Kelsey Signing

We have had a lot of people request a video showing Kelsey signing. In this brief clip you will see her sign, "Dad," "Mom," and "Milk."

Kelsey Update

Warning: This is a long post filled with pictures of our beautiful Kelsey.

 In our efforts to continue to learn all we can about Kelsey's hearing loss and options available to us, we met with a consultant at Primary Children's Hospital in Riverton. There we learned more about cochlear implants, were shown some examples, and given material on the various companies that manufacture the implants.

The picture above shows the portion of the technology to be implanted in the skull with an additional wire being looped into the cochlea to assist in sending signals to the brain.

The picture above shows the battery pack, as well as the external device that would function as the receiver and transmit the signal to the embedded technology.

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A week later we returned with Kelsey to complete another series of sound booth tests. The results of this test would be sent to the Surgeon who would perform the implant surgery.

The first booth test consisted of Kelsey wearing a special set of headphones. They proceeded to conduct the test all the way up to 120 decibels and did not receive a response.

The second sound booth test was performed with Kelsey wearing her hearing aids. The speakers in the booth are only able to reach a volume of 110 decibels, and not surprisingly, Kelsey did not respond to the sound. Thankfully Alisa was wearing ear plugs while in the booth with Kelsey.

The results of this test confirmed that Kelsey's hearing loss is so profound, that we no longer need to bother with Hearing Aids. 

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In the midst of all this testing we were able to attend an International Deaf Studies Conference held every-other year at Utah Valley University. Over the course of the three-day conference, Alisa was able to attend the first day, Alisa and I were able to attend the second day, and the entire Family was invited to attend a special "Families with Deaf Children" workshop the third day.

Deaf Education Panel

 Family workshop discussing story time with Deaf children and siblings.

Outside the Conference

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The next step in our education of Kelsey's hearing loss was to have an MRI performed at Primary Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City. The MRI was needed to determine if the anatomy in Kelsey's ear, including the nerve sending the signal to the brain were in-tact. Our appointment began at 7 a.m.

 Waiting to begin her MRI process.

 I love her face as she looks at the nurse who was checking her heart and lungs.

Kelsey is....what I would kindly say....well fed. Due to her..."healthy" nature it was difficult for the nurse to find a suitable vein in which to proceed with her IV. I guess trying to give an IV to a chubby baby isn't new however, as they have a special light that can be used to assist in the vein location process.

A vein was found and the process of her IV began. She did not appreciate being held down, or having her hand pricked with a needle.

 After the IV was in, they gave Kelsey a "fluid boost" to ensure safety with her blood pressure as they proceeded.

Finally the time came for the "knock-out" medicine and the MRI to take place. We were not able to watch the process after she was finally stabilized on the machine.

After the 35 minute MRI we were able to go and be with Kelsey in the recovery room. When babies are sedated they like to let them sleep for awhile instead of trying to force them to wake up. We waited for a couple of hours with her until she was ready to wake up.

She handled the anesthesia very well and was able to wake up and finally eat.

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In an effort to make good use of our time in Salt Lake City, we scheduled an appointment with the cochlear implant surgeon the same day as the MRI. We visited with the doctor and his associates at University Hospital, who took turns checking her MRI results, and directly into her ears. Because all of her anesthesia medicine had not worn off, she was a cooperative patient.  

The MRI results showed everything was normal and all of the anatomy in her ear was properly formed and accounted for. She is officially a candidate for Cochlear Implants.

 Now the pressure is finally on us as parents to decide what is the right course of action for our daughter. We have talked for months that it was useless to decide whether or not to implant her until we knew if she was a candidate or not. Now that we know we are truly feeling the pressure of ensuring we make the right decision for her.

Typically implants are performed when a child is 12 months old. As Kelsey has recently turned 7 months old, we still have some time to decide, however, we ultimately know that whether she is implanted or not, our Kelsey is Deaf, and will forever be Deaf. We do not believe that an implant would serve as a cure, but rather could function as a tool to assist her with sound, and potentially could assist in her ability to learn to speak.

We love our little Kelsey!

We wish to thank all of our family and friends who have continued to extend their love and support towards us and offer words of encouragement. Thank you also to those who have watched our older kids as we have spent time at appointments with Kelsey. As always, as we continue on this journey we will make updates here.

Spring Smiles!

A walk to the school park