We recently returned from a cochlear implant camp out of state where we got to mingle with other great families who have kids with implants.
I would like at this moment to send out kudos to the surgeon who performed both of Chance's implant surgeries....he lined up the implants perfectly. When you look at the back of Chance's head, the implants line up. This is not the case with some kids. Some bilateral implants are scewampas in their placement and on a boy with short hair, I appreciate anew the care our doctor took to line the implants up so that Chance looks good from behind.
I love going to this conference because we get to talk with other families and attend classes that teach us about implants from current possibilities to future technologies.
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for me when deciding whether or not to get the second implant was that ominous question of, "What about future technology?! Does Chance need one ear saved for future technology?!" I really struggled with this question. We finally decided that Chance's need to hear now out -weighed whatever phantom technology was coming. I have no doubt that the future holds great things as far as advancements for deaf kids. But I don't think that Chance will benefit from that technology while he is in school, training for a job and setting the foundation for his entire future.
In our study of the issue, we found that many experts on the subject felt the same. They felt that the kids of today would not be the beneficiaries of the technology that was coming such as stem cell regrowth etc.
At the camp, a gentleman was telling us about future technologies with hearing and implants. He was talking about spiral ganglion cell regrowth....the regrowing of the hair cells that help us hear.
Right after we got the second implant,. I heard that researchers had been able to regrow hair cells in zebra fish and were thinking that guinea pigs were next. I had a swift thought of, "Oh, will Chance miss out on that technology?"
At the camp we were told of a report given by a Harvard researcher at a conference on hair cell regrowth. Researchers apparently thought they were close to successfully growing hair cells in guinea pigs. (mammals even...closer to Chance's make up than a zebra fish:)).
There were some slides that showed normal growth of hair cells in the ear. The hair cells were growing in a very linear pattern. Then there was a slide of a deaf person and where the hair cells were supposed to be, was just a lot of empty space as the hairs were missing. The last slide showed hair cells that researchers were able to regrow in guinea pigs. It looked like spaghetti noodles winding up and around all over the place. No one knows why the cells grow back in that pattern and it is something that will have to be figured out along with some side effects that would need to be overcome.
Something fabulous may be coming eventually for hair cell regrowth. But I don't think Chance would benefit in time to give him the best advantage where with the bilateral implants, he has the best that is available for him now.
The man giving the presentation had recently adopted a deaf little girl. This is a man who is in the know of what is going on with implants and future technologies that are in now in development. And he is getting a second implant for his daughter.
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