Re: hi all, just wanted to share an update

[Guest guest]

hi michelle,

I just love your email and it was so touching. I m so pleased that Chaucney

got someone special like you to support him through all the assessments and

wow its a good sign he he got some residual hearing to work with. i think he

got a good chance and I do hope it ll work out at the end.

how was your interview and hope you got the part time job you want it.

Well done for supporting him and proud of you both.

take care,

minniexx

[Guest guest]

What a wonderful opportunity for Chauncey. It is easy to see that he is working

his way thru the process with your help. Please tell him that we are excited

for him and when he is ready - would love to hear his comments. Also. as said

before but needing repeating.. there are no questions that are not worthy of

being asked on this list. We understand that everyone comes into this process

at a different level of understanding. Sometimes the questions from newbies

prompts us to investigate on our own because we don't know the answers either ..

and this is good for us.

Congratulations on the beginning of an exciting journey to sound. I'm really

looking forward to enjoying this as the adventure continues. Thanks for

sharing.

Alice

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

I'm so glad that Chauncey has had the opportunity to meet for the

evaluation and to get a better perspective on the implant process.

It's so great that he has you in his corner too.

Would love to hear from chauncey sometime too.. either here on the

forum or privately. (I read all kinds of typing so that's never a

problem for me. As long as the message gets across that's all that

matters)<smiles>

Knowing he can hear sound with hearing aids is a very good sign.

When I was evaluated I was the same way.. I could hear sound but

very very little understanding of what was being said. One word I

did understand consistently throughout the recorded testing was the

word Ready.. the speaker always said Ready before saying a word and

having been told beforehand by my audi I was able to hear that word.

sounds strange doesn't it that I could hear and understand the one

word but nothing else? My audi told me that was very common with

most implant evaluations where the person is late deafened.

Please keep udating with the progress and ask any questions you want.

As I said.. either the forum or privately is fine.

wishing you both the best as chaunceys hearing journey continues to

unfold.

Hugs,

Silly MI

wrote:

> Chauncey had his meeting with a (audie)/hearing test with HA

on

> Thursday. We knew that this was very key to his CI process, but

with

> us being so busy lately I don't think we expected that it would be

> such a momentous occasion.

> When we first got there a gave us questionnaires to complete

to

> gauge our understanding and expectations of the implant. It

really

> laid a good foundation for questions, both from us and her. Then

she

> brought in the cases with the implants. Chauncey's eyes widened

with

> excitement and curiosity! I sat there just watching in awe as he

> gently handled each one and then proceeded to play! He took them

> apart, he tried them on, he switched the switches! He was great.

We

> then spent a lot of time talking about the ins & outs of each

implant

> and discussed what his options were and why. a was so great.

> She is really a wonderful person as well as thorough. It means so

> much to us that she really cares and is completely in his corner.

> Then on to the really great part.

> It was now time for his hearing test. Chauncey had not worn a HA

> since he was 16 years old, more that 25 years ago. And we all

know

> where technology was then! Well, as soon as she put one on him I

> could see in his face that he was hearing some sound. As she put

the

> other one on I was asking her a question or she was telling me

> something, but we were talking, and he looked up and asked " are

you

> talking " ! We both chuckled and he asked " Laughing " ? I think I

> almost cried.

> Well, the test showed what was expected. I don't know the tech

> numbers, but while he was able to hear some sound, he could not

> understand any words, other than those that were suggested first,

> then repeated with covered mouth. But all of that is exactly

where

> he needs to be in order to be a good candidate. It shows he does

> have residual hearing to work with, but not enough to truly

benefit

> from HA, and it also showed that his brain can process and

understand

> sound and speech. There really is hope for him. Hope that he

will

> not only hear sound, but will understand speech. I was amazed how

he

> got every word that his brain had already processed through sign,

> then hearing the spoken word. But it was so sad to then watch him

> struggle to understand any of the recorded words. He would just

> shake his head. He knew there was a word being spoken but had no

> clue as to what it was.

> Any how….

> When he was finished with the hearing test she took each HA off he

> signed " dead " , then " dead " again. Talking about each ear as he

could

> no longer hear anything. He said " so quiet " .

> As we left the office, walking to the car, there was a helicopter

> hovering over head, and I looked up to see where it was, so he

looked

> up, and he signed " nothing " . But then he started to look all

around

> him. I know that he was wondering what all he saw sounded like.

> This coming Tuesday we are off to have the MRI and cat scan, then

to

> the surgeon. a assured us that she at that point will have

> already submitted to the insurance company, and hopefully we will

be

> able to schedule the main event. All he wants is to have it

before

> his birthday, April 29th. And we actually have a chance at just

> that!

> I know that I am a hearing person and, if God wills it, I will

never

> know what it is like to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing, but this whole

> process has completely taken a hold of my soul. My whole life now

is

> dedicated to helping him in anyway I can, and just being able to

> witness it is such a wonderful blessing. No matter what happens,

we

> both know that this is what he should have. No more questions.

No

> more doubt. Only hopes and prayers for the very, very best. And

> whatever that may be, it will be worth it to him to try.

[Guest guest]

hi julie, thanks for writing.

the reason that you can understand the word " ready " is because it is

suggested to you prior to the test. it was explained to me like this:

in the first portion of the test the audie tells you that she or he

will be saying a list of words like: cowboy, airplane hotdog, etc.

then she covers her mouth and says each word in random order. the

same words. because your brain has already just processed those

words you are able to identify them you are able to repeat them.

then she or he tells you that you are about to hear a recording of

someone saying a list of words and that before each word the person

will say ready? then the word. your brain expects to hear the

word " ready " , but has no clue as to the word to follow. that is why

you are unable to understand and process that sound. but just the

fact that prevoiusely you were able to understand and repeat the

words shows the potential of your brain to process speech. after he

gets the implant, hearing the sound of the word while reading it and

or lip reading it, that will enable his brain to process the words.

it is very exciting!

anyway, just wanted to try to explain the why or how.

take care!

> > Chauncey had his meeting with a (audie)/hearing test with HA

> on

> > Thursday. We knew that this was very key to his CI process, but

> with

> > us being so busy lately I don't think we expected that it would

be

> > such a momentous occasion.

> > When we first got there a gave us questionnaires to complete

> to

> > gauge our understanding and expectations of the implant. It

> really

> > laid a good foundation for questions, both from us and her. Then

> she

> > brought in the cases with the implants. Chauncey's eyes widened

> with

> > excitement and curiosity! I sat there just watching in awe as he

> > gently handled each one and then proceeded to play! He took them

> > apart, he tried them on, he switched the switches! He was

great.

> We

> > then spent a lot of time talking about the ins & outs of each

> implant

> > and discussed what his options were and why. a was so

great.

> > She is really a wonderful person as well as thorough. It means

so

> > much to us that she really cares and is completely in his

corner.

> > Then on to the really great part.

> > It was now time for his hearing test. Chauncey had not worn a HA

> > since he was 16 years old, more that 25 years ago. And we all

> know

> > where technology was then! Well, as soon as she put one on him I

> > could see in his face that he was hearing some sound. As she put

> the

> > other one on I was asking her a question or she was telling me

> > something, but we were talking, and he looked up and asked " are

> you

> > talking " ! We both chuckled and he asked " Laughing " ? I think I

> > almost cried.

> > Well, the test showed what was expected. I don't know the tech

> > numbers, but while he was able to hear some sound, he could not

> > understand any words, other than those that were suggested first,

> > then repeated with covered mouth. But all of that is exactly

> where

> > he needs to be in order to be a good candidate. It shows he does

> > have residual hearing to work with, but not enough to truly

> benefit

> > from HA, and it also showed that his brain can process and

> understand

> > sound and speech. There really is hope for him. Hope that he

> will

> > not only hear sound, but will understand speech. I was amazed

how

> he

> > got every word that his brain had already processed through sign,

> > then hearing the spoken word. But it was so sad to then watch

him

> > struggle to understand any of the recorded words. He would just

> > shake his head. He knew there was a word being spoken but had no

> > clue as to what it was.

> > Any how….

> > When he was finished with the hearing test she took each HA off

he

> > signed " dead " , then " dead " again. Talking about each ear as he

> could

> > no longer hear anything. He said " so quiet " .

> > As we left the office, walking to the car, there was a helicopter

> > hovering over head, and I looked up to see where it was, so he

> looked

> > up, and he signed " nothing " . But then he started to look all

> around

> > him. I know that he was wondering what all he saw sounded like.

> > This coming Tuesday we are off to have the MRI and cat scan, then

> to

> > the surgeon. a assured us that she at that point will have

> > already submitted to the insurance company, and hopefully we will

> be

> > able to schedule the main event. All he wants is to have it

> before

> > his birthday, April 29th. And we actually have a chance at just

> > that!

> > I know that I am a hearing person and, if God wills it, I will

> never

> > know what it is like to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing, but this

whole

> > process has completely taken a hold of my soul. My whole life

now

> is

> > dedicated to helping him in anyway I can, and just being able to

> > witness it is such a wonderful blessing. No matter what happens,

> we

> > both know that this is what he should have. No more questions.

> No

> > more doubt. Only hopes and prayers for the very, very best. And

> > whatever that may be, it will be worth it to him to try.

[Guest guest]

one more thing, it is very common among all levels of deafness, as

part of it is the power of suggestion. but whatever works!!!!!!

it is more about the brains ability to process the sound and it makes

perfect sense. it really makes no difference to me why or how! just

that it works! i will never forget the look on his face when he was

hearing the word and knew what it was without reading her lips. he

didn't know why or how either, just that it was so amazing. i was

astounded. i really never expected that. and i know he didn't

either. it was very exciting.

> > Chauncey had his meeting with a (audie)/hearing test with HA

> on

> > Thursday. We knew that this was very key to his CI process, but

> with

> > us being so busy lately I don't think we expected that it would

be

> > such a momentous occasion.

> > When we first got there a gave us questionnaires to complete

> to

> > gauge our understanding and expectations of the implant. It

> really

> > laid a good foundation for questions, both from us and her. Then

> she

> > brought in the cases with the implants. Chauncey's eyes widened

> with

> > excitement and curiosity! I sat there just watching in awe as he

> > gently handled each one and then proceeded to play! He took them

> > apart, he tried them on, he switched the switches! He was

great.

> We

> > then spent a lot of time talking about the ins & outs of each

> implant

> > and discussed what his options were and why. a was so

great.

> > She is really a wonderful person as well as thorough. It means

so

> > much to us that she really cares and is completely in his

corner.

> > Then on to the really great part.

> > It was now time for his hearing test. Chauncey had not worn a HA

> > since he was 16 years old, more that 25 years ago. And we all

> know

> > where technology was then! Well, as soon as she put one on him I

> > could see in his face that he was hearing some sound. As she put

> the

> > other one on I was asking her a question or she was telling me

> > something, but we were talking, and he looked up and asked " are

> you

> > talking " ! We both chuckled and he asked " Laughing " ? I think I

> > almost cried.

> > Well, the test showed what was expected. I don't know the tech

> > numbers, but while he was able to hear some sound, he could not

> > understand any words, other than those that were suggested first,

> > then repeated with covered mouth. But all of that is exactly

> where

> > he needs to be in order to be a good candidate. It shows he does

> > have residual hearing to work with, but not enough to truly

> benefit

> > from HA, and it also showed that his brain can process and

> understand

> > sound and speech. There really is hope for him. Hope that he

> will

> > not only hear sound, but will understand speech. I was amazed

how

> he

> > got every word that his brain had already processed through sign,

> > then hearing the spoken word. But it was so sad to then watch

him

> > struggle to understand any of the recorded words. He would just

> > shake his head. He knew there was a word being spoken but had no

> > clue as to what it was.

> > Any how….

> > When he was finished with the hearing test she took each HA off

he

> > signed " dead " , then " dead " again. Talking about each ear as he

> could

> > no longer hear anything. He said " so quiet " .

> > As we left the office, walking to the car, there was a helicopter

> > hovering over head, and I looked up to see where it was, so he

> looked

> > up, and he signed " nothing " . But then he started to look all

> around

> > him. I know that he was wondering what all he saw sounded like.

> > This coming Tuesday we are off to have the MRI and cat scan, then

> to

> > the surgeon. a assured us that she at that point will have

> > already submitted to the insurance company, and hopefully we will

> be

> > able to schedule the main event. All he wants is to have it

> before

> > his birthday, April 29th. And we actually have a chance at just

> > that!

> > I know that I am a hearing person and, if God wills it, I will

> never

> > know what it is like to be Deaf or Hard of Hearing, but this

whole

> > process has completely taken a hold of my soul. My whole life

now

> is

> > dedicated to helping him in anyway I can, and just being able to

> > witness it is such a wonderful blessing. No matter what happens,

> we

> > both know that this is what he should have. No more questions.

> No

> > more doubt. Only hopes and prayers for the very, very best. And

> > whatever that may be, it will be worth it to him to try.