The best sound ever!

He said, it...finally! My little Logan said "Ma-Ma" for the first time! For the past few months, both my husband and I were both just, "ba-ba." I never thought hearing it would sound so sweet. When he first said it, I kind of freaked him out at how much excitement I showed. He looked at me like I was crazy. What's funny is that he said it after hearing my 16 month old say it, he was mimicking him. I knew that Tanner, my 5 year old would be a speech model for Logan, but I never thought that baby Chase would be one as well. :-)

Kaci Koala Can hear...

Logan was so excited to get Kaci's Implant in the mail today. The next day, he was practicing speech with him and kept pointing at his ear, telling Kaci that he wanted to hear him speak!

We'll just have to wait...

Well, we cannot appeal the decision made by UCLA to not do the second implant since they know "what's best". And besides, since the insurance approving the second CI would determine a lot on the recommendation of our audiologist, I figured that it would be better to just wait until we get to Florida, since (if she doesn't agree with getting it done) her letter would be of no help to us anyhow....I am trying to be positive, am I convincing? :-) Besides, I have heard that UCLA is one of the more conservative clinics with doing a second CI, so hopefully we'll have more luck back east.

Sometimes I just get tired of "fighting" the professionals, especially since the things I fight for seem so obvious. I guess I figured I wanted to get all of that out of the way before we move. There will be so many other things to get done with a big move like that and I was hoping this would be one last thing on my plate, but one of the big reasons, is because of the amazing support I have here in LA. I am afraid I won't have that in Florida and as much as I hate to admit it, I need that. I have the most wonderful people living around me that go out of their way to lend a hand to me and my family, even when I try to push it away. I am a member of the LDS (Mormon) church and the women here, in the church, have rendered so much service. When Logan had his surgery I had several women insist on taking my other two children for the day and had several others bring over dinner so that I could just focus on Logan. I always have a willing babysitter for my other boys when Logan has one of his many appointments and none of them want anything in return. I will really miss their great friendship, I don't know how I'd do it without them.

UGHHHHHH!

I'm so done with all of this! I received a call from the audiologist yesterday stating that the team of audiologists at UCLA have decided that they are not going to submit to insurance to do the second implant. I was shocked. I didn't understand why we didn't have a say in the matter, especially when, according to his latest audiogram, he really could go either way with getting the surgery done. When I asked why they decided not to go ahead with it she said it was because they believed he would not benefit from the second Implant...WHAT? That makes no sense, of course he would benefit from it. Right now the sole purpose of having just a hearing aid in that ear is to help with localization and to help with what is called the "cocktail setting" (meaning, being able to focus on a conversation and localize in a crowded/noisy environment, like a cocktail party). I witnessed Logan in that type of situation just last week and he wasn't hearing a thing. I was a foot away from him and he couldn't hear me call his name. I feel like I need to try to appeal this, seeing him at home, I know that he needs more.

When Logan had first lost the remaining of his hearing, at 18 months old, I tried and tried to convince the doctors that he had become worse. It took them a year to even consider that that could have happened. Looking back now I wished I had done more, been more persistent, been more demanding. I feel like Logan missed out on a crucial time for language development because I wasn't "mean" enough. Because of this, I feel like this time I need to go with my gut and get done what I feel my son needs.

I'm not sure how to do this, or if I even can. I thought I was going to have to convince the insurance company to do this, not my audiologist. I feel as though I am up against a wall.

Logan's first week at the "Dolphin School"

Logan is loving his "Dolphin School" (they have dolphins painted on the walls). He's even had a hard time sleeping at night due to all the excitement. I'm still a little unsure it's the best thing for him, the teachers are a little harsh with the kids I guess they see it as "tough love"!

The first day he had on his "Crocs" and the teacher signed to him that he was wearing bad shoes that were not aloud at school. He now will not wear them at all, anywhere! Then they proceeded to play a game that they play on a daily basis, since this was Logan's first day he was not aware of how the game was played. When he did not do the game exactly correct, one of the teachers said sarcastically, "Well, I guess someone is new today." I'm actually glad that he doesn't have a full concept of language yet. However, he loves it and it's only for 2 1/2 more weeks (then we start at John Tracy Full time!!)

The heartbeat bear

My mom gave me this bear when I was pregnant with my first son. It's a bear that makes the sound of a heartbeat to soothe the baby and remind him of sounds in the womb. It took Logan 3 years to enjoy it, but now he loves it. :)

The second test

So, we had a second hearing test at Logan's school, The John Tracy Clinic, on Friday. The good news is that the test results came out that his loss was slightly worse than the previous test, the bad news is that it's still not bad enough to be a shoe-in for a second implant. After watching him function with his hearing aid this week I know that he is not getting what he needs from it. I told my husband that I was going to fight hard to get this approved. The audiologist also feels that the second implant is what is best for him and is willing to write a letter to the insurance company explaining why he needs this.

On a second note, Logan is starting a Deaf and Hard of Hearing program through the school district tomorrow (until he can get into John Tracy full time). He is excited to start and is ready for a full time program.

Simple Pleasures...

One of Logan's favorite things to do now is dance to music. He gets so excited when he hears it. His signature move? Rolling his arms! :)