Last week, we went to Edmonton for appointments and consultations about CI's for Sienna. Well... by the end of it we were emotionally and physically drained.
HEARING TEST: It all started with a hearing test... only to confirm that her hearing in the right ear is getting worse, resulting in a profound hearing loss. It is still the "better hearing" ear, at 90db, believe it or not.
SPEECH ASSESSMENT: After answering a pile of questions, our speech pathologist had this to say, "wow, I can't believe how much Sienna's doing, she has so much going for her, we just need to get her hearing!" She uses and understands about 10 signs, she has numerous sounds and she communicates very well.
CONSULTATIONS: We went over how they work, risks, expectations, bilateral or not, statistics, reliability... We are still processing all the information they gave us, even a week later.
CT SCAN: Sienna was a trooper, she was sedated, they performed the CT scan and voila, she opened her eyes wide, looking for her mother, 20 minutes later. The hardest part is the fasting, the poking and of course afterwards the waking up thirsty, hungry and a little disorientated.
THANKS AGAIN, to Darcy, Lisa, Matante Yvonne, Darryl and Alanna, you helped make our busy week in the city so much easier.
After all that... it was well worth it because our audiologist called us on Wednesday and told us that the CI comity approved her!!!!!.... that is pending medical review of the CT scan by the ENT. (which we were told, because she could hear when she was born... she has everything she needs for a CI).
OH yeah, to finish our week, Sienna ended up in the StAlbert Hospital. I was up with her all Friday night as she was having a hard time breathing so we brought her to the hospital Saturday morning. A chest xray confirmed she had bronchiolotist. So instead of spending a relaxing weekend at Kevin's brother's, I spent it in a small room with a toddler hooked up to oxygen with no where to crawl.
NEXT STEP... June 11th & 12th, we return to Edmonton for appointments with 2 ENT's, who both perform CI surgeries. We also meet with the CI Specialist to go over the 2 compagnies, Cochlear and Advanced Bionics. We need to make a decision ASAP as to which company is best suited for our daughter. While in Edmonton, we are also have an appointment at the Neonatal and Infant Follow-up Clinic where Sienna will be seened by the PT, OT, Pediatrician, Nurse, Dietician and Audilologist. WOW, another BIG week!
We are very excited however for those who've been through this, we are very anxious and scared too. Your thought and prayers, blogs and posts have helped us get this far!! Thanks for being there for us!
Everything seems to be coming together for Sienna - yea! I'm sorry about the bronchiolitis - hope she is on the mend we need her nice and healthy for the surgery :) Do you have a surgery date yet?
ReplyDeleteI remember the anxiety we had when choosing our CI device. I have to say, though, looking back that either choice would have been fine. We've been more than thrilled with our decision, but I'm sure we would have if we went with the other brand, too. My advice is to look at the devices, feel them, learn a bit about how they are worn, programmed, etc. and go with the one that feels the most "you". I'm not sure when Sienna's surgery is, but I saw a press release that Cochlear is coming out with a new internal processor. You might want to get a bit more information on that if/when you call Cochlear.
ReplyDeleteSounds like everything is going well so far, but wow what a busy week you have next week too! And quite a decision to make about the company to choose. We'll be thinking about you!
ReplyDeleteWhew! You all have been nonstop! And then to add the hospital stay on top of it all. All the appts settle down (just a tad bit) once the CI surgery is done. So glad to hear she's a candidate! Good luck with your decision! I found that going with my gut feeling was the best bet - I haven't questioned our decision once!
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