Lotte is doing GREAT..!!

... she's growing and growing.. both physically and mentally. It's a joy to observe this little girl taking more and more control over her life.
Doing sports (handball), playing with friends in the street and at school. She's claiming her own life more and more.

Same with CI.. It's no longer something for her that's just there without hardly noticing it, it's becoming more and more a tool that she is getting to know..
Not just thinking about where to put it, but also controlling the software is becoming part of her. (Changing to another program when sounds are loud..)


The BTE's are now on the ear almost all the time. She even played handball with the BTE's on the ear last Monday, showing that she is confident that they do not fall off AND more importantly that she knows she has someone to put it back.
She still can't do it herself. With her hair in the way, she hasn't figured out how to do it.. (Even though I think the main reason is... She doesn't have the patience to try & learn.... There's someone else around that can do it for her..)

Some days ago she came in and announced that her friend helped her to put the CI on the ear... the plug in the ear... meaning that Lotte is secure with the knowledge that someone at school can help her..
(We still have to show the teachers how it's done... )





  
 

Airy plugs

Lotte's new earplugs... Working well....

Ear-plugs for Lotte - continued.

OK... quick update...
Ordered - and received new ear-molds... Just like Dan suggested..
Nowadays, for Lotte the norm is to have the BTE's on the ears... Only when there's gym or other sports Lotte wants them on the back...

It's wonderful to see how it's her own choice.. She has a plan - and I guess we 'll have to stick with it..

Would love to add a picture.. but I'm working... far.. far.. away in the middle of the Norwegian North Sea... LOL..

Ear-plugs for Lotte - Fair enough...

Yesterday- Sunday started with Lotte with the BTE's on the ears, the batteries on the back... All went well until she came in after playing outside.. Guess she felt the contraption on the back. so she demanded to have all of the BTE on the ear.
Fair enough..... We're experimenting here...

Then when we were talking with her about using it at school we came to the part where she has swimming on Monday and gymnastics on Tuesday.... She stopped us and explained:
"You know.. this is how we do it. I will have it on the back (the old way) on Monday and Tuesday, and Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I will have it on the ear." Excellent... she's taking control of her CI...
we think the change to wearing it on the ears is enough... She doesn't want to add to it the exposure of explaining to the teachers how the earpieces have to go back, how the tube goes into the earpiece etc... Too much to handle for her in one day.... So she wants to take it slowly....
Fair enough..... We're experimenting here..

So... at the moment all's back at"normal" with the BTE's safely secured on her back....

Only thing to do is check if/when she will be upgraded to the nucleus 5, and if the earpieces she got are the right ones... (Thanks Dan for pointing it out..)

Ear-plugs for Lotte ... today's solution... worked..

This morning we adjusted the "tubes" to the correct length... and even though the BTE's are hanging OK... it's still a big thing on her ears.. Over to plan B... the battery/controller separated from the microphone/sender....

Lotte was happy to try the extensioncords.... and loved them. Comfortable at the ears, and she didn't mind the battery-packs/controller on her back.. 

So this is how she wore them the rest of the day..  I think it's still a novelty... Something "cool" for her.. We'll see how it goes in the next few days.

But it makes it easier for her to use the phone (no more grabbing the BTE from the shoulder, impossible to put back) and perhaps some better hearing outside... 

   

She still has to learn to put them in herself..... Not an easy task... 

Perhaps this will become a bottle-neck in the future.... She will be very frustrated when she can't get the mold in it's place...  We'll go to school with her and explain it to the teachers.... They need to know how to help her.. 

Ear-plugs for Lotte - The story continues....

Today - Friday -  Lotte got her ear-molds.... The ones we had made earlier..
Transparent with glitter in it... Great stuff... We didn't order it this way, but it was a great idea of the person that ordered it...

It took some time to fit the ear-molds & flex tube to the BTE.. but we managed.. The problem seems to be that the soft-plastic tube comes out from the side, and then has to go up to the BTE...

For us... it is not as secure as on the shoulder, so we are a bit sceptic still, but on the other hand... most kids wear it like this.... Guess we need to get used to it..
So does Lotte... She will need to learn to insert the earpiece, and then hang the BTE on the ear... Practice makes perfect... so that's what we will do tomorrow...

As can be seen below, the BTE is too big for her ears.

But there is the option to use cables to hang the battery-compartments on the shoulder with the processor and microphone on the ears.... Another experiment for tomorrow.....

Just wondering if Lotte is OK with having something on the ears AND on the shoulders.....

Ear-plugs for Lotte

Yep.... the first step toward carrying the BTE's on the ear instead of on the shoulders has been made.... Well, again a first step. The previous "step" ended in a broken BTE....

We planned to get a mold made for the plugs that are going to keep the BTE's in place,.... behind the ear that is...

Lotte's ears are not designed to have a BTE hanging there.... Some people have a little earlobe on the bottom which can be used to clamp on a BTE, but Lotte doesn't have that... The plug will do it for her.

We already prepared Lotte the week before. After that there was no way we were going to forget this appointment. Lotte was counting the days... Guess this is her way of having grip on the whole situation...
We would have done it last time in Oslo, but there was not enough time.. planes to catch ... So, we would do it at home...

Today was the day. I picked Lotte up from school went to the hospital..
After a good ear-cleaning.. (after all... it hasn't been used at all during the last 8 years. Was in pretty clean state.. :-) ) we went to the "making ear-molds" specialist...
Blue paste + White paste + rolling it between the hands, and then.... "injected in the ear followed by a 3 minute wait..... Lotte was fine with it all.... and demanded some pictures..

We'll see how it will go. I have the feeling that the novelty is driving Lotte at the moment. The real test will be her going to school with the BTE's on the ear.

It would be an improvement for her in the sense that she will have more control over the BTE.

At the moment she can remove the BTE from the pouches on the shoulder and change the settings but she can't put it back in the pouch. With the earpiece she will be able to just take it off from the ear and put it back again..

Now, it's waiting for the mail to arrive with the 2 plugs. Then we have to assemble the BTE to the plug, but should not be a problem..
We will keep you informed..
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Usefull links: Sports and CI - Earpiece Guide - Molds
(Thanks Dan..)