Sick Kiddo

Emmi is sick again with bronchitis. She gets bronchitis and pneumonia often. Since she does not cough well due to her tone, she often needs breathing treatments during these times. She was given a new prescription today. The first time did not go well. She vomited. It gave her a sore throat. I should have given her half a dose, but I just didn't think about it beforehand. She will now eat or drink nothing besides "coffee milk." Yep, that's right. My kid is demanding coffee. Or really, milk with a splash of coffee.

To make matters worse, I had just given her the antibiotic. She now thinks that is why she threw up. She runs from me when I try to give her any. It is going to make for a fun next five days.

Progress

I should have taken pictures, but I didn't get a chance. Today Emmi wore her processors up on her ears to school for the first time. She was fitted for earmolds a few weeks ago, and they came in yesterday. She was really excited. I think because all of her classmates wear theirs that way. She wanted to be like them. She kept pointing at her ears saying, "It bettah!"

This week we had parent/teacher conferences. Wow, what a difference a year makes. Last year, we were unsure Emmi would ever mainstream. We definitely did not think she would head to kindergarten on time. This year, her teacher is quite positive that she will not only join a mainstream class, but she will also go to kinder next year. Right on time! She is doing well. She can count, she can sort, she has developed pre-reading skills, and she is writing her name and several other words. Her PPCD class is actually following the kinder curriculum, so she may actually have an advantage come next year. While her class next year will be a mainstream class, she will still have the other girls she is currently in PPCD with in her class. So she will never be the only deaf student. Plus this school is the magnet school for deaf students. There are many deaf students even in the mainstream classes. Even the kiddos that remain in the deaf ed grade school program, join the mainstream classes for large group. I have noticed that many students throughout the school sign. I have worried about her feeling odd or alone, but I don't think this will be the case at this school. The problem will be if they try to move her to her home school in the coming years. But that will only happen if she is no longer dependant on speech or audiology during the day. Not that I want her to be dependant on therapies, but I really don't want her to move to the home school. I really love Emmi' school, and I really dislike Jill's (which is our home school). But that is a battle for later years. For now, we are really happy with Emmi's progress. I promise to video tape her talking, so you can see how she is doing. And I may actually get around to posting that video, too!

Dewberry Farm

This past weekend we took the girls to Dewberry Farm for some old-fashioned fun. Hayrides, corn mazes, and swings. We were there for hours, and still did not manage to take in everything! Mostly the girls played in the hay, bounced on the "kidhilla hoppers," and ran through just about half of the corn maze.

Climbing stacks of hay.

Falling off stacks off hay....and laughing hysterically!

And Emmi's favorite, shooting the corn cannon!

Frustration

This week has been rough. Emmi is always very affected by problems with her processor. She tends to take it out on her sister and the dogs. Jill is currently suffering from quite a few bruises as a result. One of these days, Jill might figure out that she is twice Emmi's size!

Emmi keeps asking me to change the batteries on the left processor. Unfortunately, that isn't going to solve the problem. It is the internal device that is bad. She is frustrated with me lack of response. She has taken it upon herself to change the batteries. When it doesn't solve the problem, she is angry. It is rough on her. Her language skills are getting so much better, but not yet good enough to explain what is going on. On either end. I have no idea what she is experiencing other than it must sound similar to how it sounds with low batteries, and she has no idea that it will soon be fixed. Add to that she just received the new OPUS processors which sound slightly different anyway, and you have one very irritated kiddo.

At least, school has started back today! She was very excited to see her teachers and friends. She loves school. She ran and jumped into her teacher's arms. She hugged her therapists. She ran, laughing to her friends. Maybe that will distract her a bit today from what is going on.... I hope!

Some good, some bad.

I think we are only allowed a certain amount of good news at a time.

Jill's MRI seemed to go well. I don't have the official results, but I have an uncanny ability to read the techs. I don't buy their "The doctor has to interpret this" spiel. They know what is normal or not. I am pretty sure, there was nothing remarkable about Jill's MRI. I was much relieved.

Then today Emmi had an Audiology appointment. She finally got her OPUS system. Sort of. They sent the wrong color for one side, so they used her left side equipment to program both sides. So she is up and running on both sides, but we have no back-ups until Oct 1. We will go back then to get the other set. But at least she is hooked up, and reaping the benefits of the new system! Today for the first time ever, she listened to an ipod! She loved it. I would be ecstatic.

Except I am also processing the fact that she lost one more electrode. Which puts her below functioning level on the left side. She will have to be re-implanted. Another surgery. We just can't win.

OPUS!

I just got an email from the implant coordinator. Emmi's bilateral OPUS systems are in! They received one a few weeks ago, so we were just waiting on the other one. Now we just need to get a MAPing appointment, and Emmi will FINALLY have her new processors. I am supposed to call her tomorrow morning to find out when her appointments will be. I am doing a little happy dance right now.

Okay. I am back from my happy dance. Now let me tell you why this is so great. Emmi was in that little group that only received ONE set of equipment for each side, because we were waiting on FDA approval of the new processors. We were originally told it would be months. But months turned into years. Everytime something broke, Emmi just couldn't hear until a replacement part was overnighted to us. Plus that meant, I never could wait for insurance approval on parts. I had to just pay out of pocket or make her wait even longer for the parts. Now we will have a WHOLE ENTIRE backup system FOR EACH EAR! Extra coils. Many battery packs. Ahhhh! And the battery packs.... ARE RECHARGEABLE!

No more buying hundreds of dollars of batteries! We went through 9-12 batteries in a week (depending on the rotation), as sets of three last four days. That's two ears, six batteries running at a time. You can't just run to Walgreen's and get standard hearing aid batteries. Oh no. You need cochlear batteries. They have to be special ordered, and insurance doesn't cover them. But the new processors run on rechargeable batteries! We can still use the old battery packs as backup, so we are completely done with those batteries yet. But unless the power goes out for many days at a time, I think we are good!

There are so many other amazing things about the new processor that I could go on and on. But I won't. You get the picture already!

Nummy Donuts, Blue Socks, and Diving

Jill asked for a special breakfast alone with Kenny. Emmi was NOT happy about being left behind, even though I planned to take her for donuts. I finally managed to calm her down enough to get her dressed, but only as long as I allowed her to wear this.

Frilly dress. Matching shoes. BLUE socks. Whatever makes the kid happy.

Of course, once she had that pink donut she was really happy. Between bites she would murmur, "Mmmm, nummy." I think I might be sad when she can actually say "yummy" correctly.

And, Mom, about that Olympics. Diving, maybe?