These questions have gone through my head many, many times as I have watched my husband struggle in different situations, as well as watching Karleigh go through difficulties. I have often thought about whether or not I would be as accepting and driven as they have been through their circumstances. I am not quite sure I would be.
Chris's hearing loss has been since birth. Being a mother of a child with disabilities, I can somewhat understand what his parents felt as they learned that their first son would never hear normal. Their next son would also suffer a hearing loss. I know what a challenge it is to accept the disability and then move on and do everything in your power to try to make your child succeed in everything they can. Chris's parents amaze me with the support they gave their boys in learning to live with a hearing loss. They got hearing aids for them early on in their life, drove the long distance from the family farm in Idaho to let them attend a school for the deaf, found Chris's hearing aids many times out in the farm fields, learned sign language to help communicate easier,....the list could go on and on. I am grateful to Chris's parents that they instilled a desire to learn and grow and be happy despite his circumstances. Chris is a VERY driven individual and has never let his hearing stop him from achieving what he wants in life. I have often told him that I think it is more a blessing to him than a hinderance. That is not true with everything, since I know he would love to hear a bird sing or hear his children better. But it has served him very well when there is a lot of commotion around and he just wants to go to sleep. He simply turns off his "ears" (that's what I call it =) and then he is fast asleep! He goes to sleep faster than anyone I know!
The time has come that Chris was able to get a Cochlear Implant put in on his left ear. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmNpP2fr57A His hearing has gone down and down over the years and his left ear is the worst off, so they decided to do it on that ear first. He went through many tests and scans to make sure he was a good match for the implant. On April 28th, he went in for surgery. That was quite a long day, but a day that we are hopeful will be the start of something great!!!
A cochlear implant (CI) is a surgically implanted electronic device that provides a sense of sound to a person who is profoundly deaf or severely hard of hearing. The cochlear implant is often referred to as a bionic ear. Unlike hearing aids, the cochlear implant does not amplify sound, but works by directly stimulating any functioning auditory nerves inside the cochlea with an electric field. External components of the cochlear implant include a microphone, speech processor and an RF transducer or primary headpiece coil. A secondary coil is implanted beneath the skull's skin and inductively coupled to the primary headpiece coil. The headpiece coil has a magnet by which it attaches to another magnet placed on the secondary coil often beside the cochlear implant. The implant relays the incoming signal to the implanted electrodes in the cochlea. The speech processor allows an individual to adjust the sensitivity of the device. The implant gives recipients additional auditory information, which may include sound discrimination fine enough to understand speech in quiet environments. Post-implantation rehabilitative therapy is often critical to ensuring successful outcomes.
Approximately 150,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants, with recipients split almost evenly between children and adults.[1] The vast majority are in developed countries due to the high cost of the device, surgery and post-implantation therapy. A small but growing segment of recipients have bilateral implants (one implant in each cochlea).[2]
Approximately 150,000 people worldwide have received cochlear implants, with recipients split almost evenly between children and adults.[1] The vast majority are in developed countries due to the high cost of the device, surgery and post-implantation therapy. A small but growing segment of recipients have bilateral implants (one implant in each cochlea).[2]
Almost ready to go back for surgery
This is what it looked like right after surgery. He only had to wear this cup thing for a day.
This is what it looked like all stapled up. They buzzed his hair all around his ear, so I finished it off and gave him a pretty short haircut so he wouldn't look so strange. (also so he wouldn't go with his bright idea to shave his head or go with a mohawk!!)
In just a couple weeks, the incision is looking so much better and the swelling has gone down!
Monday, May 18th 2009
Activation day!!! After a few weeks of healing, the time has come to turn the implant on and put on the external device. Dr. Oakley is testing the device to make sure everything is working. Then she will go through each electrode to see what sound level Chris can tolerate. It will take a few different appointments and a couple weeks to get it adjusted. The first day was pretty difficult because his brain was just going nuts trying to figure out what everything was. The next day he went back in to have the sound levels readjusted and he was already tolerating it better. 
It is not the most attractive thing, but if it helps Chris hear better....who really cares! The staring eyes have already started. It is something most people have probably never even seen. Stares just go with the territory. Hopefully people will be understanding and not rude.
It is not the most attractive thing, but if it helps Chris hear better....who really cares! The staring eyes have already started. It is something most people have probably never even seen. Stares just go with the territory. Hopefully people will be understanding and not rude.
The first night after getting it turned on was pretty rough. Chris wasn't used to all the noise, his brain wasn't processing it all into sounds (just jumbled noises) and it made Chris very irritable. (this is all totally normal) He said that as he shuffled through papers on his desk, the sound just drove him nuts. He didn't know shuffling papers had a sound! We played legos with the kids for our Family Night activity on Monday and the clinking of the legos drove him nuts. On Tuesday, Dr. Oakley took out a plastic bag and started crinkling it. That was funny to watch his expression as he has never really heard that sound before either (or at least not since he was little, I am not sure which). He now understands why it drives me nuts when we are on a long road trip, Chris is driving and everyone is asleep and he decides he is hungry. He starts getting into a bag of food and crinkles the bag SO loudly that it wakes people (mainly me) up over and over! He never knew that it was so loud and annoying!! Funny !!(unless your the one trying to sleep! =) =)
We are excited and hopeful that this new implant is going to improve Chris's life tremendously and give him even more wonderful experiences, and in turn bless our family. We just need to remember that it will take a while to retrain the brain to accept the new stimuli and process it the way it needs to be.
I am proud of my wonderful husband for all he has accomplished despite the lot in life he has been handed. He is an inspiration to me and so many others. I am grateful that he has the courage to perservere and get through the challenges he has because of his hearing loss. I hope that I will remember to not take my hearing for granted. Birds chirping and children's voices are beautiful things....even crinkling plastic bags!!!
These video clips are from the first day of activation. He did really good for the first day. I tried to get more videos to upload, but they wouldn't. So...I will have to try again on a different post!
