Activation Day - Happy Birthday Implant

Yesterday was the big activation day / Happy Birthday Implant Day for Kylie and her Cochlear Implant.  No matter how much they prepared us for what the day would be like I don't think we were truly prepared.  Don't get me wrong we are totally thrilled by it but it wasn't all roses and chocolates.  Does that make sense?


To put it in perspective imagine sitting in a quiet room and then when the device is turned on you are thrust into an ongoing football game at the 50 yard line.  Even for us this would be challenging with the loud noise and for someone whom has never heard any of these noises before it is very difficult and traumatizing. 


We were grateful to have a great group of experts at the activation appointment which included Dr. Myriam, the audiologist whom programmed the device, Dr. Cruz a family Therapist whom oversees the cochlear implant program, Ms. Needlman who is Kylie's Auditory Verbal Therapist, a representative from the Kids Hear Now Foundation,  Ms. Ivy Kylie's Deaf and Hard of Hearing Teacher, my Mom and of course Brian and I.  So many people in a little room to witness this amazing journey.


The appointment started off with programming of the various channels that are included in the device and making sure that all of the electrodes worked correctly, which all was good.  After each channel was set the moment we all had been waiting for occurred.  Dr. Myriam activated all the channels so that Kylie could hear for the first time on her right side.  Keep in mind with the implant the sound is being picked up from a circular device on the back of her head as this is where the microphone sits.  Eventually we will add what is called a T-Mic to the device which will sit by her ear to help in capturing the sound.  


Here is the video clip of Kylie being activated for the first time

 

Now that activation occurred now it was time to tweak the settings according to what responses they were seeing with Kylie.  Kylie kept everyone on their toes and laughing as she pretended to be Ms Ivy by wearing her glasses.  You will hear Dr. Myriam testing Kylie with various sounds during this time frame.  




One of the last parts of the appointment was that we had to put Kylie in an even louder setting to see how she would react and make the adjustments accordingly.  Please note that this video may seem cruel but unfortunately it is just part of the process.  It is truly a blessing to see that she does react but then teaches herself the sound and the noise that she  hears.

When we left the appointment yesterday we had a difficult afternoon as Kylie just didn't want to wear the device.  Would you blame her if your world was turned on such a high volume?  Dr. Cruz instructed us to no matter what keep putting the device back on and we did even through the screaming and crying.  My nerves were shot but we were successful in getting her to wear it for a long duration of time.  

It was an amazing beautiful day and one that we will remember forever.

Today, was even better that Kylie wore the implant the entire day and went to school.  So exciting.  Unfortunately, she does not understand the language and sounds that she is hearing and at times doesn't even turn when you call her name as she doesn't know that that is her name etc.  This is all normal and part of the process just hard one to witness.  Her report from school was she was smiley Kylie.  Would you expect anything else?  In 24 hours we have already come a long way and know that it is only going to get better from here! 

Here is a picture of the box that the implant device comes in and all its accessories.  That's a lot of stuff!