A Busy Afternoon

Finding your way around a hospital can be difficult, when all the the signs and directions are in Korean, the challenge increases. We learn things quickly though, pick up 'landmarks' along the way. Go down one floor at the first set of stairs, turn right down the hall decorated with bronzed fist impressions of Cancer survivors. At the end turn left and follow the corridor as it loops around until you reach the Audiology department. It has been a while since we last walked that route, but, we have it memorised, we found our way.

The route was the same, the little girl we walked it with however, wasn't. We walked those halls with a skipping, chattering little girl whose highlight was belting out 'Let It Go' as we entered the waiting area for the hearing test.

We had four back-to-back appointments yesterday afternoon. Mapping and a discussion with our audiologist was first. Isobel's CI needed a little tweaking, it was so much easier this time around not only because Isobel understood what was happening, but she had the vocabulary to really explain. She described the sounds as 'too loud, too soft, a little bit quiet, medium, OK, quiet, very noisy.' 

A proud moment!

Next we went into the sound booth for the hearing tests. First Hearing aid only, then CI only and then right ear unaided.

Right Ear Hearing Aid (Red) and Left Ear CI (Blue) and Right Ear Unaided respectively

What the diagram on the left shows is with her devices, Isobel is only suffering a mild hearing loss and can access all the sounds within the speech banana. It shows that her CI and HA are balanced and working well together so there is no need to implant the right ear at this point - Hooray.

Looking at the diagram on the right shows that she is clearly still very deaf, but on the up side, no deafer than when this journey started. Therefore her hearing is stable, which is a great thing.

Next up was tweaking with the hearing aid program, so everything is working tip-top!

Our last appointment was with the Professor. He was very impressed with Isobel's speech development, the results of the hearing test and how her ear looked inside. He finished our visit by stating that he thought 'Isobel would have no problems integrating into society with her peers'! 

Fantastic news!

We finished off the 'trip' with, as far as Isobel was concerned, the most important part. Chocolate milk and a muffin from Dunkin Donuts.

All in all, a busy (but well worth it) afternoon!

2 years on...

Happy New Year!

It's been just over two years since Isobel was diagnosed with her hearing loss. Two years since we began this journey to help her hear, understand what she hears and speak with clear, understandable speech.

When I look back to beginning of this blog (when the posts were frequent) I am amazed at just how far we have come. This time two years ago I was standing at the back of the room saying ooo, ah, sh and so on and she would put a cube in a bucket when she heard the sound and then repeat it back.

It feels so far away from the little girl that now chatters with her sister, or sings at the top of her voice, or tells her parents off when things don't go her way.










All is going well, we work through the games and activities and Nick invents more along the way. Isobel's speech is improving dramatically, new phrases, sentences and vocabulary everyday. Her speech is not always perfect, she can be 'sloppy' but she is also self correcting and correcting by imitation very well. We still have a long way to go, we are pushing for her to catch up with her peers, and to be consistently understood, especially by people who don't talk to her very often.



We had a great Christmas, we visited Mickey and his friends again. This time we were lucky enough to bump into Tinkerbell, along with many of the Princesses. As you see, lipstick marks to prove it. This time it was Estella in awe of the Princesses, she seemed to lose her tongue and couldn't answer any of the questions. Fortunately, Isobel was on hand to help her out by filling in the blanks.



She recovered quickly however, when the opportunity to goof around presented itself! It seems all photographs must now be accompanied by this mouth pulling, tongue stuck out version. The humour of children!

And so we settle into the post Christmas and New Year celebration routine of school, clubs and therapy. Of Course, I can't forget that someone has a birthday just around the corner!

These girls are growing up fast, and still loving their story time with Daddy. This time though, they are telling the story.

Let's hope that 2014 has the same great impact on Isobel Ears as 2013 has.