BAHA Day

 On January 21st the country was pretty fixated on the inauguration of President Trump, but we didn't spend time watching TV that day.  M, T, and I headed to Children's hospital for T's big day.  T has been meeting with audiologists at Children's for her entire American life.  We realized it was time to try a hearing aid.  Because T has very little hearing on her right side she has an impossible time localizing sound.  She has a host of other challenges that we think might be helped with her hearing aid.  Because she lacks an ear canal, her hearing aid is a different style.  She wears a soft band (like a headband) and the hearing aid attaches to it.  The sound is actually transmitted by her bone and she is able to hear in surround sound!  It is AMAZING!  We often call it her BAHA which stands for bone anchored hearing aid.  As she gets older she has the option of having it truly anchored to her bone instead of wearing the soft band. 

It is taking some time to get used to it.  As you can see in the photos, her hair was up the day she received the BAHA.  After the initial day we had a hard time with the BAHA because it was creating so much feedback all the time.  T called it her "neurofeedback" which cracked us up. We ended up making a second trip to Children's two weeks later and learned that instead of wearing it with the hearing aid below her ear, she can wear it with the hearing aid on her temple.  Wow!  What a difference.  Now she has no feedback.  

Last week T wore her BAHA as school for the first time.  I came in and taught the class about it.  They were all very excited for T.  Little ones are so precious. Today she wore her BAHA all day at school (3 hours).  We were so very proud of her! 

T chose the pink head band which makes sense since her favorite color is pink.  We will probably get her a black one as well.  

Now for the events of BAHA day in photos!

T: It sounded like I had a new voice. 

The picture below makes me teary.  This hearing test was done on her right side.  She was dropping toys in the bucket when her heard on her RIGHT side.  It is just amazing.

T: I was dropping toys in the bucket when I heard on my little ear side. 

T: It was pretty wild to hear everything.  

After leaving the office we went down to the main hospital lobby to say hello to the fish.

T: I see Nemo.  M: I see Dory!

After leaving the hospital we made a stop at Meijer for some treats and a ride on one penny Sandy.  T is a Sandy lover, M will probably opt out from now one.

T: Yee Haw!

M: Sandy went pretty slow. 

After Meijer we went to a library in a different community.  It was way past lunch time when we got home, but the kids had a very fun and eventful morning.  We are very hopeful that using the BAHA will give T awareness of many things she didn't notice before.  We are so thankful for technology that allows her to hear through her bone.