2nd Round of appointments

We returned to Edmonton last week to meet with the surgeons, with Doris the CI Guru at the Glenrose Rehabilitation Hospital and we also had a Neonatal Follow-up appointment at the Glenrose.

This is it, we have decided to go with simultaneous bilateral implants. And... we have good news... our surgeon told us she has two dates available in JULY for Sienna's CI implant surgery and that we will know this week what day it will be. WOW... we were hoping for before her 2nd birthday, August 28th, but this is awesome. Hmmm.... July... that is just around the corner, so many emotions are running wild...

anxiety, nervousness, fear, but most of all excitement.

Excitement because we can't believe this is happening so quick...

Excitement because we are opening so many doors for her...

Excitement because she will finally be able to hear her older sister's beautiful singing voice...

Excitement because she has been without "ears" for too long already...

We are so lucky to have the Glenrose CI team doing such a great job at looking after our little Sienna.

I found these pictures on Alexander's blog, i am thankful for my ears, and thought you would be interested to see exactly what it is. I actually just copied what Alexander's mom wrote as she explains it so well.

"The implant is more like a powerful hearing aid, although it is very different from a hearing aid. Instead of simply amplifying sound, it creates signals that the brain interprets as sound, making it ideal for people who have little or no hearing. Cochlear implants use a device called an external speech processor, worn outside the ear, to capture sound and convert the sound into digital signals. Those signals are then sent to a surgically implanted electronic receiver inside the head, which tells the implant to stimulate the electrodes inside the cochlea (inner ear). The brain then recognizes these signals as sound. Those that are qualified for an implant must have a certain degree of hearing loss (meaning "bad") or hearing aids will not help them communicate in society. "

This is the internal device
which will be implanted

inside each side of her head.

This is external part which will
magnetically
stick to the
internal piece
and there is the processor thats sits
behind each of her ears.

Cochlear implants is not a cure for deafness. Sienna will always be deaf however it is a "tool" to help Sienna communicate and live the best life that she can. With hearing aids, she is still in the moderate hearing range but with cochlear implants, she will be able to hear at a 20-30 decibels. Normal hearing is at 10-20 decibels.

We also met with the Neonatal Followup Clinic which included a dietician, PT, OT, a nurse, an audiologist and our pediatrician. We are very hopeful that she will be walking soo. We need to focus on her diet as she is only gaining 3 grams a day and she needs to be around 7-8 grams a day. Her CMV is working against us... so we need to work extra hard at getting those calories in her.

Butter on everything, icecream for breakfast, chocolat's our best friend...

let's load you up!!

Just kidding, we need to do it the "healthy" way!!

As soon as we know a surgery date, we will let you all know!