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Monday, March 30, 2015

Chance hates shots

I was reminded again yesterday how much Chance does not like shots.  While he was cleaning the backyard, a piece of glass was hidden in the dirt.  The wound itself was not that serious, but the situation made me realize that we needed to look up the date of Chance's last Tetanus shot.

Chance did not like the idea that he may need to get a shot. Chance. Does. Not. Like. Shots.  As Chance pulled out his shot record from his file, I could see him slowly reading down the page trying to read when his last tetanus shot was done.

I explained to him what tetanus does and he agreed that he did not want experience that.  His older brother helped him clean up the wound and bandage it up.

This incident made me think back to the time Chance got his shots to enter kindergarten.  He had been playing cowboys with his brother during one of those long summer days kids have and I remembered at the last minute that we had to get him to his doctors appointment.  So Chance got loaded into the car in all of his cowboy gear.  Even his cap gun.

Later, after trying to tell the nurses that he did not want a shot, he pulled out his cap gun while sitting up on the exam table,  with tears in his eyes.  He was serious about not wanting a shot and he could see they were prepping to give him at least one.

At that point, Chance still could not communicate all that he wanted to, and his attempts to tell the nurses that he didn't want a shot were not understood.  Although, I am sure the fact that he watched the nurses like a hawk, and his eyes flitted from  his leg to them was indicative that he knew something was coming.  Plus the fact that when he pulled that cap gun, he was seriously scared.

Chance did not need a tetanus shot this weekend.  I don't know if I can adequately explain in words the sigh he gave and the look of relief that spread across his face when I told him his shot was current.

Monday, March 23, 2015

An attachment to the hearing aid

Chilling at the dentist while playing a video game on the television in the ceiling.

So, we have discovered that Chance's brother is reluctant to take his hearing aid out in his right hear and just use his implant.  Our audiologist talked about having time each day when only the implant was used, and then by default, due to running out of hearing aid batteries, the implant was the only option for a few hours.

This was not a popular development with my son.  Since his dad was going to pick up hearing aid batteries on his way home from work, I thought the time would be good practice to just use the implant.

My little son told me several times that he needed batteries so he could wear his hearing aid.  When I told him we were waiting for his dad to get home with the batteries, he was not amused.  And he kept telling me he needed hearing aid batteries.

Now part of the persistence about getting hearing aid batteries, is the personality of my son. He is conscientious about taking care of his supplies and having what he needs.  The other part was that he did not like to rely just on the implant.

I noticed when we were sitting in a dance recital this weekend, that when I talked to my young son, he would turn his head so that his right ear was facing me even though his implanted ear was the one closest to me.

Obviously we need to start having  time every day where he uses only the implant for a few hours.  I don't think he is going to like it.  He really likes using that right ear.  He hears fine with just the implant, not as well as when he has both the hearing aid and the implant, but he does hear well with the implant.  Being able to hear with the implant is not the problem.

The fact of the matter is, he is going to have to get used to using his left implanted ear more because this week we learned that the hearing is dropping again in his right ear.  His word test dropped by half in the last 3 months when he is tested in the booth with just his hearing aid.  We may be heading toward implanting his right ear as well.

We haven't told our son yet.  We want to have one more appointment in April where we validate the tests we had this month and consult with our audiologist.

When I ask my son if he is hearing the same or if he is hearing worse, he tells me his is hearing the same.  If I ask him if he is hearing as well with his hearing aid he says yes.

We will have to wait and see how this all plays out.  In the meantime, we are going to practice everyday just hearing with the implant by taking the hearing aid off.  I do not think this is going to be a popular decision.

Monday, March 16, 2015

Chance hears the call for a substitution across the field.

Chance had a soccer game this week.  He played for the entire two 40 minute halves.  I do not think we have to worry about Chance developing a weight problem while he is on the soccer team.  That kid just runs his buns off for over an hour during games, and works out for 2 hours on the other days.

We had to get a physical before Chance could play soccer.  I say we, but Chance did all of the hard stuff like getting checked over by the doctor. I just got to talk to the doctor who said that Chance had rock hard abs and he was thin enough that if he needed an x-ray, we would just need to hold him up to the light. (because we could see through him).

Chance passed his physical with flying colors and the doctor told him how cool he thought implants were.  I have to admit, I think they are pretty cool as well.

During the soccer game, one of the boys on Chance's team got a nice kick to the leg that left him limping.  The kick happened over by the stands where we were sitting, but across the field from Chance.  One of Chance's team mates called to Chance who was across the field and closest to the coach and sidelines, that there needed to be a substitution.  I held my breath a  little waiting to see if Chance would hear the call across the field when he wasn't expecting it.

HE DID! He ran over to coach and told him that there needed to be a substitution made in the game.

I love implants. They are beyond cool.


Monday, March 02, 2015

Soccer Team Tryout Results Are Posted

WE HAVE A SOCCER PLAYER IN THE HOUSE!!   After several weeks of training and lots of sweating, Chance has made the school soccer team.  To say he is excited would be an understatement.  We just had parent teacher conference and his Chinese teacher said that while Chance is doing well, he and a friend(who also made the soccer team) have been talking in class A LOT about soccer.

We told Chance he needs to chill out on that a little.

Chance will now be at school working out 5 days a week for 2 hours each day.  On Fridays, he has a mandatory study hall as the soccer coach insists that the kids keep their grades up.  I like this.  Chance told me he agrees with the having to keep your grades up requirement.

We are all very excited for Chance and are looking forward to many exciting soccer games in our near future.
Chance is one happy kid.  His soccer uniform is on order, and I will post a picture of Chance and his uniform when it arrives.