Another Step in the Journey

Today we took another step in the long journey of hearing better.  Today Emma had her last hearing testing and we made her implant device choice!!  This was our last big hurdle before surgery.  It went really well and it feels nice to have the prep work done now.  Emma rocked her testing!  She no longer needs help from another audiologist and follows the directions from just the one in the booth.  She tested her hearing unaided for about an hour.  Which let me tell you is a lot of work for her little ears.  She hung in there and the audiologist got all she needed done.  We did learn that since the ear drum repair on the left ear, her hearing improved slightly.  This was a hope, but not really something they expect.  But she was really surprised and ran a few test twice to check to make sure it was true.  However, it is still a profound loss and she will be getting her implant in that ear in June. 

Emma as a pro hearing tester!

 Checking out a few of the cochlear implant choices with daddy.  She thought is was really fun to play with all the parts!  She of course picked pink for her device color:)  

We did go with the  Advanced Bionic implants, which is made from the people who make her hearing aids.  This will allow some of the assistant devices to work with both ears.  Which will be really nice.  All of the implant companies are amazing and it was a hard choice.  However, the ability to use the mics etc with both ears tipped the scale.  I spent hours researching and talking with other parents in preparation for this meeting.  I about made myself crazy!  We truly feel we made the best choice for Emma.  

So, we are one step closer to what we pray will be a major breakthrough for Emma.  Everyone feels this will take her to the next level in speech and hearing.  She will continue to use her hearing aid in the right ear for the time being.  That ear is much stronger and doing well with the aids.  Right now Emma is just relying on that hearing aid and you can barely tell she is just wearing one.  Emma is not thrilled for another surgery, but when I said she would get lots of baked potatoes and McDonald's she cheered up!