Totally Worth It
Living It Up
We’ve been so busy enjoying the benefits of the implants that I haven’t made time to update this blog. Shortly after the second implant was healed up and activated, I landed a new job, requiring us to move 4 hrs away from UNC’s CCCDP. C-Note’s speech with two implants has skyrocketed. Her language is much clearer, she is now able to read (at age 6), and she doesn’t seem as tired at the end of the day from the technology. We were able to find a certified AV speech therapist nearby that really does a fine job with our daughter and have elected to home school her.
Our church in VA bought two receivers (miniature antenae) for her cochlear implants to allow us to use an FM microphone with her implant. Using this combination, we are able to speak to our daughter from 50 feet away, through walls, or across a store. The FM system worked so well that we bought a second microphone and often use both of them simultaneously to allow our daughter to hear us talk to her from the front seats of the car or in a very noisy pizza parlor.
The largest issues we deal with now are related more to rain getting on the implants or the implants getting erased from static discharge on playground slides. We’ve been so busy enjoying the relief of our daughter’s new access to sound that I often don’t find myself having much to say on this blog other than it was totally worth it.
"Hi. I'm Carina. What's your name?"
That's usually the first thing you hear when C-Note sees you. Her favorite past times are meeting new friends, hosting real and imaginary parties, and drawing pictures of everyone and everything, yourself included.
As C-Note's father, I stand in complete amazement of this young lady, who God has chosen to complete our family. As an adopted child with a hearing impairment, she experiences levels of joy that surpasses many who do not face similar challenges. A spunky kind of girl, she has also been affectionately nicknamed Wiggly, Jumping Jelly Bean, Wii Girl, and of course, our precious C-Note.