30 days into the TransEar - and we got good news!

[Guest guest]

went in for his 30 day follow up appointment today. I'm not quite

sure as to what the specifics of the whole thing were (my husband took him),

but it all went pretty well. He had a little blister in his ear last week

after two incredibly sweaty days (bad me - I didn't even know it was there

until I ripped the scab off helping dry off from a bath - ouch!), but

it's healed up to being almost gone.

We originally thought we'd be going through HINT today (thanks for your

reply, Barbara!), but the audiologist decided to just go ahead and mask his

good ear and have him go through the same tonal and verbal testing we've

used over the past three years while he was wearing his TransEar so that she

could compare apples to apples. I don't have the exact results (my husband,

God love him, didn't think to ask for a copy of the audiogram), but he

apparently had better results than she'd hoped for. He tests in the normal

range in some frequencies, and not quite normal in others - but it's a heck

of an improvement over when he's unaided. I'm going to call the office and

ask them to fax me a copy of the audiogram tomorrow - I want to be able to

map it against the speech banana and then bring it to his teacher so that

she has it for her reference.

At this point, our audi is recommending that we not use his EduLink FM in

school, which surprised me at first until I heard her reasoning. Since the

TransEar doesn't have an FM capability, we need to " force-train " 's

brain into integrating the sound it receives via the TransEar device and

*recognizing* that it came from the TransEar - something that we can't do if

the EduLink is competing for time in his " good " ear. And since is in

a Montessori program for school (lots of self-direction and small group

lessons as opposed to a traditional classroom environment), his teacher has

the flexibility to make sure that he's heard and understood what it is that

he's supposed to be doing. This is his third year with this teacher, and

she can read him pretty well, so I'll go ahead and roll with this

recommendation for now and see what happens.

And our insurance decided to kick in and pay for over half the cost -

hooray! It's the little victories I'm trying to find at this point.

Thanks to everyone who's held my virtual hand as we've headed down this

road. At this point, all the delays and bumps (and potholes) we've

encountered were definitely worth it.

Kris

Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7, hearing)

[Guest guest]

Kris - awesome news! I'm smiling for you!

EskiLvr wrote:

> went in for his 30 day follow up appointment today. I'm not quite

> sure as to what the specifics of the whole thing were (my husband took him),

> but it all went pretty well. He had a little blister in his ear last week

> after two incredibly sweaty days (bad me - I didn't even know it was there

> until I ripped the scab off helping dry off from a bath - ouch!), but

> it's healed up to being almost gone.

>

>

>

> We originally thought we'd be going through HINT today (thanks for your

> reply, Barbara!), but the audiologist decided to just go ahead and mask his

> good ear and have him go through the same tonal and verbal testing we've

> used over the past three years while he was wearing his TransEar so that she

> could compare apples to apples. I don't have the exact results (my husband,

> God love him, didn't think to ask for a copy of the audiogram), but he

> apparently had better results than she'd hoped for. He tests in the normal

> range in some frequencies, and not quite normal in others - but it's a heck

> of an improvement over when he's unaided. I'm going to call the office and

> ask them to fax me a copy of the audiogram tomorrow - I want to be able to

> map it against the speech banana and then bring it to his teacher so that

> she has it for her reference.

>

>

>

> At this point, our audi is recommending that we not use his EduLink FM in

> school, which surprised me at first until I heard her reasoning. Since the

> TransEar doesn't have an FM capability, we need to " force-train " 's

> brain into integrating the sound it receives via the TransEar device and

> *recognizing* that it came from the TransEar - something that we can't do if

> the EduLink is competing for time in his " good " ear. And since is in

> a Montessori program for school (lots of self-direction and small group

> lessons as opposed to a traditional classroom environment), his teacher has

> the flexibility to make sure that he's heard and understood what it is that

> he's supposed to be doing. This is his third year with this teacher, and

> she can read him pretty well, so I'll go ahead and roll with this

> recommendation for now and see what happens.

>

>

>

> And our insurance decided to kick in and pay for over half the cost -

> hooray! It's the little victories I'm trying to find at this point.

>

>

>

> Thanks to everyone who's held my virtual hand as we've headed down this

> road. At this point, all the delays and bumps (and potholes) we've

> encountered were definitely worth it.

>

>

>

> Kris

>

> Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7, hearing)

>

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

That is great :-)

Now I can't wait for Clara's tubes to fall out so she can get hers.

LOL, but when she does, won't be the youngest kid with a

TransEar anymore. Hope he won't mind too much.

Cheryl

> EskiLvr wrote:

> > went in for his 30 day follow up appointment today. I'm not

quite

> > sure as to what the specifics of the whole thing were (my husband

took him),

> > but it all went pretty well. He had a little blister in his ear

last week

> > after two incredibly sweaty days (bad me - I didn't even know it

was there

> > until I ripped the scab off helping dry off from a bath -

ouch!), but

> > it's healed up to being almost gone.

> >

> >

> >

> > We originally thought we'd be going through HINT today (thanks for

your

> > reply, Barbara!), but the audiologist decided to just go ahead and

mask his

> > good ear and have him go through the same tonal and verbal testing

we've

> > used over the past three years while he was wearing his TransEar

so that she

> > could compare apples to apples. I don't have the exact results

(my husband,

> > God love him, didn't think to ask for a copy of the audiogram), but he

> > apparently had better results than she'd hoped for. He tests in

the normal

> > range in some frequencies, and not quite normal in others - but

it's a heck

> > of an improvement over when he's unaided. I'm going to call the

office and

> > ask them to fax me a copy of the audiogram tomorrow - I want to be

able to

> > map it against the speech banana and then bring it to his teacher

so that

> > she has it for her reference.

> >

> >

> >

> > At this point, our audi is recommending that we not use his

EduLink FM in

> > school, which surprised me at first until I heard her reasoning.

Since the

> > TransEar doesn't have an FM capability, we need to " force-train "

's

> > brain into integrating the sound it receives via the TransEar

device and

> > *recognizing* that it came from the TransEar - something that we

can't do if

> > the EduLink is competing for time in his " good " ear. And since

is in

> > a Montessori program for school (lots of self-direction and small

group

> > lessons as opposed to a traditional classroom environment), his

teacher has

> > the flexibility to make sure that he's heard and understood what

it is that

> > he's supposed to be doing. This is his third year with this

teacher, and

> > she can read him pretty well, so I'll go ahead and roll with this

> > recommendation for now and see what happens.

> >

> >

> >

> > And our insurance decided to kick in and pay for over half the cost -

> > hooray! It's the little victories I'm trying to find at this point.

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks to everyone who's held my virtual hand as we've headed down

this

> > road. At this point, all the delays and bumps (and potholes) we've

> > encountered were definitely worth it.

> >

> >

> >

> > Kris

> >

> > Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7,

hearing)

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Cheryl,

He'll think it's cool. He's already told me that she's " Kinda cute " . From

an 8 year old boy, that's one heck of a compliment.

:-)

Kris

_____

From: Listen-Up [mailto:Listen-Up ] On Behalf

Of chmorg

Sent: Wednesday, September 13, 2006 7:47 AM

To: Listen-Up

Subject: Re: 30 days into the TransEar - and we got good news!

That is great :-)

Now I can't wait for Clara's tubes to fall out so she can get hers.

LOL, but when she does, won't be the youngest kid with a

TransEar anymore. Hope he won't mind too much.

Cheryl

> EskiLvr wrote:

> > went in for his 30 day follow up appointment today. I'm not

quite

> > sure as to what the specifics of the whole thing were (my husband

took him),

> > but it all went pretty well. He had a little blister in his ear

last week

> > after two incredibly sweaty days (bad me - I didn't even know it

was there

> > until I ripped the scab off helping dry off from a bath -

ouch!), but

> > it's healed up to being almost gone.

> >

> >

> >

> > We originally thought we'd be going through HINT today (thanks for

your

> > reply, Barbara!), but the audiologist decided to just go ahead and

mask his

> > good ear and have him go through the same tonal and verbal testing

we've

> > used over the past three years while he was wearing his TransEar

so that she

> > could compare apples to apples. I don't have the exact results

(my husband,

> > God love him, didn't think to ask for a copy of the audiogram), but he

> > apparently had better results than she'd hoped for. He tests in

the normal

> > range in some frequencies, and not quite normal in others - but

it's a heck

> > of an improvement over when he's unaided. I'm going to call the

office and

> > ask them to fax me a copy of the audiogram tomorrow - I want to be

able to

> > map it against the speech banana and then bring it to his teacher

so that

> > she has it for her reference.

> >

> >

> >

> > At this point, our audi is recommending that we not use his

EduLink FM in

> > school, which surprised me at first until I heard her reasoning.

Since the

> > TransEar doesn't have an FM capability, we need to " force-train "

's

> > brain into integrating the sound it receives via the TransEar

device and

> > *recognizing* that it came from the TransEar - something that we

can't do if

> > the EduLink is competing for time in his " good " ear. And since

is in

> > a Montessori program for school (lots of self-direction and small

group

> > lessons as opposed to a traditional classroom environment), his

teacher has

> > the flexibility to make sure that he's heard and understood what

it is that

> > he's supposed to be doing. This is his third year with this

teacher, and

> > she can read him pretty well, so I'll go ahead and roll with this

> > recommendation for now and see what happens.

> >

> >

> >

> > And our insurance decided to kick in and pay for over half the cost -

> > hooray! It's the little victories I'm trying to find at this point.

> >

> >

> >

> > Thanks to everyone who's held my virtual hand as we've headed down

this

> > road. At this point, all the delays and bumps (and potholes) we've

> > encountered were definitely worth it.

> >

> >

> >

> > Kris

> >

> > Mom to (8, Profound/Complete SNL, Left Ear) and Ethan (7,

hearing)

> >

> >

> >

> >

[Guest guest]

Wow, that is a compliment, I've known a few 8 year old boys :-)

Cheryl

>

> Cheryl,

>

>

>

> He'll think it's cool. He's already told me that she's " Kinda

cute " . From

> an 8 year old boy, that's one heck of a compliment.

>

>

>

> :-)

>

>

>

> Kris

>

>

>

> _____

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/13/2006 12:12:50 A.M. Eastern Standard Time,

eskilvr@... writes:

And our insurance decided to kick in and pay for over half the cost -

hooray! It's the little victories I'm trying to find at this point.

That's more than a little victory, so celebrate a little more than you'd

planned (grin). Our insurance covers NONE of Ian's aids or his FM. Our school

purchased the FM system, so at least we were spared that expense. But they own

it, which occasionally poses its own challenges.

Best -- Jill

[Guest guest]

Check your state laws, too. Many states now require

that medical insurance cover the cost of hearing aids

for kids under 18. In Kentucky, the law says that

insurance must cover the cost up to $3000, no more

often than every three years. It took us a while to

convince our insurance company of this, but they

finally realized that the law overrode their own

hearing aid clause.

We do have to pay for earmolds, though.

Kiminy

--- JillcWood@... wrote:

> That's more than a little victory, so celebrate a

> little more than you'd

> planned (grin). Our insurance covers NONE of Ian's

> aids or his FM. Our school

> purchased the FM system, so at least we were spared

> that expense. But they own

> it, which occasionally poses its own challenges.

__________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

I believe our law is still pending and when passed will require only $1000

every five years or so. We're not one of those states yet, but maybe someday.

Jill

[Guest guest]

Jill wrote:

I believe our law is still pending and when passed will require only $1000

every five years or so. We're not one of those states yet, but maybe

someday.

**

I know that Nebraska has no laws on the books or pending - we're so far

behind the times it isn't even funny. (Which, if you think about it, is

pretty pathetic, seeing as how Boys Town National Research Hospital is

here.)

I do know that the only reason we got coverage is because our doctor wrote

it up as Durable Medical Equipment - which means that we've maxed out

's deductible for that part of his insurance for the year, but oh well.

Our insurance specifically says that it doesn't cover hearing aids or

hearing screenings, but apparently if you can finagle them into figuring out

that there really is a medical need, they'll cover it. It's quite confusing

(not to mention frightening when you first read what is and isn't covered).

Ugh.

Kris

[Guest guest]

My husband's employer came up with a way to cover things which are not

covered. They started a reimbursement plan for not covered medical expenses.

It's

a very specific list and it includes hearing aides, prescriptions, and some

dental. They are " given " a set maximum amount per family for each year for

this, about $750. We usually use very little of it and if you don't use it, you

lose it. We have very little each year that falls under its coverage. But we

timed the purchase of Ian's aids to be right at the year turnover. We ordered

one and then waited 2 months to get the next one. So, we used two years

worth almost at the same time.

The problem with this plan is that the insurance company is well aware of

it, and it actually works against us to push for them to cover the aids because

according to them, we have a plan that does provide for aids and that plan

acknowledges that aids aren't medical. (sigh) I tried to get them to cover his

aids the first time, before this plan existed, and they denied them again

this time. I haven't continued to fight, because of this auxiliary plan.

I figure we got more help this time than the last, so I can't really

complain much.

Best -- Jill