Today we went to the beach and the Oregon Coast Aquarium with Grandma Mary and nine other family members. What a busy day! Ben’s favorite part (besides lunch) was the sand on the beach. At first he refused to step on it and held his feet in the air. Then he moved on to gigantic steps. Read More
Author Archive
Celebrity
September 4th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben was featured in a front page article in our local newspaper. The newspaper contacted us way back in December before Ben’s first surgery. The reporter and photographer were so interested in Ben’s story they joined us on his first surgery day and then again when he was first Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Dancing Man!
August 6th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Today went up to Dornbecher to meet with Ben’s audiologist. The whole way up he said ” Dtr Don errr” (Doctor Don, ear). Dr. Don was thrilled to his his name over and over. . Ben had a booth test with his ‘new ear’ and tested at 15 db. Pretty good hearing for a Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Zoo Trip
July 29th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Today Ben went to the Zoo. He loved the elephants. He jumped and giggled saying “ene ana, ene ana”. We had to drag him away from the pigs (iggys). These penguins knew how to show off. Ben waddled saying “peep, peep, peep”. When we left he waved and said, Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Not So Sure
July 9th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben’s second implant activation was quite a bit different from the first. . He did not want the processor anywhere near his ear or the magnet put on. After some convincing and a lot of distracting, we were able to get the magnet on long enough for Dr. Don to turn the sound on. Ben startled Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Happy 4th!
July 5th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben celebrated his Fourth of July in true American style: family, BBQ, and fireworks. He enjoyed some yummy BBQ ribs, hanging out by the fire with Grandma Mary,and roasting marshmallows with Daddy.Ben loved his first roasted marshmallow.He even tried holding a sparkler. It was a Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Bilateral Ben
June 25th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben had his second Cochlear Implant Surgery yesterday at OHSU. We were lucky this time, because Ben was the Dr.’s first case of the day. Poor little Ben only had to wait an hour and a half for his surgery time. By the time they finally took him, he was starving and terrified of anyone Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Neigh
June 22nd, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
On Wednesday, July 23 (in two days!) Ben will get his second Cochlear Implant.We are nervous and excited all rolled into one. We have done lots of reading and research to help guide our decision. Ultimately, we are thinking about Ben’s future as a hearing and speaking boy. In this case, Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Moo
April 14th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
While Ben was eating breakfast the other morning, he looked out the window and saw the neighbors goats. He signed cow and said, “MOOOOO”. Close enough for me! I was ecstatic. We just had to go see those ‘cows’ up close. Ben brought a treat to share. Before you give Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Easter
April 6th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben had a fantastic Easter! He ran all around Grandma and Grandpa’s house collecting eggs. Then he took his eggs out of the basket. They were hard to open. But …horray! The Easter Bunny filled Ben’s eggs with delicious dried fruit. He ate all of it. Cousin Maddy showed Ben Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant, Non-Deaf/HOH Topic |
Three Months Hearing
March 27th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Today Ben had another booth test and a MAP adjustment with Dr. Don. In the booth Ben tested at 15 db. That’s incredible for a little guy who couldn’t hear a thing three months ago! Don preformed a few language evaluations on Ben also. He was quite impressed.Some great things noted Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant |
Great Grandma Daisy
March 25th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
We spent last week with Great Grandma Daisy in California. Ben had a wonderful time. He took Great Grandma on walks and always used his best manners; signing please, saying ta tu (thank you), and asking for hep (help). Grandma took Ben, Daddy, Mommy, and Uncle Jon to the Monterey Bay Read More
Posted in ASL, Auditory/Oral, Cochlear Implant |
Grateful
March 2nd, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben said “MOMMA”! Honestly, as far as excitement goes, it’s a tie between seeing him for the first time or hearing my name from his little mouth. Thank you Cochlear! Read More
Posted in Cochlear Implant, Speech |
Louder
February 6th, 2010 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Yesterday we went back up to visit Dr. Don and have Ben’s ear turned up. Ben was given four more programs, each a bit louder than the first. Next, we went into the hearing booth to see how well Ben is responding to sounds. With Ben on his first program (the quietest) he responded Read More
Posted in Audiology, Auditory/Oral, Cochlear Implant |
Choices
November 24th, 2009 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
This past week we met up with Don at OHSU to talk about Ben’s up coming implant. (For a brief review of what a cochlear implant is check out this earlier blog: MRI and CT.) We discussed our options for which brand of implant Ben will be getting. The choices include Cochlear’s Nucleus Read More
Posted in Audiology, Cochlear Implant, Hearing Aid |
Water Fun!
May 31st, 2009 by Ben's journey into a hearing world.
Ben loves his bath. He splashes, gurgles, and tries to eat the wash cloth. But, he can’t hear any of it because he has to have is hearing aids off. So….we had some water fun outside. Some splashing, no gurgling. Ben spent most of his time looking at his feet. I guess toes in the Read More
