First Steps on a New Path...

The day Faith first got hearing aids was not what we expected. We had seen the you tube videos of other babies reactions to hearing sounds, had people tell us how amazing it was going to be which led us to have high expectations I guess and when the actual event happened it was such a disappointment! She slept through the fitting of the aids, she didn't show any response at all...we were told not to worry that once she was awake we would see the reactions. As the days went on, weeks followed by months she showed very little response or reactions so we were faced with a decision that we never expected to make while she was so young... To go down the cochlear implant route or not...

We decided to go ahead with the assessments to understand more about her deafness etc...at her local hospital they said she had a severe bilateral hearing loss but I found myself saying "if that was the case then why isn't she responding to hearing aids?" They kept saying to be patient and it would click one day but while I'm a very patient person I was conscious that the longer we kept those aids in the longer her delay in speech. The ABR showed that her loss was actually in the profound range which made sense to why she didn't respond well with the hearing aids.

We made the decision to go ahead with bilateral implants as we wanted to give her the best start in life. I'm aware there are many who believe she is too young or that it should be her choice...in the world of social media people seem to think they have the right to judge others on their decisions. We made the decision that suited us as a family and as her parents we know our child best and we believe we are making the right decision. Our decision was helped by the fact I just recently had the implant myself and I am amazed at how much sounds I am able to hear in the world. I was born deaf like my husband and we grew up in hearing families and schools. When I hit my teenage years I went to a deaf boarding school where I embraced the deaf culture..I have the best of both worlds as I can sign and also I can speak. While many deaf may not agree with me I believe that speech is important and I want my daughter to have the same opportunity as her parents. She is currently learning BSL and will continue to do so alongside learning to speak. I want her to have the best of both worlds, I want her to be able to hear her family voices, to hear music, to hear the everyday sounds that many hearing people take for granted. But at the same time if it's too much some days she can take off the processor for a few hours of peace...I do this as sometimes as I get really tired with learning to listen to different sounds as my brain is still learning after never hearing most sounds. Hearing aids don't give her this opportunity but the implants should.

On the 11th November Faith went to theatre for her operation...we were told to go and get something to eat as the operation would be 4-6hrs ... exactly 4hrs later surgeon comes to see us and says everything went brilliantly & they tested the electrodes in theatre and all looked great. She was so groggy and wanted lots of cuddles. That night was hard as she was so unsettled and just wanted her mummy's milk so in the early hours after pain meds weren't settling her the nurses said they would take her for a couple of hours so that I could sleep! It's was nice to get 3hrs uninterrupted sleep which is a rarity for me! We were discharged the following day and after a rough week of her being in pain she was soon back to her normal mischievous self! Her scars have healed beautifully and we have had no issues with her touching them etc.

It's now been 4wks since her operation and tomorrow we travel through to Crosshouse Hospital for her switch on. I'm nervous and excited for her...nervous for her reaction and excited for the new start to her journey.