The hearing in my daughter’s left ear was so severe that she didn’t have very much hearing in that ear. She was only able to hear very, very loud sounds using her left ear. So it has been over 16 years, since the nerve inside of her ear hasn’t had any stimulation. It is amazing that my daughter was able to hear the beeps and crackling noises in her left ear. The audiologist said, “that this was very normal.” She explained to us that the noises that she is currently hearing is her auditory nerve firing and that it will take some time before she is able to recognize sounds using her left ear. Over time my daughter will slowly be able to start understanding sounds with her left ear, her left ear will require some training and getting used to before my daughter would be able to hear spoken words and noises out of her left ear. The reason why it takes some getting used to, her brain isn’t used to getting messages from the left auditory nerve and that it will take her brain some time to get used to translating the messages. The messages sent from the auditory nerve to the brain are translated by her brain and her brain is able to figure out what sound she heard.
Her left ear is similar to a newborn baby’s hearing. They don’t know what they are hearing because their brain isn’t familiar with language yet. As a newborn grows up and is taught what sounds and words are, those sounds are stored in the brain. She will need continuous stimulation to her left ear so that she can train it to recognize sounds and words that she has heard before on her right side.
I can’t wait to share her continual improvement over the next few months, as she continues to work with the audiologist to adjust her hearing levels. In fact, she has to return to the audiologist in two weeks for another follow up. The audiologist will adjust her level of hearing in the left ear and see how she is doing with her left ear. I am so thankful for the gift of technology and that it has given my daughter the opportunity to hear. The look on her face was priceless when she was finally able to hear something with her left ear.
What medical technology are you impressed with?
Comments
13 responses to “My Daughter Got Her New Ear’s Yesterday”
This is so wonderful for your daughter. I am really glad you have share these triumphs with us.
Thank you, it is exciting because this time she is able to tell us what she is hearing with her left ear and what it sounds like so far to her.
It’s interesting to see how the ears are like a baby’s ear and it’s not used to sounds.
What did the doctor say about ipods and etc?
Do the ear surgey affect her balance?
I hope she doesnt get picked at in school about it. You know teenagers can be real nasty and unsympathetic.
God bless your family. I am so happy this young girl is receiving healing.
She is able to listen to an ipods or mp3 player using a special cord that hooks into her cochlear implants and into the headphone jack. She still has trouble talking on the telephone and mostly uses text messaging on her cell phone. Overall, the surgery hasn’t affected her balance, expect the first few days following the surgery due to the pain medication she was taking. She has had her right implant since she was 4 years old and hasn’t really had any issues with other people picking on her. She is an amazing young lady.
Hi Christy,
I’m so happy for your daughter and of course all of you too, because I can well imagine how good she must be feeling to be able to hear everything well enough now. Not to mention all that she must have undergone before the surgery. Yes, we are indeed blessed because of the latest technology that comes to help in such cases.
Thanks for sharing. Have a nice week ahead 🙂
Thank you for stopping by Harleena. She has been able to hear out of her right ear since she was 4 years old. Adding the second implant should help her hear directional sounds and help when there is a bunch of background noise in the background.
Thanks for sharing your daughter’s journey and teaching about the implant and how her body needs to adapt. I am a hearing person and take for granted that my kids know the sound of my voice. I am sure you are all excited for the day when she can hear your sweet voice. Good luck and best wishes to you and your daughter.
I am thankful that technology has enabled her to be able to communicate and hear everything around her. I can’t wait until she can hear my voice using her left ear. She has had her right side since she was 4 years old.
it so nice to read this great post. Congrats to your family!
Thank you Pamela, it is exciting and I am thankful that I can share my experience with others who might be in my same situation.
I’m happy for your daughter she got her new ear.
Thanks so much for making me aware of your site and your daughter’s journey. I will definitely continue to follow her journey on your blog. I haven’t yet been able to connect with parents of kids with implants, so it’s nice to finally get some real answers as to the recovery process and mapping appointments. My son will have his left ear (his worst ear) implanted a week from today, and so many emotions are going through my mind. I’m so glad your daughter is so excited for her new ears and that she’s thriving with them! This makes me even more confident in our own decision.
Your welcome Amy, I hope that you found this information useful. Let me know if you have any questions, I would be more than happy to answer them. Her first implant was done at 4 years old and they implanted her right ear because it was her worst ear at the time. Her second ear was done a few months ago because she was having issues hearing when there was too much background noise. The second implant will eventually help her be able to hear better when the background noise is higher and help with directional sound. The sooner you implant the less speech problems your child will have. I regret not implanting her sooner for that reason, but she is doing great overall with her speech. She does struggle at school with reading and english language (she writes similar to ASL). We use sign language as well because it reinforces her language development and it gives her a way to communicate when she is without her device for whatever reason. It was nice connecting with you.