Thursday, February 12, 2009

the chatty boy's processor

So.... I've received a couple of inquiries about the speech processor that Lucas wears. Some thinks it's completely attached to his head (not removable) and other have just expressed surprise that there's a part to attach to his body. So, I thought I'd post a picture and explain:



Lucas has 2 processors - one is a spare (although we switch them monthly to ensure equal use). The one you see on the left is the standard behind-the-ear (BTE) processor, and the one on the right is the babyworn BTE processor. One of the reasons we chose Cochlear was the babyworn option. The babyworn is an "accessory", and it can be made into the normal BTE by simply twisting the bottom half and re-attaching the battery pack. Eventually, when Lucas is older and his ears are bigger and stronger, he will simply wear the BTE. Right now, the babyworn option is less heavy on his ear, it keeps the processor attached to him somewhere if it falls off his ear, and it allows me to change the settings without having to work directly behind his ear (which would be challenging with a wiggly boy like Lucas!).

The processor is completely detachable. The round part at the top attached to the cord, the coil, attaches via a magnet that is implanted under the scalp. That's the most important part of the set-up. As long as the coil is attached, he can hear. Lucas does not wear the processor when he's sleeping, or when he's bathing or swimming. In fact, when he's not wearing the processor, you'd never know that he had a cochlear implant unless you looked closely for the scar behind his ear.

On another note, Lucas has been so chatty lately... it's great! At first, I thought he was being fussy, but he's making happy noises! I think he's having fun listening to himself. Enjoy the short video - I captured some of his noises while he was playing this morning. We went and had lunch with Lucas's daddy today, and he was talking all through lunch, just like in the video!


7 comments:

Tanna's Triplets said...

Cute video!!!

Jess said...

So cute!

Some of Connor's friends have cochlear implants-- they have the "babywear" option too. They come over to our house and their transmitters get stuck to our steel front door. Also our refrigerator. Also our metal chairs in our office. It's a good thing they have the babywear option on the processor or we'd be forever looking for CI external parts, which I'm sure my cats would appropriate as toys. Craziness.

~Jess

Kel said...

The babyworn option made us strongly consider Cochlear even though we liked the HiDef programming options on the AB for long term. Lucky for us, we learned that in a few months, AB will be offering their own version of the babyworn for the Harmony! :D I love the video, it is too cute.

Bill and Shelly said...

Love the video. It brings back so many memories.
My daughter, Allison who has bilateral implants watched the video and her comment was "he is sooooooo cute."
It is perfectly fine that you added our blog to ours.
I want to be of whatever help I can be.
We are a bit farther down the CI journey, so I have been there/done that.
It is great that Allison is giving you hope for what is to come for Lucas.
Hang in there, he is doing great!!!!
Looking forward to following along with Lucas'journey, can wait to hear his 1st real word, it will come before you know it. :-)

leah said...

He sure is a chatty little guy! The babyworn style is really neat- I can't imagine trying to put a heavier earpiece on a baby's ears! I wonder what people did before the babyworn...

jenn davidson said...

What an exciting day you/Nate and Lucas must have had at lunch! What a chatty fellow!

Tara said...

Interesting that some people think it's attached permanently to his head. I've had people ask me if Tyler's implant is a radio on more than one occasion!