Parker is still progressing and has been having new experiences.
On Wednesday we returned to Necker and Dr. Lacourreye (the ENT who first tested PJ and determined he was deaf) and Anne Keroudin (the audiologist who gives us lots of ear equipment) turned Parker's cochlear implant on. They first ran a series of tests on the implant and determined all 22 electrodes were functioning. They then did tests on a few of the electrodes sending sound impulses to the auditory nerve and then waiting for a return. They told us that it could be at this stage he would not react or there could be no response and the first couple of tests were not encouraging. On the third one they got a signal back and he turned his head and smiled a bit. This was repeated on another test so there was some recognition of sound. He did not respond to any clapping sounds or vocal calls and Renee and I were underwhelmed with the overall process and overwhelmed with the amount of equipment and care instructions that we had to deal with.
They instructed us that he should wear the cochlear implant on the right ear and the hearing aid on the left ear at all times. The implant side has the piece that goes over his ear which has a microphone and a microprocessor. This is linked by a wire to a silver dollar-sized node which is magnetically attached through the skin to the implant that was installed two weeks ago. The earpiece would typically also have the battery pack attached to it but given Parker's age the battery is clipped on to his shirt and there is another wire linking this to the earpiece. At the end of the earpiece there is a red light which flashes slowly when their is a problem and flickers rapidly when it is processing signals. It is a significant amount of head gear and for a small child who is just re-learning how to keep his head up, it is falling off constantly.
Thursday was the first trip to the speech therapist (Valerie) post cochlear implant activation and Renee had a minor emotional breakdown when she asked how it was going. After so much effort, the surgeries, the time, Renee's mom and Aunt Barb coming to help us, the complicated new equipment, I think we were looking for a bit more immediately miraculous result. As with all things we were reminded that faith precedes the miracle.
There are four levels of intensity on the implant and every two days we are supposed to boost the intensity level. Friday we moved it to level 2. At dinner Parker was holding his head up well in his chair while Renee spoon fed him. I called to him from the side and he turned his head fully to look at me and smiled. Renee called back to him and he would turn back to her. This we repeated several times and it was the first time in three months that we had a clear feeling that Parker was hearing us again. It isn't much and we are not sure if he can really pick up where sound is coming from but Renee and I were thrilled and Parker seemed to be happier as well.
We are headed into a three-day weekend with a forecast of sunny skies in Paris. Monday we come into the first month of summer. After a brutal winter the spring brings a level of re-birth through a series of struggles, sunshine and warmth somedays chased by clouds and rain other days- always with a risk of a late frost or a cold period where growth may be slowed or stopped. Then the summer comes and though not every day is perfect, you certainly feel a sense of security that shoots that struggled for life will start real and impressive growth. You have a kind of absolute faith that there won't be a freak snowstorm that will kill off the summer foliage. Our faith in this summer is slowly growing in many ways.
