Watch Drew Hear!

Here are a few videos of Drew hearing his very first sounds after "Turning On His Ears". We hope you enjoy them!

1. Here Drew is turned on for the first time. He looks a bit surprised, but he didn't seem scared.

2. In this clip, Drew hears his dad's voice for the first time and freezes for a moment. He gets frightened by the audiologist's loud voice, and Drew's mom finally gets to tell him "I love you."

3. This is the best video so far, because you can see Drew startle at the drum. He then starts breathing very hard because he is hearing sounds that he has never heard before! A special thanks to Drew's sister who asks him "hear that Drew?" while pointing at her ear.

Activation Day

Drew's hearing was turned on today! It was a rather anti-climatic moment, as we we hoping for a glorious, "Hi, Mommy, I can hear" moment. Obviously that didn't happen, but we did get a clear indication that he can hear. (Video coming soon!)

Mapping is a very complicated and difficult process to understand. They tested his equipment at surgery and had a basic map from that. Then today they updated three electrodes on each ear to current power levels today. I think this means that three electrodes are mapped for Drew's ear today, where as the remaining 19 are mapped off of the results from surgery? Anyone with more information and understanding, please leave a comment!

After turning on all of the equipment, the audiologist tested him in the sound booth, just to make sure that he would not have any ill response to sound (facial twitching, crying, etc.). He did very well at 70 db.

We left the appointment with four different maps. We start with P1 today and will progress through P4 in the next few days. Each program is just a little bit louder than the last. Right now he is hearing around 65-70 db, not in the speech banana, but he is picking up environmental sounds. As we continue to turn him up he should be in the speech banana after his next mapping, July 10th.

Activation Scheduled

Drew's activation of his bilateral cochlear implants has been scheduled for June 28! I think I might need another countdown clock...the day he will start with his hearing journey.

Drew and his Gam-ma now have a special day to share with each other. We will always celebrate Gam-ma's birthday and Drew's hearing anniversay on the same day. Can't wait for Gam-ma's (oh, maybe I shouldn't share the age?) birthday this year! What a wonderful day June 28th will be when Drew hears his Dad and I tell him we love him for the first time.

Looking forward to June 28th. Happy Hearing, Drew!