Getting to where we are.

David was just implanted with a Cochlear Nucleus Freedom implant on 4/21/08. It took years to get to this point. I'll start at the very beginning.

David was born a normal kid, just like any other kid. The 3rd child in a family of 4 children. He got very ill with spinal menengitis when he was 11 months old. He spent a month in the hospital recovering and came home right before his first birthday. Having this disease caused him to lose most of his hearing. By the time he was two years old, he was fitted bilaterally with hearing aids.

David went through life with his hearing aids, wearing an auditory trainer in school, and working in speech therapy and with a teacher of the deaf throughout his years in school.

Around 4 years ago, we (as a newly married couple) went to see a new audiologist about new hearing aids. She said that the newest technology at this point wouldn't be terribly beneficial to David and that there was one in between digital and amplification that would be the best option for him in hearing aids. She also mentioned that he should look into getting cochlear implants.

We started doing some research and thought that it looked really interesting and beneficial, but David wasn't ready to take that step yet (after all, it is a life altering surgery!)

We went back to his audiologist that he had been seeing his whole life. David mentioned the CI and she agreed, that he would be a good candidate. At that point, David still wanted to think about it more. He was fitted with his new hearing aids and off we went into the wonderful world of digital (semi anyway) hearing aids.

At first they were GREAT! Then, things started getting hard again and David started thinking more and more about the Implants. When we went to get him new ear molds, he brought it up. His audiologist gave him the name of an ENT in another state that did the implants.

We went and met with the Doctor, and started the testing process. This took a long 6 months. David is what they call a borderline candidate. He's just on the edge of being able to get implanted. The reason that he's on the edge is because he communicates well with his hearing aids even though it's terribly frustrating for him at times. The thing that pushed him over the edge into approval is his strong motivation and desire for change.

He recieved the implant on 4/21/08 at 8:30 in the morning. The surgery went perfectly. There was no resistance while everything was being put into the proper places and the device is in perfect working order. David spent the night in the hospital recovering. He was extremely sick upon waking up! He's home now and doing well.

Tomorrow the bandages come off. He can't wait for this, as they are really bothering him at this point. The stitches come out on Monday.

In a short month, David will get the external part of the device and be turned on for the first time. We're not expecting any miracles, and we know that there is a lot of hard work to come, but we're both incredibly excited to begin the next leg of the journey!