Writing.. by Lotte

It doesn't feel such a long time ago that we had to explain Lotte about writing full sentences, let alone full stories. It was hard work to have her to correct her homework in order to write down real answers instead of just repeating random words that were in the question..
(Actually, come to think of it, I recently taught her that she has to answer using the words in the question before she starts looking for the answer.... OK.. this is could become a problem..)

Anyway... Here's a story she had to write for her Norwegian homework.
OK.. it's in Norwegian, so most of you won't be able to read it.. except the names of Justin Beber and Selena Gomes.. but that doesn't matter.
She was with two other friends at home doing their math and Norwegian homework, and had great fun. Each of them wrote their "essay" and when everyone was finished they all had turns reading it before the others; taking great pride in the work they created.

The story that Lotte wrote is just one of those milestones, or wake-up calls, for us to see how well Lotte is doing in school and socially. Catching up unnoticeable as the days tick by.
A wakeup call because in a way.. "life goes on".. and looking out for new developments and milestones is not a daily activity for us. We sometimes need to be stopped in our daily tracks in order to see what has happened.

This blog is another way to reflect upon where Lotte is coming from. It is a way not to focus on what Lotte cannot do (which isn't much) but to see where she is coming from, how all the work that has been put into her, by us, by her, by the school has paid off..

btw..
Lotte has been going back and forth this weekend to a friend rehearsing for a play that they have put together..
Can't wait to see it...

What should doctors know about deaf children and their parents...???

Last thursday (4. feb 2010) Jodi (Jodi Michelle Cutler) just came with a request on Facebook... I'll repeat it here for those that can't reach her facebook page..

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I was thankful for five minutes with seven hundred pediatricians. Tuscany has given me three hours...my own three hours to use as I choose to teach 500 pediatricians the parental perspective on newborn hearing screening and deafness. I have created a program of what I want to share, but since you've been with me throughout this entire two year long journey and we've debated, agreed, laughed and hung out-please send me resources. Send me studies, send me anything that has helped your child become the well-rounded, happy, functioning child he/she has become. If you have any youtube videos or websites that you think are important; if you want to send me pix of your kids with cis or hearing aids or signing that I can use on my slides, leave the link in the comments section or email me at jodi@rallycaps.net. I have until Wednesday to translate everything.

And I will give it to them...the pediatricians who took the questionnaire and realized they just did not have enough information and that they needed more...the pediatricians parents criticize for not having listened- I'll have 500 of them in my hands...for three hours.

God, I mean, I'm only a Mom.
*Smile*
(Grazie...)

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Time for reflections.. 
A nice opportunity to look back for all of us, and let Jodi tell the (Italian) doctors what do when they meet parents like us, and our children..
Our time with pediatricians is done. We hardly see them. Lotte's CI is checked, updated etc, but the last time we 've seen a pediatrician is a long time ago.
What about the ones we did meet......

We suspected that Lotte wasn't hearing as she should after 6 months. At the consultation office, a doctor peeked in her ears, and concluded " fluids in the middle ear.." Case closed...
We accepted the "verdict" and moved on.. As a doctor, he should have followed up. Have us come back asap to check again, until there would be a conclusion about whether she could hear. Not a diagnosis about why she cannot hear at that moment.
FOLLOW UP. If you want to conclude that the child is not deaf, make sure the child can hear.
If it doesn't, and there seems to be a reason... then check later, when the reason for the (temporary) hearing loss is gone.

What I do remember is the first reaction of our family doctor when my wife came with the suspicion that Lotte had trouble hearing.. He checked Lotte and immediately referred us to the ENT in the hospital.
An EXCELLENT reaction. When a mother expresses concerns.. take her seriously...

We managed to get there fast, thanks to another referral by a friend of us (a doctor). This was not appreciated by the ENT-specialist... We should have waited in line.. Yeah, right...
They did a test with Lotte. With a little bell... One nurse would sit across from Lotte, another nurse would ring the bell on different sides... OK, this little girl is deaf. She has learned to read faces.. so.... Lotte passed that test. She could probably read from the face of the nurse across from her where she should look..
Diagnosis: "She can hear." ... .Wonderful.. just what we wanted to hear... even though we KNOW she can't hear...
It's TERRIBLE to do tests that are inconclusive...
A test like that should be done with several speakers around the child... A test with a little bell will never be definitive.... And concerned parents need definitive conclusions...

It took another 5 months to do an ABR, where they found out that Lotte was "profoundly deaf"... From "She can hear" to "Profoundly deaf".. !!
The ENT told us this in the hallway..!! Not in a private office.. In the hallway.
No "sorry.. I thought she could hear" or "I never expected this" or "I was wrong"... Just a little information to the mother in the hallway...
It's TERRIBLE not to show respect...
The message that your child is deaf comes as a huge shock. Even we, who triggered fire alarms, played terrible mobile phone sounds next to her ears, and KNEW she was deaf.. even for us, the official sentence was a shock..

Then, the refusal to start applying for a cochlear implant.. First Lotte had to try HA's.
Fair enough, but with the waiting-list in Norway being a year at that time, they could have applied and while waiting Lotte could wear HA's.. But no.. first wasting precious time with HA's, that were of no use to her...
Perhaps it's the official way, but when HA's had worked, one could have just cancelled the CI-application at any time. No time would have been wasted.
If the parents want it, APPLY FOR CI as soon as possible.

A year of not hearing is a lot for a small child, and it will be a problem later on. In some area's Lotte started with a 2 years gap... and even though she's catching up... it shows in her daily life.
Nowaday's, with screening at birth, this is not necessary any more, but it shows how much valuable time can be saved with screening straight after the child is born.
NEWBORN SCREENING is essential.
it will make the journey for these deaf children so much easier, and the results so much better.
(Many articles confirm this... and with more and more screening and research, this will be more and more obvious.)

From the time we had an OK for cochlear implants, our experiences with pediatricians have been great. They have showed us respect, and explained all possibilities.
They were realistic, even conservative about possible outcome. For example, they never said "Your child will be able to have a telephone conversation.." They never promised anything they could not back up.
And that's great.
Parents need REALISTIC prognoses. Not castles in the air..
In the end, Lotte went beyond the expectations that the ENT's talked about.. And that's great.

Sometimes it is said - by people who have no idea - that choosing CI for your child is the easy way out.
In a way... I wouldn't know, because we never raised a deaf child, except for the first 2¼ years, of which we knew she was deaf for 1 year... And, it was tough.. sure..
But, it's not easy when the child has CI. It's not a pick-nick. It's hard work. Especially working with your child and making it fun, not work..
Parents need to be informed that they will have to WORK to get results...
It's not a miracle where the child goes home hearing. It requires WORK from both parties. The parents and the child. Getting CIs is only a start, it's a beginning of a long period of hard work to MAKE it work. And the parents need to work in such a way as so that the child doesn't see it is work at all... and again.. that's hard work!

I can't hear... !! :-(

This morning Lotte was talking about having a sleepover with the neighbours downstairs, and how her friend was not allowed to wake her..

"But.. you can't hear, so he can't wake you.." we said to her... "And... you're normally awake first..." we added.

Lotte replied... "Nooooo"
"Yes..." we said... "You wake us up every morning to put on the CI. You knock on our bedroom door.."
"Yes, but I need my ears..".. Lotte replied.

I made a little joke.. "You should knock and then wait 'til you hear us say "come in".."

"But I can't hear she said. " and turned sad... It was a big thing for her...
The first time we see her express sadness that she can't hear. At least.. that's how it looked. Perhaps the sadness came from her needing us to ask in order to be able to hear..
Anyway, the first time that her deafness was cause for sadness with her..

It's inevitable that that moment comes, that your child realises it is lacking something. And as a parent you want to prevent that moment, push it into the future, and soften it..
In our case, it's softened I believe..
It seems that the "problem" is not that she can't hear. The "problem" is probably that in this phase of looking for independence she needs us to start hearing.. and that means waking us up..

It's probably time to teach her to pin the BTE-pouches on her clothes herself.
She has no problem putting the batteries in and starting the system up.. Since she doesn't want them on the ears, she needs help to do this..
Today, we'll teach her that. We'll go through the whole process for her to start hearing. From getting the batteries (rechargeable) and putting them in the BTE, turning them on, and more importently putting the BTE's on a shirt before she puts it on...

Think her "independence streak" will love it....

p.s.
She learned... Costs.. 5 drops of blood from her thumb due to "safety"-pin.

Music school

"I want to go to the music-school"... Lotte said..
My wife wasn't sure she heard it correctly, so ask Lotte what she said..
"I want to go to the music-school" ..not so loud and clear. (We are working on talking with a soft voice..)
Many of the children in her class are signed up for this. Playing with instruments, singing. All in order to create a basis for music.
Still not sure if Lotte understood what happened in the music-class, my wife asked her "What do they do ther.?.
"Singing" Lotte replied. She is totally aware what's happening there, and wants to be part of it. (We're not really surprised.)

Of course she will go there. She loves singing and playing on her piano. She sees her brother playing guitar and her sister sings in a choir. Of course she must follow.

We never signed her up because we wanted to see how she would handle the transition from kindergarten to school.
As said before, that went without a problem. (Seems it happened overnight..) so there's no reason to keep her away from the music class. Just have to prepare the music-teacher about Lotte.)

So, another milestone. Our deaf daughter wants to make music.
And it is very touching to see her sing along with the music. It goes too fast for her most of the times, but now and again she suddenly hits the right note.
It's wonderful....
Still... lots of work to do in that area.!..

Sad news....

We just heard that the surgeon that operated on Lotte - Dr. Sten Harris - has died. He died on the 8th of may, after being sick for some time. (See here.)
That we only now heard about it shows how little contact we have with that part of the "system".

When we met him, he was the person that would make it possible for Lotte to hear. We had many conversations with him about how a CI works, the procedure, and he was the one that told us that we were the first in Norway to be offered bilateral CI for Lotte, in 1 operation. We knew he had fought hard to get this the standard in Norway. We couldn't believe our ears. A wonderful gift.
Lotte's mum wrote a poem for him on the morning before the operation, and we remember how the situation made him a little uncomfortable. As if there was even more responsibility on his shoulders. (The poem is elsewhere in the blog... here.)

So, even though we haven't had contact with him since Lotte was dismissed from the "Rikshospitalet" in Oslo, hearing about his death really struck us. Why would this be, since we didn't have any contact? We didn't know that when budget-cuts were done in the Rikshospital he resigned out of protest. We didn't know he was sick. It seemed that our connection stopped after Lottte was operated.
Perhaps it is such a shock because he is such an important part of Lotte's life. Of Lotte's current situation. The personification of one of Lotte's milestones.
Of course there are many other surgeons that could have done this, but in Lotte's case, it was Sten Harris. He made it all possible for Lotte, and for us.

And perhaps the poem says it all...

Take this child

Give her wings
to hear
the sound of my smile

Give her wings
to hear
the radiance of my eyes

Never the same again
after today
Blessed
with an exceptional gift

To hear light
To see sound
gives wings to the soul
.

.

.

(To Dr. Sten Harris, Lotte's Mum, October 4th, 2004 )

End of the bags....??? Not yet..

Typical !
I'm explaining to people about Lotte's CI-bags, how she doesn't want them any other way, and then it happens..

She comes to me and says "Daddy, can the CI on the ears? I want to have a fat tummy."
She means - "a naked tummy" - no shirt. It's warm outside, and her sister goes without shirt, so obviously, Lotte wants to go like that as well.
However, she realizes the BTE's cannot be on her shoulders. But, being shirtless is an OK excuse to allow the BTE's on the ears.

So, to prevent changing the long for short cables, I made a pony-tail and put the cables through the elastic band as well... This way, they will not just fall off...

We'll see how Lotte likes it. Seems to be OK... Putting them back herself is not working for her. She has to ask someone else. No surprise there, she's never had them on the ears for more than 5 minutes, if that much at all.

And now no hassle with calling anymore on the phone. With the BTE's on the shoulder, when she wanted to use the telephone, we would transfer the BTE to her ear - with her permission of course.

Update:
She wore them continuously in the house, until we had to go out to the store. Then, she wanted to get a shirt on and hence, BTE's on the shoulder..

Oh boy..... what to do with little girls that know what they want ??

To our brave Lotte

Today was a special day. Today you went to school, a school where you will be like all the other children, and yet, not quite..
Despite the difficult start in your life you got the opportunity to live "hearing" between other hearing people.

Today was a day with many, many challenges and for us, your parents, a day with a lot of symbolism. You had to keep yourself up in a situation that you cannot control. Where you do not have the overview, where you do not understand all the information that is provided.
You were in a strange environment with new people. Until recently being in such a situation, without mummy and daddy, a situation like that would have been a problem. However, during the last summer holiday you have grown mentally with huge steps.
It goes together with understanding the world better. Exploring the world around you more freely. Being able to cope better with the situation like the one of today.
Today has put you in a situation that was difficult. A new social environment with new rules, new expectations. A situation where not everything is clear to you, and you will have to deal with it. Your intelligence helped you to deal with it... you are great in assessing a situation and anticipating it.

We will not forget this morning. Again you surprised us. We think we have some idea about how exiting this must be for you. For example, before the summer holiday, visiting the school you didn't want to let go of mummies hand and we were not allowed to go further than two meters from you.
But today you showed us how much you have grown.

You were on our lap, and when the children who were starting school were called to the front to the teacher, you asked mummy if she would join you. Of course she would...

Children were called up, and lined up on the stage.
Then, when it was apparent that you would be called, your body got tense and filled with determination. Your name was called and you jumped from your mothers lap, climbed on the stage, gave the teacher a hand, and lined up next to all the other children. No chance - and no need - for mummy to join you.
You did not even look back. You already decided that this was something YOU were going to do. Finished with kindergarten, you turned 6, and this was part of it. YOUR part. Going to school.

And then you were there.. proudly on the stage, smiling at us.

"Look mum - dad - I can do it myself.."

WOW!

After that you joined the other children to the classroom, and cherished your newly found independence. You found the table with your name and joined in with the other children, taking in your new environment.

You have shown us your courage. You showed us how you can make things happen by just wanting it.
You left us in awe while taking the new road to your new and exiting world. A world you are making your own using pure will-power, determination and trust.



We watch you with pride, with joy, admiration, and the wonderful feeling that all is well... that all is as it should be..!

--- Mous ---

Another milestone..

So many milestones that will be reached when raising a child. And, even though we know they should appear, we never know when they come... and then, suddenly, after a long straight stretch of road they appear around the next corner... Suddenly, unexpected... but clearly visible...



With a child born deaf there are also milestones, some the same, some different. And with Lotte, born deaf, and implanted with bi-lateral CI in november 2004, the milestones might be the same as for a hearing child... they just are a bit further up the road... or did we just get on the road a bit later?

Anyway.... today we turned one of those corners...

Lotte was sitting at the table, waiting for dinner.. Suddenly, she said.... "Mammaaaa.... " (standard start of an important message :-) ... and continued "kniv - mes" (knife), "hus - huis" (house) etc... A switch has closed and she got the idea of two languages... And not only that... Different words is one thing, but she went further and did the same with the names of her siblings... the "Norwegian pronunciation - Dutch pronunciation"..

Something really clicked. And to repeat the slight change in pronunciation of the names of her brother and sister is another amazing feat.

Remember how people sometimes want to know how CI sounds... there are computer-simulations that will reproduce a sentence simulating 4, 8 or 12 "electrodes" and it sounds mechanical, distorted etc... I am always skeptical of these simulations because they ignore a major aspect... the brain.

And this shows it... The simulation of the same name with a different "dialect / language" would very likely produce the same "sound" when run through only 12 electrodes... The differences are small, but Lotte has no problem reproducing them... (Reminds me when she repeated the word "Aubergine" perfectly...)

Anyway... To all those out there that are inpatient... (like we still are), and who look at their children when they play with children their own age and compare them... (like we do), I would just like to say that with CI, we put our children on the same road as the hearing children. They will follow the same road, and they will have the same milestones as the rest... but still, they got on the road a little later... with a different vehicle.

And the milestones... they are not fixed. For every child - deaf or hearing - they are at different places... but they will all meet them.... and they will meet them all.

The difficult part is... being patient..

Confidence

Time for an update on Lotte.
It's great to see how her development is going fast. In spurs. Perhaps having guests in the house in December (Lotte's grandma) and January (friends from Holland) really show the changes.
After all, they have not seen Lotte for a while and will notice differences easier.

The differences in the last couple of months have been in the way she pronounces words ( the "R" and "L" have really improved) and the length of the sentences.
These changes we notice ourself as well, but not as profound as the guests that are visting us.

But yesterday another important milestone appeared.
A couple of days ago, when I picked Lotte up from the kindergarten, she "complained" about a boy that had hit her and poured water over her. She wasn't crying. Just upset about what the boy had done. And explaining that he shouldn't have done this. All this in Norwegian, since we use that language when in the Norwegian setting.
In the evening, she explained the same again to her mother. This time in Dutch - the "home- language"...
Then yesterday, in the kindergarten, something had happened and a "meeting" was called.
All the children around the table, and the adults explained to the children what happened, and discussed it with the children.
When Lotte got the word, she stood up, and explained to all children about other children "mistreating" her in the last couple of days and why this should not be done.
All children listened to her, and when she was finished, agreed with her!

How about that! She feels so comfortable over there that she did this.
It shows how secure she feels. And this is a result of the kindergarten as a whole, the teachers that work there and of course Lotte herself.
And she will need it..... going to school, she will "lose" that secure feeling in the new environment. There are some idea's to have one of the teachers accompanying her, and of course, we will be able to assist her at school.
But the secure feeling she has at the moment at the kindergarten.... it's just fantastic..

A big THANK YOU to all the teachers over there....

She's not deaf ?

It's official.. another milestone... Today... breakfast.

Lotte's sister is putting butter on her bread.. and of course, Lotte also wants to have the butter, and is "demanding" it...
So, her sister says "Patience Lotte, do you hear me? You need to have patience!"
Whereupon Lotte says "Ja-Haaaa.., Lotte are not deaf !"

So, we have it from a reliable source!

I missed it at first.. especially since we hardly use the word in our daily conversation with her. The closest we come to it when we put the CI on, and are asking if she can hear. Or when we suspect that one of the CI's is not working. But even then we use "hear" - never "deaf".
I thought she said "dead", since for Lotte, all meat and fish that is presented she asks "chicken is dead?" or "fish is dead?"
So, when my wife said - "Did you hear that.?", I realised that she did say "deaf"...

Her language (and cognitive skills) is developing so fast now. Like other summers, it seems to be triggered by being exposed to only 1 language for an extended period of time.
In Norway, more than 50% of the time she will use Norwegian (in the "Barnehage") and the rest is spent on Dutch at home. In Holland, it is 100% Dutch.
It is not that 2 languages is slowing down her development, as far as we can see. Obviously, it is first of all difficult to compare her language with what it should be. Secondly, we do not hear her speak Norwegian a lot, since we use Dutch. Only with friends visiting, we will switch to Norwegian, and she has no problem with that either. She will happily continue chatting in Norwegian.
But, the full exposure to 1 language does seem to speed up development, or perhaps just vocabulary.
So I guess...... more vacations!..... I can live with that..

BTW.... she's deaf. It's just that she can hear... Could be confusing in the future..
Ah well, she'll figure it out some day, and we'll be there to help her.

From "L" to "Lotte" - A Reflection

Having Lotte chatting away all day, and of course, us replying to her, and getting her attention by calling out "Lotte"...
Suddenly one realises that the latter was a complete new experience once Lotte began to hear, allmost 3 years ago... (Is it really that long ago - has time passed by that quickly..??)

The sign for her was used of course, but using her sign (Twice the "L" in fingerspelling.) is not used in the same context. Saying "Lotte" is now a way to get her attention. This was not the case with the sign "L - Lotte". When Lotte was deaf, you either had her attention or you had not. One wouldn't "call" her with a sign... Getting her attention would be by waving our hand in her field of vision, or tapping her shoulder.

So, using her name was exhilarating. It signified a new "era" in our - and Lotte's - life.
And nowadays we don't even think about it any more, apart from the sudden realisation that pops up.

As I am writing this, Lotte is upstairs and talking continously, playing different characters, mimicking voices etc.
There is a constant need for sound!

The CI stays on!

One of my wifes hobbies is playing the piano, and during our stay in Italy (without the kids - we can recommend that..) we witnessed a concert in Siena, on the Piazza del Duomo / Piazza Jacopo della Quertia, by Ludovico Einaudi. A magical concert, where he played beautiful easy-listning music. One of them was "Le onde". I managed to find the music and downloaded the score.. Ever since, the music has been part of our house. Wonderful..

At least, up to a couple of days ago. My wife started playing, and Lotte said "Mommie, it hurts."
My wife realised that the sounds were coming in too strong, and played softer, but with the same result, actually, Lotte became upset.

Previously when she heared a sound that "hurt" (which happened rarely) she would have taken the CI off and continue with what she was doing; so my wife suggested this.
But this time it was different. No way was she going to take off er CI.

Appearently, there's a wish to have sound around her. When there's activity in the house, she probably wants to hear what's going on. She wants to be part of it, perhaps even be immersed in it.

But anyway, whatever the reason, it is something new. A new step, or phase in her life...

The CI stays on!!

Help.. it rains...

Yesterday, all three kids were playing outside in the garden. They had been in all day due to the rain, so they were eager to go.

But the rain came back, and Lotte's sister said to Lotte that she had to go inside because otherwise the CI would get wet.

Normally this message would have triggered the "injustice" botton on Lotte since she had to go in and the rest could stay out.
But this time, she was upset because the CI might break!!!

This is a first! Until now, she realized that she needs the CI to hear, but a malfunction was never in her mind.
Perhaps it is connected with the loss of hearing when the batteries run out. This in combination with a couple of weeks ago when 1 of the processors failed and Lotte had 1 CI for 3-4 days.

Anyway, she was upset, and came crying inside. We assured her that it was OK, and that a little water was not a problem.
That took care of the little crisis....

Music...

One of those great moments just happened....

I'm sitting with Lotte at the table playing the "balancing game" and my wife starts a CD (music). As she walks towards us, and the music starts, I ask Lotte. "What's that you're hearing?"

Hoping she get's the question, wishing she answers something like "Music" .....
she answers... ( with a face like "do you really don't know yourself.." )

"Guitar!"

We choke up, and look at each other, in awe!! Sometime we take things for granted, and then sometimes we notice that that we underestimate her...

Telephone Milestone...

In the weekend, Lotte's mum was visiting a friend and took Lotte's sister with her.

Of course, in the morning we still call to say "Good morning" to each other.

Lotte was in the bedroom when I was talking to my wife, and insisted to speak with her.

Normally, we would use the speakerphone, but the one in the bedroom doesn't have this feature, so.... I gave her the phone and put the earpiece close to the CI.

And... no problem. My wife asked simple questions, and Lotte understood it all without any problems. (or better said, with just as much problems as in one to one conversation..)
Of course Lotte was proud to finally use the telephone as all others do, and enjoyed the time on the phone.... sometimes putting the earpiece close to her ear, which - with the processors on her back - does not really help...

Another milestone.... and a big one.

Her first birthday-party!

New milestone.

Lotte was invited to the birthday-party of a little friend from the kindergarden.
(The invite caused an emotional waterfall with her mother.... for obvious reasons....)

She was all gung-ho to go, especially after seeing her brother and sister going to these kind of "events", it was finally her turn!

Both of us had other engagements, so we couldn't be close - just in case. To make sure that all communication went well, and that Lotte would feel secure, we asked if her sister could join, and this was not a problem.
In retrospect, Lotte was totally fine and is participating 100%, just like in the kindergarten.

Coming home again, she proudly showed her mother the bag with candy she got. The ultimate proof of growing up..!!

Singing

Lotte never sang in tune. She loves singing and can sing the melody but mostly out of tune...

Yesterday however she started to sing in tune.
She was sitting in the back of the car with her brother - (who's 5 years older) and together they continously sang the same song..

(We said it before.. she is so fortunate with 2 older siblings....!!)

So this is coming into place as well.
Sometimes one feels one cannot ask for more, since the whole technology is allready giving soo much, and then this happens.
Another milestone.

"The ear isn't working"

Today one of those huge moments.
In the beginning of Lotte's CI journey, Lotte never noticed that the CI was not working or if the coil had dropped off. She probably just went on with what she was doing, not being bothered by the lack of sound.
About 1 to 2 months ago, she started indicating that her CI was off. That is, she would come to us when she couldn't put it on herself.

Today however was the first time that the told us that the CI didn't work.
Lotte said to her mom "The ear doesn't work"
whereupon my wife said: "Can you go upstairs and get new batteries?"
Lotte answers "OK" and got the batteries..

WOW, it is so thrilling to see these kind of "breakthroughs...." !!
(AllDeaf)

Activation !!

In November she heared for the first time. Very slowly the level was turned up, and from then on she was hearing. Obviously, all this new input to the brain meant nothing to her... but the start was made....

It was great seeing the reflex (blinking) when she could hear. (Well, the brain registered.)
With us the activation was 3 days. 2 sessions every day, turning up the "volume" every time.
And evan though this went very slow (in our opinion) it really worked well, because Lotte NEVER had a negative experience in that time...
Oeps, forgot on day three, a chair was moved, and the sound of the legs on the floor surprised her too much.

.

Emailed information

For those who we forgot to inform, two weeks ago we got the message that Lotte was going to be operated on monday 4th october.
We had to go to Oslo on friday in order to have her checked before the operation and there they informed us that they were offering to implant two cochlear implants instead of the usual one implant. So she will be able to hear with both ears!!!! She'll be able to hear where sound comesfrom, hear better in noisy environment and learning to speak might be easier as well. This was incredible. We thought about arranging for a second implant ourselves and then this offer comes along...

Operation on monday went extremely well. at 11:45 they were finished (started at 09:00) and shewoke up around 12:30. 15 minutes later she was doing puzzles. The artificial morfine they gave her meant nothing to her. She just kept on playing... and trying to remove the irritating line from her foot.
So back to the ward where she continued playing until she felt sick, threw up and started eating straight after it.
A paracetamol at 15:30 and after that it was just like normal. (This was the last painkiller she had.)
Except, she looks like Dopey - the dwarf from Snowwhite - with the ears standing out like they do. (The swelling is causing that, not the implants.)

So, we were running after Lotte monday-afternoon, tuesday the whole day and on wednesday we were allowed to travel back home.

The external fitting of the equipment, and with that the first time she will perceive sound, will be done in November (22nd-25th) after the wound has healed and the implant has settled in the tissue behind her ear.The type of implant she got is the newest and finest of Cochlear, called Nucleus 4. (Correction - Renamed "Freedom") Even thought here is no information about this on the website of Cochlear (http://www.cochlear.com/) it looks almost the same as the Nucleus 3.