Inside and Out

Here is Isobel's implant. This is a copy of the x-ray that she had immediately after her surgery last Tuesday.

Here is a close up of the implant section, how cool is it?

You can clearly see the electrodes coiling around the inside of her cochlea and the device implanted just under the skin above her ear. 

I find this image truly amazing, this tiny piece of technology is hopefully going to help her to hear so much better. With continued AVT it's hopefully going to help her speak more clearly and be able to communicate with others so much more effectively.

So Isobel had another big day today, she had her stitches out. Given the previous visits I was bracing myself for some serious screaming. Not the case, she was so brave and sat very still. The hardest, and most uncomfortable part for Isobel was removing the adhesive dressing. That was mostly because it was stuck to her hair, think band aid on a hairy arm multiplied by 100!

She has been given the all clear! No more dressings and back to school tomorrow. It isn't very pretty, and I'm sure there will be lots of conversation in her class about it, but, her hair will grow soon enough - in fact you can see new hair growing already. Given time the scar will also eventually fade.

As a friend of mine said to me last week, it is one more interesting chapter in the journey of her life.

The hard bit for now is stopping Isobel from touching the scar. It must be difficult, not being able to see it. She is always very interested to see the photographs we take. She looks at them, gasps and says 'big owie'.

For now it is a big owie, but it won't be for long...