Saturday, April 30, 2011
Friday, April 29, 2011
My Week(s) in Phone Pics
Monday, April 25, 2011
We're Back!
Wednesday, April 13, 2011
What I'll Miss Most
Monday, April 11, 2011
Thursday, April 7, 2011
A Date with My Girl
Kayla is on Spring Break this week.
And this morning we went on a special adventure.
She set the agenda.
I set some mild perimeters.
Her first choice was to "go to Hawaii to open coconuts."
Oh how I love my biggest girl.
I love her heart.
I love that, in the bookstore, she noticed the Max and Ruby section.
And reminded me how much Ashlyn would love one.
I love that, in Build-a-Bear, she chose the weird looking, not-so-cute wolf
because a portion of the proceeds go to the World Wildlife Federation.
And named it Jazzebella. Not to be confused with Jezebella.
I love that, at CPK, she insisted on sharing the bread with me, even though I said she could have all three pieces.
I gave her 1/2 of the piece back, because I am size 122.
I love her compassion and regard for others.
It challenges me.
In such a good way.
I love my girl.
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Cochlear Implant Journey, Part 1-B & Deaf Speech
We had another hearing evaluation at UCSF this morning.
And can I just say that this may be the most beautiful place on the planet? Even from a freeway.
I love the Bay Area. There is a reason it costs $5,678/sq. ft. to live here.
Back to the evaluation.
Surprise! She's still deaf.
The UCSF audiograms taken last week and this morning matched her 3 previous audiograms from her regular audiologist.
This provided the necessary confirmation that she is a candidate for implantation in her right ear.
The UCSF surgeon now needs to review her CT scan and MRI that were taken at the time of her initial diagnosis in 2009.
We also learned that there is a slight increase risk of contracting meningitis in cochlear implant patients.
So she'll need a meningitis booster prior to surgery.
We also have to decide which device to implant.
We have two options - Medel or Cochlear.
Lots more research in our near future for a surgery that will likely take place in late June.
About six months after implantation, the audiologist anticipates we'll see significant improvement in her speech.
With the implant, she'll gain access to the "soft sounds" that she is not getting with her hearing aids.
"sh"
"th"
"es"
"ef"
All the good stuff.
Speaking of speaking.
Here's a little video I took of Ashlyn on Sunday morning.
This will give you an idea of where's she at from intelligibility standpoint.
And if you're not me, Dave, Kayla or Kobi
you'll probably have no clue what she's saying.
She's telling my parents to come home from their vacation in Florida to take her to the beach tomorrow.
[vimeo 21993206 w=400 h=710]
Excuse the bed head and Thomas the Train in Japanese in the background.
And surprise! She's still on her bike.