Hope can hear!

After Activation

Hope can hear!

We got a call first thing Tuesday morning (the day of the activation) and learned that the audiologist that was going to do Hope's activation was out of the office sick. We were given the option of either waiting until Thursday or the director of the program was offering to do the activation at 2:30 (just a little later than the originally scheduled appointment). We decided to do it at 2:30 because Andrew had taken the day off and we didn't want Hope to have to wait any longer than she already had.

We had smooth sailing until we got to Brighton where the expressway was closed due to an overturned semi-truck that had apparently spilled battery acid all over the road. We called the office to let them know our situation and thankfully they were willing to wait for us. Finally we arrived (2 hours later than the scheduled appointment).

The external portion of Hope's implant was put on her head and connected to the computer. Dr. Zwolan then ran some tests to see at what levels we thought Hope might be detecting sound. The computer would play three beeps and then we would look for a response from Hope. We weren't sure what we would see, whether the sound would surprise her, scare her, make her laugh... well we definitely got a response..... She cried and screamed. Hope didn't not like sound at first.

Once we determined what level Hope was detecting the sound at, her implant was set at a lower level to allow her to adjust to sound. We will slowly and gradually increase these settings over time to get her used to sound.

Hope is also working on improving her fine motor skills. She has made a game out of reaching up, grabbing the processor and coil and pulling it right off of her head. She definitely knows how to get what she wants! :)

We are all so thankful and happy and want to thank everyone for all of their prayers. We go back to Ann Arbor on Thursday for a programming adjustment and will let everyone know how Hope does figuring out her new world full of sound!

(Grandpa Robinson took video of the activation but I haven't figured out how upload it onto the computer yet. As soon as I do I'll post it.)