Part VI - Activation Day
April 21, 2005
Wednesday, April 20th was Anna's 4th birthday. My appointment for activation with Carol and Marcia (my audiologist) was at 9:00 a.m. on Thursday. This meant we were going to have to make the drive out to Chapel Hill on Anna's birthday and spend the night. In the past, we had always left her with my parents, but I couldn't leave my little girl on her birthday. So, we took her with us and made a day of it.
We left Ben in Asheville with Keith's parents and stopped at the Fun Center to let Anna play games and eat pizza. We had gotten her a DVD player for the car for her birthday so she would be entertained on the way to Chapel Hill, so the drive wasn't bad at all. When we got there, she said she wanted to eat at the Japanese Steak house for dinner (the last time we went, she hadn't eaten a bite - I think she just enjoys watching the cook!). Again, she was entertained by the cooking at the table, but this time she ate her entire salad (a big feat for Anna) with her chop sticks.
During the past week, my husband, Keith, had spoken on the phone with Carol. She said that Dr. Buchman was so pleased with the results that he was feeling more confident about the possible success of an implant for the right cochlea. They were preparing their part of an appeal for me if I was interested. I was really getting excited now.
The next morning we took Anna in with us for my activation. There was a lot to take care of before I could begin hearing people talk, so my husband took her for a walk (four year olds are restless!). Carol was there again, and we worked on finding my comfort and threshold levels by listening to beeps and tones. Then, she turned on the microphone and I started hearing speech and other "noises of the world" - what a relief - it's like being able to breathe again after holding your breath longer than you ever thought you'd have to. I mentioned that it didn't seem that I could hear as well as last week. She told me that last week we had tried the Freedom processor, and this was the 3G model. I had been hearing on the forum I joined that Cochlear had received FDA approval quicker than expected; so there was a shortage of processors. They were just not yet prepared for the demand. It was fine, though. I would get my Freedom processor on the next visit.
Carol talked to me for a few minutes about the processor so I could practice listening, then she said she was going to the office across the hall to call me so I could practice talking on the phone. When the phone rang, I picked it up, and said, "Hello?" Carol said hi and asked if I could understand her. She then recited a few nursery rhymes and I repeated them in acknowledgement. She then said that this was very good, that most people couldn't talk on the phone on activation day.
She then hung up and came back in the room and asked if there was anyone I wanted to call. I said, "Yes!! My mom!" Then I remembered that my mom was at my sister's house who had just come home from the hospital with her new son. So, we called my sister's house and I got to speak with both of them. I think all of us were crying. It wasn't perfect, but I could make out most of what they were saying. She asked if there was anyone else I wanted to call, and I said, "Yes - Lisa Lindsay." Lisa was teaching at the time, and it was her lunch break. She wasn't in her classroom, so I decided to try her again later. This was so exciting!
At some point my husband brought my daughter, Anna, back in the room. We were trying every way in the world to get her to say something so I could hear her. She would mumble ever so often, but nothing really audible. Not only was she pretty shy, she was also not used to me being able to hear her. She hadn't really spoken with me for a while, so learning to talk to me again was going to be a big step for her.
When we got to the car, it was a different story. There was no audience, so Anna really opened up. She must have said, "Mommy?" about fifty times that first half mile! After months of silence, hearing "Mommy" over and over and over again was the sweetest, most heart-warming/heart-wrenching things I can imagine. She would then say either, "I wuv you" or "Look at that car/truck/tree/man/etc." just to see if I would respond appropriately. When I did, her whole face would light up. This was so worth it - who cares if this wasn't the same as normal hearing.
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