3 well known people with Cochlear implants!

1# Rush Limbaugh
You couldn't have a career like his and not hear. He hears well and his speech is understood. He has the Advanced Bionics device. He has one. He had a sudden hearing loss. He was not born deaf.



2# Heather Whitestone
Miss America 1995. At 18 months of age. She had a very high fever from Haemophilus influenzae virus. Which left her profoundly deaf. She has bilateral implants. She has Cochlear America's device the Nucleus Freedom.

3#Amy Ecklund
Amy lost her hearing at age six due to an illness. She’s been interested in acting since age eight. In 1999, Ecklund underwent an operation known as a cochlear implant and her hearing was restored with the aid of the implant.

Gavin amazes Me!!

Friday morning, We are upstairs in my bedroom, with the door shut and the phone is ringing downstairs in the kitchen. Gavin hears the phone, points to his ears, and starts yelling Hello, Hello. Runs to the door, Jiggling the door handle as if saying if I can get this dang door open, I would run downstairs to answer the phone. Amazing what a implant and Gavin's listening skills can do!

Gavin seems to be having some allergies. His nose is running a little, and the Dr's think this could be a cause of his dizziness and just to ride it out. Which Gavin has been fall free for a few days now! Woo hoo! He will be having a hearing test on Wednesday! I'll post his audiogram! LVA and Head trama(falling down) that is a bad mix!

Gavin is on a ROLL!

Picture is of Gavin first bump to the head needing stitches(running into the table corner). He loss hearing on that one! Audiogram proved it! 10db to 20db different then one month ago. Minor head trauma or Major head trauma. Is not good for LVA kids. Because hearing is immediately affected because when head trauma happens fluid is released from the enlarged vestibular aqueducts and damages the hair cells right on contact. The fluid is a high content of proteins. So it is pretty toxic stuff to my understanding. That is the best way I can explain it.

OK so below Gavin's mouth is food. But the tiny circle on Gavin's right cheek(u can barely see it in the pic) was the metal ramp he fell on today. His knees got it alot worst than his face. Thank goodness his face didn't end up like his knees. The little scab on his nose is from the metal truck he fell on. The scab on his left eyebrow is the stitches scar. The body heals so fast! It is amazing!

This knee not so bad from the metal ramp.

This knee OUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! From the metal ramp!

Many of you know. That Gavin has LVA, EVA, LVAS. All those acronyms mean the same disorder. Just different ways to say it. Larged Vestibular Aqueducts,Enlarged Vestibular Aqueducts, Larged Vestibular Aqueducts Syndrome. I didn't realize one thing with this disorder and that is balance . Your Ears apparently, play a huge part in one's balance. I was always worried about his levels of hearing. Friday the 15Th(Of May) Gavin ran into the corner of a table hit his eyebrow and needed 3 stitches. Then Monday a few days later in fell down hit his metal toy truck on the nose got a bruise and a little cut. Then Wednesday he fell down 5 steps coming down our stairs. Then yesterday he was dizzy after getting off the couch or and getting out of the car he was stumbling as he walked. It was like he was dizzy all day. Then today yep you guess it, he fell down on a metal ramp and cut up one of his knees pretty good. All the marks on his face our from the different accidents he has been having. I hope this goes away soon. The kid is getting beat up pretty good. He is 2, so of course he runs at full speed, climbs high, jumps off things. He gets into things he knows he shouldn't. He has a Dr appt in a few days with the ENT(ears,nose and throat doc). I hope he can help Gavin out somehow or at these tell me if something is wrong so we can fix this balance issue. I hope the dr doesn't say just ride this out it will go away! Cause after a week and a half of this. Gavin and I are ready for this to be over! I'll keep you all posted!

Hearing Aids VS IMPLANTS (For a Deaf Child)

Hearing aids VS Implants ( For a deaf Child severe to profound hearing loss)

HEARING AIDS FOR GAVIN( BEFORE THE IMPLANT)

Gavin before said about 15 to 20 words. None of those words sounded all the way right.
ex apple sounded like ap pool. With Practice these words never improved.

Gavin couldn't hear sss! Or shh! With the ling sounds. He could hear eee! ling sound but eee! has a lower frequencies with a higher frequencies. The Dr and SLP's told me once Gavin says eee! I know he is hearing at least have of speech.

Gavin couldn't hear the microwave,the over timer, or the phone ring ,knocking on the door.

Gavin heard clapping. In fact that is how I got his attention alot.

In the car while driving no response to me trying to talk to him. No looking around for sound nothing.

He like music and love shaking music toys and playing piano.

He would scream very loud so he could hear himself.



IMPLANT DIFFERENCE!

Gavin whispers!

Gavin hears the birds!

Gavin hears a airplane in the sky! And says AHHH!

Gavin talks alot and tries to say things back all the time. Correct or Not But he is trying

Gavin can hear me in the car. He will say back what I've said.

Gavin hears the oven timer from upstairs in my bedroom.

Gavin hears the phone ring and says Hello!

Gavin hears me say Twinkle Twinkle Little. He will say STAR!

With Practice saying words He will say it right after 5 times of hearing it on average.

Gavin hears me at far a way distances!

Gavin can hear music and tell if the song is the Isty Bisty spider or the wheels on the bus! Cause he does the actions to each song.

Gavin heard us this lady at Costco 4 or 5 tables down from us. Saying to her toddler where is your ears,eyes,nose. My friend and I were talking and all the sudden look at Gavin and he is sitting there touching his nose,eyes, ears. My friend and I were like Holy Cow he is hearing this!

Gavin says at least a new word everyday!

Gavin hears the Thunder inside the house!




I think hearing aids are great if they can work for you. But you have to match the technology with the hearing loss. Especially if you want your child to learn to listen and speak. I enjoyed meeting these other families. I look forward to our play groups together to talk and be there for each other. Sorry this is so long!

PIP CAMP!

This weekend we when to PIP camp. Gavin had fun. The kids had a class of their own. So the parents could go to class and learn. But the kids had story time,crafts, water play, a magic show, search for the sunken ship, craft island, bye bye buggy,rainbow fish. The theme for PIP camp was Cruise. Each age group of the classes for the kids were named Gavin was a Seahorse. But other class titles were like Guppies(infants) Star fish (11 -18 months. Lots of creative ideas and crafts. Gavin had a ball all day Saturday. Friday night Gavin ran into the corner of a table and ended up getting 3 stitches in his left eyebrow. We were in the ER til 2:30 in the morning got home at 3 am. Set the alarm for 6am to drive to Ogden for PIP camp! We will get the stitches taken out on Wednesday. See picture below for the new ouchy. As Gavin says ouchy! Click on it for a better enlarged view.

I wanted to talk about what I learn at PIP Camp.

So at PIP camp we had two keynotes the first one was Justin Osmund.(Yes He is family member of the Famous Osmund Family). Justin is hard of hearing. He is the only one in the second generations of the Osmund Family who has a hearing loss. The First generation has 7 members of his family has a hearing loss. Justin talks very well and plays the violin. Justin works for Starkey hearing aids and is very successful at his career. Next Keynote is a Deaf Dr at Primary Children. She has Bilateral implants. I thought it was interesting because she said she couldn't talk on the phone. Which is interesting because the adults I've spoke with (8 adults) I know can talk on any phone. House phone, cell phone any phone. But this adults had the Cochlear Nucleus Freedom. So I wondering if the reason she can't on the phone is because the device can't do that, or if she isn't mapped quite right. Also She couldn't hear really well. When the adults I know can hear amazing distances and dont even sign. Because they never had to. Maybe it isn't the device

cause Advanced Bionics is pretty comparable to the Cochlear Nuclues Freedom. But the implant teaches the brain to listen ,so maybe it is because she hasn't worked on learning to talk on the phone. It probably is that reason right there not the decive. The other adults they use their phone all the time. I don't for sure because I'm not deaf. But the other Adults I've talked 4 of the 8 on the phone. I talk to this 4 of these adults on a regular basis. So it is definitely interesting for me.

Another thing I thought about is this. Hearing aids and Implants. I have met parents that are saying that the DR are saying a implant. But I do understand what these parents are going through I went through the same thing. Three hour Brain surgery! Cutting your child's head open. I understand why they feel this way. I dont regret my decision getting the implant for Gavin. Not one Bit! I can tell you the difference between hearing aids and implants are huge! ( Look above for the differences I've seen with Gavin) Not every child with a hearing loss can get a implant nor to they need the implant. If your child has a mild or moderate hearing loss. Hearing aids are going to work awesome for them. If you child is deaf like Gavin (severe to profound hearing loss) Hearing aids are not going to give them what they need to speak really well and hear at a distance. Children have to be able to over hear conversations. You can't teach them 46 millions words directly. A deaf child that wears aids can hear up to 3 ft most of language. But they cannot hear sss! or shh! or higher frequencies. The moment you move 4 ft away they can't hear you that well anymore. They start missing pieces of the words and the further you are away the more they miss. And if it is noisy at all they can't even hear you at 4 ft away. I have spoke to a deaf adult who wears hearing aids. She told me how she hears. I spoke with audiologist about this as well. I'm learning fast and talk to anyone I can. About it! Don't just take my word for it. Go find out yourselfs. What is best for your child and family. I'll I can tell you is this is working for Gavin and my family! What I've found out. Through all of my many hours of study this out. From A-Z. I've read tons of books, I've sat in many Conferences. I've gone to many events. I'm still learning I dont know it all by any means. But I've got a pretty good idea on being able to help my own son. Learn to listen and to Speak! That's what I want for my son! And it is working and I see success with this everyday!

I'll tell you what my audiologist said to me about Gavin's hearing loss. He told me you want to know how deaf Gavin is right. He said if a big dog was to bark directly into Gavin's ear. It would be the noise levels as a clock ticking to me. He would detect the dog but just barely.

Last year I got the opportunity to meet 5 teenagers on a panel who were deaf. Not hard of hearing. Deaf (severe to profound hearing) 4 out of the 5 had implants either one implant, or one implant and a hearing aid , or two implants. Then this teenager with the hearing aids. I heard her talk for about 15 min. I could understand her about 80% of her speech, 5% I had to guess what she was saying, and the another 15% I had to look at the cart services to see what she said cause I couldn't understand what she was saying. She sounded deaf when she spoke. But like I said I still understood 80% of the time.

PIP camp was fun! I enjoyed being there and meeting other Families! I look forward to getting to know them more and developing friendships with them. Cause we are in the same boat! We should be friends!

Peace Out Video!

Ok so I know it isn't pronounce all the way correctly. But you can tell he is trying to say Peace Out. I thought it was funny. This is how it happens though the more he hears the word the better the word gets. (Sorry I dont know why the video didn't get on here the first time) But it is here now.

I'm feeling pretty crafty!

I made a Cochlear Implant and hearing aid holder this evening. I excited about it! Hopefully it works well and I'll stop losing the implant or the aid.( Lucky for me I always been able to find them) I just used jewelry wire double the wire up and put the beads on.Light Blue, Red and Blue are the colors. The pin is a diaper pin, so it will pin to his shirt.

The picture above is the shirts we had for our AG Bell Utah event. We just had on Saturday! I love the shirt! I think they have a wonderful message!

Wow! It's been awhile!

Hi Everyone,

I hope all is well in your life and your families. Our Family we have been so busy. Mostly lots of FUN stuff so that is fun! So most of you know I sit on the board for AG Bell Utah Chapter. I'm the Parent Section. Which I got to tell you I love helping these families. I love talking to the Deaf adults and ask them how do you hear with your implant. What does it sound like? Do you like Music? Is Music enjoyable? What kind of music to you find enjoyable with your implant or implants? I love how I've grown so much! I'm not even sad one bit about my son being deaf! Anymore the first two months of Gavin's life it was hard for me. I cried a ton! I doubted the Dr's, I would bang pans together let them hit the floor even when Gavin was sleeping just to see if the noise would wake him up. It never did! I would just cry! After two months of crying. I thought to myself well I can keep crying about it. Which isn't going to change a dang thing or try to figure how as much as I can about deafness the methods that are being used. I learn from reading websites(good ones), I read about the deaf culture as well, I learn which Dr's in Utah are the best, I learned how to find people that were going through the same thing as me. I made a support system for myself of professionals I trust, family, friends, AG Bell and many other resources. I'm glad to be seeing other families and meeting more people. I'm not here to say Oral is for all deaf people because some can't even get the implant or wear aids cause the nerve isn't there or some other medical reason. So they sign. Or even if they choose sign that is fine. We all have figure out what works for our children and families. Their is people out there that tell me to sign. I say no! Yes it is a hard road from 0-4 but my child will talk to everyone and hear normal levels of hearing people. I know this is real! I have seen it in over 50 kids and Adults now. It is real. My dream is my Son Gavin will talk and listen. He will understand what is going on. He hears so much. It floors me! Gavin is deaf! He hears the birds!! He hears a mom telling her toddler 5 tables down from us while eating lunch @ Costco. Point to you nose, Point to your eyes! Gavin was doing it. I wasn't even paying attention to this mom. All the sudden I see Gavin pointing to his eyes! His nose! My girlfriend Heather (who is pregnant WOO HOO!) and I were like HOLY COW! He is hearing that and it wasn't like the Mom was yelling this real loud it was quiet. He hears beeping that is so quiet I barely can hear it. I have Normal level of hearing! People can't tell me implants don't work and that my son won't talk clear enough to be understood, and he is just parroting back and isn't even understand what I'm saying to him. I say BULL! They don't know. I have videos to prove it. Check it out!

Let's see back to the fun stuff we have been doing. We have a all year pass to the petting zoo. The last two weeks we have gone 3 times. Gavin has rode a pony and milked a cow. Saturday we when to the annual AG BELL WALK TALK RUN event. Which was cool! Gavin and I got donations so we could win a prize! We got $502.00. We took second place. The first place won by $20.00 bucks but oh well. We still got the Seven Peaks water All Day passes(2 of them) So we will go hang out their this summer in the water! Also I found out this product called It Stays(is for diabetes to keep their socks up. Works really well for keeping implants and hearing aids on. It isn't a tape. It is a liquid that wipes on with a brush and washes off with water and soap. We have gone to the dinosaur museum, helped Jason and Tosha move into their new home, 2 or 3 nights out walking around getting donations. The Bartons in my ward gave Gavin $100.00 donation. I couldn't believe it. So I got them a shirts and a hat for the Walk Talk run! I applied for Gavin to get a scholarship through AG BELL for a Music class(KinderMusik). Because music helps kids learn to listen and language. It develops kids ears to listen! That is what AG Bell is learning to listen and speak for deaf people. So I'm excited! Gavin told me yesterday Happy Mom for Mother's day! Church was good. I really enjoy teaching the CTR 5's. I'm learning more than they are I'm sure! Life is good! It is getting warm! NO MORE SNOW! Yea!