochlear.

This pre-shaping means it is able to hug tightly against the inner surface of the cochlear, placing it in direct contact with the hair cells and allowing for it to reach deeper into the cochlear, this also means that by stomping its way through the cochlear it is likely to destroy what hearing is left.

As a quiet world mumma I will always worry about making the right choices, I want Jaime to have nothing but the best! In this case, the stomping robust Sumo wins over the agile Slim electrode array.

Bring on June 15th!!! We are ready to tackle implant number two head on, we are ready for the joys and the challenges.

Always ready to tackle everything with a smile!

Some of you may wonder where our quiet world daddy is through all this. He is here, he lurks in the background chiming in when he can, he tries hard to learn about this whole new world and is amazing with Jaime. He is Jaime's light, her clown and superhero. When it comes to the technical side, lets put it this way... He never knew there was more than one type of Watermelon (incase you weren't aware, there are thousands of watermelon species!) In his mind you could either hear or you couldn't, there weren't all these different types of hearing loss, and there certainly weren't different types of implants! Boy is there a whole new world out there he could get lost in!

SwitchOn and The Adventure of Sound

Thankyou everyone for your patience in awaiting this blog post- I have had many emails eagerly awaiting news of Jaime's switch on. I have been overwhelmed to hear of so many that are following Jaime's journey, we have been touched by all the support.

Just over one month ago I watched my precious child undergo surgery to receive a cochlear implant. Our goal, to give our daughter every opportunity to listen, speak and integrate with her peers.

After a successful surgery Jaime was given two weeks to recover and heal. She amazed us with her patience with dressing changes, and her ability to bounce back to her bubbly self within days. At the conclusion of two weeks we ventured to the Cochlear Implant Clinic for an exciting new appointment! Today was to be Switch On Day!!

On our arrival we received our goodie bag of accessories and spare parts- it felt like Christmas unwrapping a suitcase full of bits and bobs- most exciting was unwrapping Jaime's new Cochlear Processor- Jaime's new ear!

Jaime sat patiently as we fitted the processor and I attempted to hunt for the implanted magnet to attach her coil... A challenge I am only now beginning to master.

Then began the moment we had waited so long for... Switch On! 

My husband and I waited with baited breath as the technician began to play the first soft beeps, Jaime's eyes lifted, opened a little wider and looked toward the test screen to watch the dancing characters that appeared. The first responses were subtle, but none-the-less amazing! Although we still have many adjustments and therapy sessions ahead, it feels wonderful to know Jaime's journey to listening and speech is finally ready to take off.

We have now celebrated four weeks since switch on! Jaime has already begun to show some amazing progress. She has become more vocal with some beautiful new sounds, she has shown joy in dancing with Daddy and recognising music, and I have even caught her happily babbling away to herself whilst playing.

She has also developed a new behaviour in the last few days, a behaviour that excites me to no end- when both devices are removed she will cup her ears as if to ask "where has the sound gone?", she has not done this often, however it excites me that she is clearly noticing a difference!

With spring beginning we have taken the opportunity for Jaime to explore her new world of sound. 

The little things have brought so much joy... Just knowing she can hear the ocean and the birds at the park, the sounds that others take for granted!

Jaime's quiet world still exists, however, now Jaime holds the key to a wonderful world of sound!

Jaime's journey toward sound has been at times hectic and emotional, it has been a great comfort to know we have the support and guidance of the staff at Taralye behind us all the way. I always enjoy our visits to Taralye, the warmth of all the staff make us feel at home with people that understand our journey!

With all the support Taralye has provided Jaime it is time to give back. 

You can help Jaime and other kids with a hearing impairment... How? 

Do you want a night out? A three course meal, all beer, wine and chempagne included? Want to win great prizes and partake in a fun auction? Want a laugh from our fabulous comics?

Then the Loud Shirt Day Ball is the event for you!

I am personally hosting this event and have organised this in my own free time, your support will go a long way to helping Taralye get Deaf kids like Jaime listening and speaking.

We still have tickets available:

Individual tickets $120pp

Or a table of ten for $1000

Please see the poster below for more details

Get your tickets Quick! Ticket sales close at the end of September so DON'T MISS OUT!

If you are unable to attend don't forget to support loud shirt day 

You can become a loud shirt day fundraiser like us or feel free to donate via Jaime's Loud Shirt Day Page: https://loudshirtday2013vic.everydayhero.com/au/Jaime 

Surgery Day

It's early and still dark, I pick up my sleeping princess and bundle her into the car... Unbeknownst to her, today is a big day. Driving in to the city none of it seems real, I'm not nervous, not anxious, surprisingly calm.

First we arrive at the wrong building, then can't get out of the car park as we are blocked in by fire trucks... Now I am getting nervous, not for the surgery but will we even make it in on time! Rushing into the hospital foyer I am greeted by the receptionist and our anaesthetist, they smile and make jokes with Jaime, they reassure me there is no stress, we might be late but no-one is bothered... Sigh, thank goodness.

We are shown to our room on the paediatric ward, Jaime is surprisingly joyful, considering we have been fasting all morning. We make the hospital cot her own and she happily plays as we wait for her turn in theatre.

It is not long before the nurse greets us and guides us to the operating theatre- now comes the hard part, handing over our precious girl to the anaesthetist. As the anaesthetic mask is placed over Jaime's face she is no longer recognisable as my bouncing joyful girl, the one with the widest smile and cheeky grin, she has become a tiny fragile doll... as her eyes close I give her a kiss and the nurse lifts her from my lap and I now have to leave her.

Now it's real, now I am nervous...

Sitting in the hospital cafe the two hour surgery feels like all day... I try distracting myself, writing, a hot drink and a snack (not that I feel like eating)... But it's hard not to count the minutes until I get to see my darling Jaime again!

After what has felt like a lifetime the surgeon greets me up on the children's ward, it feels strange sitting in her empty room waiting... The surgeon smiles... The surgery has been a great success! I am handed a small x-ray showing Jaime's new implant- strange, however, I cherish this image as it is the first image of my daughter post surgery.

Jaime is still in the hands of the anaesthetist waking from her sedation, my wait is not yet over.

Another 15minutes crawl by... Finally I am guided to recovery to be reunited with my darling angel. Before I see her I can hear her, she is crying- a reassuring sound after waiting for her for so long... The anaesthetist places Jaime into my arms, I am reminded of how fragile she felt when I held her for the first time at her birth, in a strange way this is her rebirth into the world of hearing.

Jaime spends most of the remainder of the day sleeping or cuddled in my arms, understandibly she is cranky, but sleep will soon fix that!

3am and Jaime wakes, for the first time since the surgery I am greeted by her signature smile. Her bright eyes tell me she is ready to play (my eyes are barely staying open! Mum needs more sleep!)

Jaime keeps the nurses amused by helping out at the nurses station, smiles all round on the ward tonight!

Once Jaime tires we return for a few more hours sleep before discharge the next morning, we are keen to get home and begin our recovery and countdown to our 'switch on' day!

Two weeks later and our countdown is almost over! Jaime has recovered well... She has also been busy learning to stand all on her own (nervewracking just post surgery on her noggin!) Now we just need her ready to learn to hear!

Tomorrow is 'switch on' day!! The day we have been working toward for the last 9months!

Bring it on...!

**Quiet world mumma has also been busy, for some mad reason I felt now would be a perfect time to arrange a "Loud Shirt Day Ball" to raise funds for Taralye!

For more details and ticket sales please visit www.facebook.com/jaimesquietworld

Help other kids just like Jaime!

Easter Holidays

Firstly a big hello to all my new readers! Over the Easter break I was thrilled to have been given the opportunity to share my blog with a growing community of parents with deaf children via the Aussie Deaf Kids newsletter. Aussie Deaf Kids is a great resource providing support and advice to families who are raising a child with hearing loss, I hope that by sharing our story with you, we too can help support you on your hearing loss journey.

After a very busy lead up to Easter with trips back and forth for Genetics appointments, Australian Hearing and Cochlear Implant Clinic hearing tests, we have enjoyed a well earned break. I am thrilled to report that we have noticed some positive changes in Jaime's responses since the adjustments were made to her right hearing aid. Her right hearing aid, initially set to 70DB has now been increased to 85DB, immediately we noticed that Jaime would pause when her name was called, she also appears to take note of loud environmental noises. Despite having hearing aids fitted at 7weeks of age, these are the first 'real' responses we have seen (aside from startling to very loud sounds).
After my rather miserable last post, I am again feeling upbeat, looking forward to Jaime's future.


Changes in Jaime's responses to sound haven't been the only celebrated developments over the past few weeks, we have taken great joy in watching Jaime learn to sit unaided, roll across the room to get to her favourite toys and take more of an interest in the world around her (including making friends with the family cat).

Jaime has also hit the 6month milestone! Hooray! I cant believe how fast the time has gone.
We have 'graduated' from Baby Play swimming to 6month old classes... After a short break for Easter it was great to see the joy on Jaime's face as we plunge back into the pool, I did note however, that in these more structured classes Jaime seems to 'zone out' during the songs and nursery rhymes. Whilst the other babies in the class seem to take joy in the silly songs and action words, Jaime misses out... at this point in time I am unable to assist with any sign as I have my hands full, as Jaime continues to progress we will develop our own way to communicate in the pool. I do need to stress however, that Jaime still LOVED her class, her face lights up whilst splashing around in the water (I have a 'proud mum' moment whenever someone comments on how at ease Jaime is in the water)

Taking a break from all of our appointments has reminded me that Jaime is just like any other baby, although I hate to admit it, with the constant reminder of specialist visits, it is hard to see past the fact that she is Deaf. This past few weeks I have been able to focus more on her regular milestones and marvel at how far she has come from our 'not so small' 10lb4 baby girl.

Can good results be bad...?

Although this post is essentially about my daughter, excuse my self-indulgentce, for today I can't see past my own frustrations...

Today I feel a little shattered... I should probably be happy, but truthfully, I am feeling defeated.

Today we had a hearing test at the Cochlear Implant Clinic, I was looking forward to it, looking forward to some more answers, I guess the answers just weren't exactly what I expected...

I knew that I should not jump to conclusions as to Jaime's Cochlear eligibility, however all along the line we have been told that Jaime would be more than likely to receive at least one implant... possibly two... Today I felt that possibility slip further from our reach.
Testing today confirmed her best ear suffers a severe hearing loss; her worse ear, profound; Jaime responded well to the amplified sounds as they were played to her. If Jaime's responses remain positive, she may no longer be eligible for a Cochlear Implant, even in her completely deaf ear.
As I understand it, this is because as the brain deciphers the electrical impulses from the cochlear implant, this interferes with the brains ability to interpret the natural hearing signals from her remaining ear (not a desired result). This concept confuses me, as I feel that to rely simply on one ear with a severe hearing loss, would disadvantage Jaime in the long term. Perhaps I am mistaken, well, obviously I am; I always imagined that even if someone had one fully functioning ear, a cochlear could be of benefit to restore hearing to the other.


...But I should be happy, this means Jaime's responses have been positive, this means she is doing well...
I feel guilty that I want her to not do so well, however I wish that she may have the opportunity to receive a technology that will completely revolutionise her future.
After visiting Taralye last week and seeing the fabulous results for other cochlear recipients (even within weeks of implantation) I was excited... These other children, children just like my own daughter... they showed me what I could look forward to...


...Deep breath... believe it or not, I haven't been told that Jaime is not getting an implant, only that I need to consider the possibility that she may not.
...Funny... only a few months ago I was trying to get my head around the fact that Jaime may require an implant to hear, now I am trying to accept that she may not need one at all.

We return for further testing in April... I hope for some clarity...
Am I hoping for a good result? ...I am torn... Which one will have a better outcome?

Hey presto! The Deaf can hear...

Having a deaf child, we have had to learn a lot, and fast! With an appointment at the Cochlear Implant Clinic coming up next week I felt it timely to share what we have learnt about the Cochlear Implant and why we are choosing to have Jaime implanted (if she is eligible).

Firstly I will explain a little about Jaime's deafness:

Jaime suffers sensorineural hearing loss, this can also be referred to as nerve deafness.
Although the problem stems from the inner ear (cochlea) rather than the nerve itself, without use the nerve can deteriorate (use it or lose it) hence the sooner deafness is treated the better the outcome (not to mention the learning capacity of young children and babies).
In most cases of sensorineural hearing loss the small hair cells within the cochlea are malformed/absent (in the case of congenital hearing loss) or damaged (in the case of acquired hearing loss). In other rare cases the cochlea or hearing nerve itself may be absent or malformed hence Jaime will require both an MRI and CT scan to ensure the inner structures of her ear are able to accept an implant, and to also ensure her hearing nerve is intact.

Jaime's hearing loss is congenital, meaning that it was either caused by abnormal development (a glitch in the making of her inner ear) or inherited.
We still don't know the exact cause of Jaime's hearing loss and are awaiting genetic testing to determine if she inherited her deafness (despite my husband and I having normal hearing).

*Before the development of a vaccine, maternal rubella or German Measles was also a common cause of congenital hearing loss.


The treatments for sensorineural deafness vary depending on the level of hearing loss and whether the loss is in one ear or both ears.
Jaime suffers a loss in both ears but to a differing degree- her left is a profound loss (>90db) and her right is a moderate-to-severe loss (>70-80bd)
When hearing loss is mild to moderate hearing aids can often help by amplifying sound. For more severe levels of loss, sometimes hearing aids are just not enough. This is because although amplifying sounds makes them louder, it does not necessarily make them clearer. If sounds are becoming distorted by the inner ear, even the best quality hearing aids may not be enough to establish "normal" hearing.

This is where the cochlear implant steps in...

The Cochlear Implant or 'bionic ear' is a marvel of medical science... hey presto... the deaf can hear!

But how?

Within the inner ear is the Cochlea, a small shell shaped canal, within this canal sit thousands of tiny hair cells. When sound waves enter the ear they stimulate the hairs which convert these physical movements and vibrations into nervous impulses that are sent to the brain and interpreted as sound.

A cochlear implant is an electronic device that is surgically implanted - so it bypasses the damaged inner part of the ear. Unlike hearing aids which simply amplify sound at the outer ear, a cochlear implant converts sound waves to electrical impulses that directly stimulate the cells within the cochlea in a way that mimics your natural hearing.


Below is a diagram of a cochlear implant and its components

How it delivers sound...

The speech processor worn behind the ear (BTE) captures sound waves and converts them into digital code.
The digitally coded sound is transferred from the speech processor to the implant by the coil which sits over the implant (held in place by a magnet within the implant).
The implant converts the digitally coded sound to electrical signals and sends them along the electrode array, positioned in the cochlea (inner ear).
The implant's electrodes stimulate the cochlea’s natural hearing nerve fibres, which sends signals to the brain that are interpreted as sound.

...hey presto! The deaf can hear!


Jaime is currently a likely candidate for one cochlear implant to replace her hearing on her profoundly deaf side, we are awaiting further testing to determine if she will require two implants to get the most out of her hearing.


(I will speak further about the selection process for cochlear implant recipients and the advantages of bilateral hearing later)


Information regarding sensorineural hearing loss and Cochlear implants curtesy of
http://www.cochlear.com/au

Why is hearing so important?

Whilst following my blog you may ask 'why is hearing so important?'
I guess in some ways perhaps it's not.
Many people communicate through sign language and get by just fine, however, in our predominantly hearing world, to find others who communicate through sign can be a challenge. AUSLAN (Australian sign language) is certainly an option and I have always wanted to learn but have been too lazy to go out and join a course. This may now be my motivation to get out there and learn, however I must also be honest, for us in our family the prospect of having to communicate via sign only is a daunting task and not our first choice, we are a hearing family, we speak and laugh together and this has always brought us closer.

So for us we have made the choice to develop Jaime's verbal and auditory communication skills as best we can. This is where the ability to hear plays such a major role.
You may then argue... (especially in the case of the cochlea implant) Why not let the child choose when they are old enough? Perhaps you could, however when making your choice consider this...

...Before the age of one, although we may see baby babble as reasonably insignificant, it is in fact the beginning of speech.
Our babies are born ready to learn and in a hearing child the instinct to listen to, and mimic the sounds around them is strong and starts from day one.
By approximately 6 months of age babies are already able to recognise all of the key sounds that make up their native language and are constantly listening to the feedback of their own verbalisations. Not long after this, first words begin to emerge.

Think now, about a child who lives in silence. How will they learn these sounds and how to speak? If all of this learning happens before their first birthday, what happens when you miss out? This ability to learn speech and language dramatically decreases as a child grows. So is it fair to wait until a child is old enough to choose? What if they choose to speak? Imagine how far behind they would be!

Jaime does not live in total silence, hers is a quiet world, although profoundly deaf in her left ear, she retains some low level hearing in her right ear, 'great' you may think, she will be listening and speaking in no time, but no, unfortunately Jaime lacks the ability to hear 'verbal sounds'.
This is where her 'purple pair' (and in time possibly a Cochlea implant) come in, Jaime's hearing aids aim to enhance her hearing to such a a level that she may be able to pick up verbal sounds, she may not be able to hear the wind whistling through the trees, or the birds chirping at her window, however with the ability to hear our voices she will be on her way to developing speech.

As of yet we have been unable to determine how much Jaime is hearing whilst wearing her aids, we are awaiting a 'hear lab' at Australian Hearing in march to determine if she is responding adequately to speech.
Children who are deaf (deafness includes hearing impairment/loss ranging from profound loss to mild impairment) will in most circumstances still require speech therapy to teach them to listen and to develop their speech to a 'normal' level. Many of you have probably heard a 'deaf accent', the aim of speech therapy is to develop speech to the extent that these speech anomalies are either not noticeable or absent entirely. This is where the fabulous work of early intervention centres such as 'Taralye' come in, although we have not yet embarked on our journey with Taralye, we are eager to begin!

With assistance and practice the ultimate aim for us is that Jaime may attend a mainstream school with minimal additional assistance required, and that she can laugh and play with her friends in the playground without any hassle.
The hearing world for Jaime will never be perfect, although it will be a little easier.

...stay tuned for Jaime's quiet times...