THE IMPLANT IS ON!

Chance came into our bedroom this morning, climbed into our bed and said to me "Today I get a implant!" And so he did. Everything went really well and Chance responded to the first tests better than expected. The audiologist turned the implant on, covered her mouth with a file folder and said some sounds. Chance was supposed to place wooden shapes onto a stick each time he heard a sound. Chance responded really well and heard more sounds than the audiologist expected. The sounds were ba, mmm, eee, ahh, uuuu, shh, and sss. Chance heard all but the shh and sss sounds. The shhh and ssss are sounds that Chance didn't hear before the implant and so they may be totally new to him. Plus, it usually takes time for the kids to get them all. We are supposed to use these sound tests each morning when we put the implant on to ensure that the implant is turned on and the batteries are working. In the van on the way home, Chance started saying some of the sounds back to us. This does not sound like much, but Chance is literally learning to hear again and these are the beginning steps. Chance has always been very expressive so his face was fun to watch as he heard the beeps through the implant. He would raise his eyebrows, open his mouth and look amazed. That is how we knew that he was indeed hearing something. The sound that really got Chance's attention though was an untested one. Chance had to use the restroom and when he flushed the toilet, he said, "That is loud!" and he covered his ears with a grin on his face. So the best impression was made by a commode.
The progress Chance makes will be a process of Chance learning to hear, and the implant being programmed to slowly adapt him to it. Right now, Chance is using program 1. On Saturday we will move up to program 2, Monday program 3 and Wednesday program 4. Then we will go back next week so the audiologist can put in more programs for Chance to move through. It is all very exciting. I caught Chance pulling the implant away from his head, then slowly moving it closer and closer until the magnetic pull pulled it to his scalp. He seemed to think that was pretty cool. How many of us can do that?