Another Audiologist Check-Up

On Wednesday, we visited our audiologist Dr. Deb Hildebrand at UVa Audiology. With our recent hearing aid break (and lost & found aid) we had concerns about all the "whistling" we were hearing from the aids Katelyn was currently using.

The Virginia Department of Health has a loaner bank which we were borrowing from initially to see how the hearing aid process would work for Katelyn before making the investment ourselves. Borrowing from the loaner bank is an amazing option for us, but left us with no choices on the make or model of the aids Kate wears.

I had no idea that there could be a huge difference. Until now...

Seeing the broken aid, Dr. Hildebrand wanted to exchange them due to the extra feedback Kate was getting. Luckily, she already had a pair in house. The loaner bank hearing aids were from Oticon, but the new hearing aids are Phonak brand. Like I said before, I didn't expect much of a change.

When Katelyn put them on, there was a clear difference. Her toddler phase of constant movement was creating whistling sounds all the time. The aids had been jostled and would become loose. The new aids have a stronger feedback control. We hear very little feedback. The profile is also slimmer which keeps them attached to her ear better.

We have only had the new pair a couple of days, but so far she has only taken them off once. And that was to show displeasure to me, not due to an annoyance from the aids themselves. I am hopeful that this new pair will be even better for her.

The more she wears them, the more she learns. The more she learns, the more she will understand. Hopefully this understanding will lead to more speech and happier days for little K and I. Keep the prayers coming...

We Lost a Hearing Aid!

Last Friday, I began a new bible study with the women of my church. The meeting is being held at the local library while our kids are with sitters at a church building about 1 mile away. Typically, when I leave Kate with a sitter/mommy friend, she does not bother her hearing aids at all. This would not be the case on that Friday. When I left Katelyn, she had BOTH hearing aids. When I picked her up, she did not. Several older kids and teenagers helped me look all through the kids play area, but no luck. I decided that it would be best to say a prayer and wait. Patiently wait. On Sunday, I told our Pastor about the lost hearing aid in case someone found it during the course of the week. Feeling less than hopeful, I decided to give it one week before calling it officially gone. Tuesday night I got an email from my bible study leader. The hearing aid had been FOUND! It is officially back with us. The expense of replacing the loaner + buying Katelyn her own permanent set, was not in our plans right now. Thankfully, this has been put off for a future day!

Our First Break

It's insane how something so expensive can be left on a 2 year old's head 12 hours a day. Thus the breakage issues. Today was our first break. Don't know when or how, but when Kate took off her hearing aids today and handed them to me, the volume button was missing. I didn't notice it at first, but if you look carefully, the left ear has a gray toggle switch and the right no longer does. You can see the inside of the aid now. I immediately called the audiologist and they will look at it on our next appointment June 6th. For now, electrical tape will have to do! A little ghetto looking, but at least they still work!!

Enlightenment

Last week, I had an meeting with the Fluvanna County Public School system to set-up speech therapy to begin in August for Katelyn - since she is not eligible until next year. Katelyn went to a friend's house for a play date. The meeting went well and I went to pick Kate up. Immediately after walking in, Kate takes her hearing aids off and hands them to me. She had not touched them the 1.5 hours I had been gone. ::sigh:: SUPER frustrating!

While talking to the mom of Kate's friend, a song from the Fresh Beats came on the television. Kate's friend began dancing along. Katelyn ran over, followed her friend's eyesight and landed her eyes on the TV. Immediately, Kate ran over to me and pointed to her ears. She actually ASKED to have her hearing aids put back in! She realized she was missing out on the music being played by the band. While this may not seem like a huge deal to some people, it's a complete breakthrough.

She has yet to repeat this request, but it is good to know she realizes the benefit of the hearing aids! All I can do is pray and praise the baby step successes.


UPDATE: Within an hour after I published this post, Kate was watching Sesame Street and one of her hearing aids came off. She brought it to me while attempting to put it back in her ear unsuccessfully. Making strides every day :)

Persistence is Paying Off!

Sometimes I do things with Katelyn & her hearing aids wondering to myself, "is this going to pay off in the end? Or is this a lot of effort for nothing?". I know patience is key and will pay off in the end. If you have experienced a Katelyn sized frustration tantrum, then you know why I would consider quitting instead of standing my ground.

This week magic has happened...

After one month of hearing aids, Katelyn is attempting to communicate in a structured way! For key words and phrases I sign and speak simultaneously. My hope was that she would also do both so I can tell what word she is trying to say. SHE FINALLY HAS!! It is relieving that she can tell me she wants to "eat", "drink", "up", "down", and has a few other words such as "please", "thank you", and "ready, set, go!". 

Currently, when she attempts to speak it is not clear what she is saying without a sign accompanying it 90% of the time. Many sounds come out the same. Speech therapy will fix this with time.

After this 6 month long frustrating journey, it's nice to see the hard work beginning to pay off!

Hearing Aids: A New Beginning

Katelyn got her hearing aids on April 6th. Many people have asked how she is doing. Overall, I would say she is doing well with the adjustment. Her instant reaction was silence. She stood silently in the Audiologists office and held my legs. Katelyn seemed in awe and quite perplexed by the new things she could hear. After about 30 minutes of exploration, she was blowing bubbles in the office. At one point, something fell off the chair behind her onto a carpeted floor. She heard it fall and turned around. This is how I knew they were working. 

As the day went on, there was a power struggle between Kate and I. She took her hearing aids off several times and had to be disciplined. This is the non-exciting part of the hearing aids. By the end of the day, they are painful. Similar to wearing new glasses or a headband, the skin spots become sore from the movement. After dinner, whenever her hearing aids came off (or were pulled off) she covered her ears with her hands to try and prevent me putting the aids back in.

The biggest misunderstanding is that although she is physically 2 years and 2 months old, her language development is that of a newborn. Words that have been spoken to her in the last two years have been muffled and distorted. What she knows as her name without her hearing aids, does not sound like "Kate" with her hearing aids. This brings us back to Day 1. Many years of speech therapy are ahead of us.

Other frustrations include the feedback noise when the hearing aids are bumped into. As Kate rubs her ears or jolts the hearing aid microphones around while playing, a horrible noise occurs. The noise sounds like a microphone when it is first turned on in a concert hall near a speaker. It's an extremely loud screech. This is also causing unhappiness and headaches for her.

We are still moving forward with sign language due to the fact that hearing aids cannot be used at the pool, in the bathtub, a water park, the ocean, etc. So far, tantrums have been the same in number. I am hopeful that as we all explore the new hearing world together, that she will begin to understand more each day and the tantrums will subside. Below is a photo of Kate with the hearing aids on. 

Please continue to keep her in your prayers!

New ears!