DO YOU HEAR THAT?

wisconsin for the third time...

2011-06-21T00:16:00.000-04:00

we love going to wisconsin every year to participate in the waisman's center bilateral cochlear implant study. this was our third time and we had a great time.

logan thought it was great that baby gavin got to come this year...

picking out a reward toy...

taking a testing break...

choosing a sticker for his sticker box...

tests and more tests...

enjoying the first days' stickers and prizes...

out to dinner and playing checkers on the tablecloth...

fun at the hotel pool...

day two...

having a little fun with the baby before flying home...

looking forward to next year!!

where do i begin...

2011-05-18T17:42:00.001-04:00

wow! a year since i last posted? whoops!

logan is doing well. here is a quick update:

we moved to the dallas, texas area this past july and logan started kindergarten at an oral program at a mainstream elementary school. his speech is really coming along now and can best be described by his older brother, "mom, logan talks really good now. i sometimes forget he is deaf!" he became a big brother for the second time in january and has declared brother #4 as his "bestest" friend since their birthdays are just a week apart.

here are a few pictures to get you caught up:

the Cochlear Implant camp in Dallas...

soccer season...

first day of school...

halloween (we were all football players from dad's three schools-- byu, ucla and univ. of florida)...

in the nativity at church...

basketball season...

playing wii with the family on new year's eve...

sporting my new blog shirt...

enjoying six flags theme park...

my first FC Dallas professional soccer game...

my 6th birthday...

valentine's day...

valentine's for my friends...

me and my brothers...

st patrick's day...

at my uncle's wedding...

my first camping trip...

easter...

visiting temple square in salt lake city, utah...

back to wisconsin...

2010-03-31T23:57:00.000-04:00

we made our second trip to madison, wisconsin to participate in the bilateral cochlear implant study. Although it was two full days of travel and two days of straight testing, we had another great time.

it was really interesting to see the improvement from last year's results compared to this year.

one (of 3) airplane rides there...

DAY ONE:
localization tests...

reward time...

study break...

showing off his sticker box...

speech testing...

showing off his big reward for a day of great "listening & talking"...

relaxing in the hotel after day one...

strolling the local mall...

his dinner of choice, McDonald's...

i had promised him ice cream but could not find an ice cream shop within walking distant, so lucky for me, he settled for finding a grocery store and getting some ben & jerry's with a bottle of colored sprinkles...

jjj

DAY TWO:

more language/speech recognition tests...

break time...

non-verbal intelligence tests...

we always love our time with the kind (and patient) ladies at the WU speech center and look forward to going back next year.

new kids on the block band member, joey mcintrye, shares his story...

2010-03-29T17:59:00.001-04:00

this article just came out in People Magazine this week.

where have we been?

2010-03-22T23:12:00.001-04:00

Logan has been busy with school, therapy and t-ball and we have neglected the blog! Here are some of our happenings over the last few months...

we had a great day at Do Art, full of language and fun...

Logan has been in his spiderman phase (for almost 2 years) and so EVERYTHING must be red and blue...

last month logan fell in the doorway and split his lip. his top tooth literally went through his bottom lip...not fun. we rushed him down to dad's clinic so he could stitch him up. it ended up being a bigger deal than expected and he had to be sedated...

we celebrated the winter olympics...

had our first t-ball game...

and we are now preparing for our second trip to wisconsin (this week) to participate in the CI bilateral study...

another year...

2010-01-31T22:42:00.002-05:00

it's been a fun birthday week and logan is sad it is over. he is already talking about turning 6! click here and here for our birthday fun!

4 no more!

2010-01-25T14:20:00.001-05:00

ouch!!

2009-12-01T21:15:00.006-05:00

Last weekend, while playing with his younger brother, Logan took a tumble off of the back of the couch and hit the back of his head on our awful marble floor. We rushed into the ER because he was showing signs of a concussion. We found out that he indeed suffered a concussion and also fractured his skull! He spent the night in the hospital and was feeling good by morning. We had his implants checked out and luckily everything was fine.

because of the concussion, he was dizzy for about 5 days, so he crawled around the house...

his big brother, tanner, wanted to get him a "get-well" gift. here he is getting out his own money to use--so sweet...

that's me!!

2009-11-04T08:48:00.000-05:00

we frequently visit the John Tracy Clinic's website to see what's new with them. logan was with me when i clicked on it this morning and he noticed his picture at the top even before i did! click here to see for yourself why he thinks he's famous! (he's in the orange shirt)

I have a triathlete!

2009-11-03T13:34:00.000-05:00

logan competed in a triathlon to benefit the Children's hospital here in town.
click here to see pictures.

any suggestions...

2009-10-29T15:16:00.001-04:00

we have trouble with logan wearing any kind of helmet...baseball helmet, bike helmet, etc. because he has bilateral implants. he can usually wear a helmet, with just one implant on, but both him and I prefer that he wear both (especially outside when he is riding his bike). have any of you found a solution to doing this? do you have to do your own "maintenance" on the helmet and maybe cut some of the padding out where the coil is? any suggestions?

Deaf girl on So You Think You Can Dance...

2009-10-27T12:58:00.001-04:00

So You Think You Can Dance is one of my favorite shows. i grew up a dancer and spent every waking moment in my mom's dance studio as a girl. i am always impressed with those that can dance with a hearing impairment since music is such an important part.

allison @ Yahoo! Video

and the "best big brother in the world" award goes to...

2009-10-25T12:01:00.001-04:00

we have always felt that Tanner (our 7 year old) was a special addition to our family. he truly came equipped to take care of and nurture Logan. i shared this story on our family blog, but thought it was too sweet to not share again...

Logan started soccer this year and although he loves it, he plays very cautiously because his implants constantly fall off. a few times, they have stopped the entire game to call me over and help him place them back on--which has embarrassed him a bit. my husband thought that maybe a head band would help keep the coil on (the circular part that attaches to his head). after a trip to the sports store with Dad, the boys came home like this...

i asked my husband why he bought all three boys a headband and he told me that they all wanted one. but later that night after Tanner's game, i asked Tanner if he liked playing with the headband on. he told me, "No, it kind of itches and I look a little stupid because no one else on my team wears one. But when we were at the store, Logan didn't want to wear a headband, so I thought if I wore one, he'd want to too and not feel so weird about it." Me--(sniff, sniff). and it worked, Logan now thinks its cool and can't wait to wear it during his next game.

i love this kid!

Birthdays!

2009-10-23T14:13:00.007-04:00

last week in school, logan talked about parties and came home with a party hat on.

he had so many questions about birthday parties, so...we made another experience book!

Which group does it belong to?

2009-10-06T00:30:00.001-04:00

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Great Calendar...

2009-09-28T21:47:00.004-04:00

We are working on the days of the week as well as "yesterday" and "tomorrow", so we began doing the calendar activity found here, on the Listening room & Logan really enjoys it.

learning to describe...

2009-09-16T20:29:00.006-04:00

A great game to play with your preschoolers is learning to name an object just from hearing clues and then, in turn, learning to describe objects for you to guess. Logan loves this game. He is still trying to get the hang of it and usually just tells me the animal that he is trying to describing, but we all have a lot of fun with it.

We are hoping to improve on clarity in Logan's speech. With the unexpected loss of our baby last month, Logan's "home therapy" has been slightly neglected and it is really starting to show. We are eager to get the ball rolling again.

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Breaking News for CIs!

2009-09-10T23:13:00.000-04:00

New Cochlear Nucleus 5 System launched the world's thinnest CI last week. Click here to read more!

We have been busy...

2009-09-08T22:32:00.008-04:00

We have had a busy & fun summer. After our west coast trip to the John Tracy Clinic, we stayed with Grandma Boyack in Las Vegas for 3 weeks and then to Virginia and D.C. for 3 weeks to play with cousins at Grandma Cragun's lake house.

We had a sad event happen on August 16th with the death of our unborn baby girl. I was 7 months pregnant--you can read more here.

Logan is progressing day by day and we have a lot of work to do over this next year in order to try to meet our goal of mainstreaming him by kindergarten. He is attending the same Oral program that he attended last year and is excited to be back at school.

We went back...

2009-07-29T23:45:00.000-04:00

We have been on the west coast for about 7 weeks and just arrived home last week. Our trip was centered around attending the John Tracy Clinic in LA for their 3-week summer session. It was so nice to be back. I have been waiting for the past year, since leaving LA, to return to all of our friends at JTC. I am always amazed at how much information there is to gain and I loved sitting in the parent classes every day from 9 am-4 pm learning--all over again-- how to better help my Logan.

our cute little apartment...

too many in the elevator...
The Family picnic...

playing in the HUGE yard at our apartments...

They had a "sibling program" that Tanner attended. He absolutely loved it. He made friends, played games and learned a lot about hearing loss and how to help Logan...

The siblings acted out how sound goes through the ear, to the brain. Tanner played the 'stapes'...

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

some yummy treats that we received from Wonderland Bakery...
Logan and his teacher, Sarah...
Logan and his SLP, Meghan (Meghan was Logan's preschool teacher when we attended a year ago)...

All of our new friends...

WISCONSIN STUDY!!

2009-05-20T22:24:00.014-04:00

We went to Wisconsin a couple weeks ago to participate in the Bilateral CI study. We had a fabulous time. We spent 4 days there, two days were spent testing. After each test he got to choose a sticker to put on his sticker box and after every three tests, he got to pick a small prize out of their fun prize box...he loved this!

It was interesting for me to see the different tests that were conducted and to see how Logan is really hearing. He was such a trooper and did great.

The airplane ride there...
a "study break" during the second day of testing...

auditory tests...

expressive language tests...

showing off the "sticker box" and the "prizes" he got for "good listening". ..

We found a homemade popcorn shop and stopped to get a fun treat at the end of a busy day...

Another "study break"...

posing by some of the prizes...

When all the testing was done, they let him choose from a big prize box. This was the "prize" he choose he loves it and it hasn't left his side since...

This isn't a great video, it was day two of the study and the end of the day, so needless to say, he was a bit worn out. Also, it's a little difficult to hear and the picture is dark, but it's a little bit of our time participating in the study...

Make photo slide shows at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Wisconsin is first to require cochlear implant insurance coverage...

2009-05-07T22:46:00.004-04:00

Logan and I are currently in Madison, Wisconsin participating in the bilateral Cochlear implant study.

We have been here for two days, and already have had about 10-12 people congratulate us and ask how we feel on the new bill past last week. The first few times I smiled and nodded, not knowing what they were talking about-but figured it was something to do with hearing loss or Cochlear Implants. I then got to a computer and searched the internet to see what they were talking about.
I found that last week, Wisconsin lawmakers acted to become the first state to require insurance companies to cover cochlear implants for children with severe hearing loss. This was fantastic news and it was awesome to see how excited the locals were about something that didn't really affect them.
"Sen. Lassa [one of the authors of the Wisconsin bill] also noted research that suggests that Wisconsin taxpayers stand to save as much as $5,000 to $10,000 per child per year in reduced or eliminated special education services and a savings of about $1 million per person over their lifetime if more children can receive hearing aids and cochlear implants. Currently, thirteen states require that insurance companies cover hearing aids."

Click here and here for more info on this bill.

2009-04-22T23:18:00.001-04:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Bilateral study 2009...

2009-04-22T21:11:00.005-04:00

Logan has been chosen to participate in a a federally funded research that is conducted at the Waisman Center at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. He will be tested in order to gain more insight into the benefits of bilateral implantation vs. a single ear implant . He is scheduled to travel to Madison in about two weeks.
When I heard of the opportunity for him to take part in this, I jumped at the chance because their first study on bilateral implants is what helped my husband and I decide to go forward with getting a second CI for Logan.

They sent us some pictures for Logan to become familiar with to get ready for some of the testing they will be conducting. Out of 24 pictures, I was concerned that he only knew 7 of them--but in only 2 days he has mastered all 24. We made flashcards out of them and have developed different games to help him understand and say the different words.

Tonight we had him choose a card and draw the picture on the driveway with sidewalk chalk...

"Pe-Pa, Please!"

2009-04-17T22:18:00.009-04:00

We went out to eat tonight as a family. Logan usually likes to talk to the waiter and order for himself, so I always sit next to him to "interpret" for him. Tonight when the waiter came to our table, Logan spoke up and had an entire conversation with the waiter...ON HIS OWN! Not only did he clearly understand everything the waiter was asking, the waiter understood all of Logan's responses. I just sat back and grinned from ear to ear.

WAITER: Hi, my name is Jon and I'll be your server tonight. Can I start you off with anything to drink?

LOGAN: I want juice.

WAITER: Juice for him, and for you?...

...WAITER: What can I get you to eat?

LOGAN: I want pe-pa please.

WAITER: Pizza?

LOGAN: Yeah, pe-pa.

WAITER: What do you want on your pizza?

LOGAN: Cheese, please.

WAITER: Do you want pepperoni on it, too?

LOGAN: No, cheese.

Walk 4 Hearing 2009!

2009-03-25T00:02:00.009-04:00

PARTICIPATING IN THE GROUP WARM UP, STRETCHING BEFORE THE WALK...

FUN BEFORE THE WALK...

THE 4K WALK...

FINISHING LAP 1...

MY OLDER SON RAN AHEAD BECAUSE HE DIDN'T WANT "LOGAN'S TEAM TO LOSE" (HE WAS UNAWARE THAT IT WAS NOT A RACE)...

ENJOYING PIZZA AFTER THE WALK...

We had so much fun and the boys did great. Even Logan walked (most) of the way. We hope to be able to participate again next year.

Top of The Mornin' To Ya!

2009-03-17T22:18:00.002-04:00

Duh, Mom...

2009-03-10T22:58:00.000-04:00

As we were walking to pick my older son up from school today, I heard a bird "caw-ing" high up in a tree. I stopped and said to Logan (as we always do with new or interesting sounds), "Logan, Do you hear that?" He continued to walk, shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yeah, Mom. Bird." It was if he was saying, "So what, it's just a bird. I hear them all the time."

I realized then, how natural environmental sounds are becoming to him, just as they are to you and me. I loved how a simple moment, became so extraordinary today.

coupon code...

2009-03-04T13:34:00.002-05:00

Use the coupon code, MARCH29, on all orders $25.00 or more for the shirts below (expires march 29, 2009). I think it gives you 17% off your order.

Great CI shirts at reasonable prices...

2009-03-04T00:32:00.003-05:00

Click here to see CI shirts for all ages to raise
awareness for Cochlear Implants!

Our new medical bracelets...

2009-03-02T18:44:00.000-05:00

I received an email a few weeks ago from a woman named Linda who owns a company that makes medical bracelets. She said that she came across Logan's blog and wanted to give him 4 bracelets as a gift. We were thrilled! We ordered him this one a few months ago, but it is slightly uncomfortable so he doesn't like to wear it. Linda and her husband developed these bracelets because they have a grandson with down syndrome and he, too, would not wear the "typical" medical bracelets. Logan loves these because they are "cool" and just like the bracelets the older kids wear.

Click here to order one for yourself, they have a lot of colors and sizes to choose from and are very affordable.

Thank you, Linda, for your kindness.

Our new dentist (Dad is getting too busy)...

2009-03-01T21:07:00.000-05:00

TVs in the ceiling, a red balloon to take home and neon sunglasses to block the dental light...SWEET!

Peaceful sleeper...

2009-02-26T14:00:00.000-05:00

No real post today, I just love this picture of my little Logan sleeping in his spiderman costume...

Bean Bag Fun!

2009-02-24T19:40:00.000-05:00

I had some left over material left over from a sewing project, so the boys and I made some bean bags. I never knew a bag filled with rice could bring so much joy for an entire day!

We took masking tape and made shapes on the floor, we then played a listening game. After repeating a word or phrase you got to throw the bean bag on one of the shapes, but you had to say out loud what shape you were aiming for. Even my older son enjoyed the activity until about an hour later he said, "Wait a minute, is this like a game to help with Logan's talking? I should have known!"

Watch a live Cochlear Implant Surgery...

2009-02-22T23:20:00.001-05:00

I saw this off another CI blog and thought it looked interesting.

On Tuesday, the 24th, you can watch a Sequential Bilateral Cochlear Implant surgery performed from University Hospitals Case Medical Center Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. The surgeon will even be taking questions from viewers, via email.

Click here for more details!

SUPPORT LOGAN'S TEAM!

2009-02-20T14:10:00.003-05:00

We have registered for the Walk4Hearing produced by the Hearing Loss Association of America. Do you know that one in ten persons in the United States has a hearing loss? The goal of the Walk4Hearing is to increase awareness about the causes and consequences of hearing loss and to raise funds to provide information and support for people with hearing loss.

We are trying to raise just $200.00 as a team. Your tax-deductible gift will make a difference in the lives of many! It is faster and easier than ever to support this great cause - you can make your donation online by simply clicking on the link at the bottom of this message. Any amount, great or small, helps in the fight. Thank You!

If you would like to donate click here , and click on Logan's name. Then click on "Make a gift".

Deaf contestant on The Amazing Race 14

2009-02-15T21:51:00.002-05:00

Click here to read more about Margie & Luke.

Happy Valentine's Day...

2009-02-14T14:19:00.006-05:00

Logan had a great Valentine's Day party at school with themed treats and exchanging cards...

Giving Ms. C.J. her Valentine...

and one for Ms. Vergie, too...

Our Valentine fun at home...

"Look, Mom--it's me"

2009-02-04T23:18:00.005-05:00

I found these new Cheez-Its and my kids love them. It has been fun for Logan to match the letters with words he sees around the house. I was in the kitchen, and Logan came in, placed these crackers on the counter and said, "Look, Mom, L-O-G-A-N...it's me".

over the years...

2009-01-27T15:16:00.003-05:00

one year old...

two years old...

three years old...

4 years old...

I am 4!

2009-01-26T00:44:00.001-05:00

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Loving Life in Surround-Sound!

2009-01-19T21:11:00.002-05:00

Today we attached the second processor, so Logan is officially hearing bilaterally! I watched him carefully as he walked around the house, playing with his brothers. I was surprised at what a difference we witnessed in just a few hours. Even my older son enjoyed calling Logan's name and watching as he turned his head, knowing exactly where the voice was coming from (opposed to turning his head side to side until he realized the location of the sound).

You should have seen how excited I became when I asked Logan to feed our turtle, while standing a room away, then watched as Logan walked in to the kitchen, opened the fridge and got out a piece of lettuce...all while the TV was on in the room that he was in.

We love being bilateral!

Enjoying a Dave Matthews concert with two years...

"How many ears do we have today?...

"He is your son, not your science experiment!"

2009-01-10T18:47:00.002-05:00

Tonight we did a little experiment to see what Logan is hearing with just his right processor vs. his left.
You'll notice that with his original one on he has no problem listening and identifying what is being said, without any visual ques.
However, with his new one on he has trouble staying focused and listening and needs visual ques to be able to repeat the words. He usually just guesses as to what is being said.
My husband joked with me and said, "He is your son, not your science experiment!"

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ughhh!

2009-01-08T14:50:00.010-05:00

What a frustrating week! Logan has not been too happy with his new "ear". He is trying so hard to understand what is going on and is still having trouble comprehending everything. He actually asked for his "Spider-Man Ear" today (his first implant). He said he wanted to "switch". I tried to explain to him that we had to wait a few more days to help his "Bat-Man ear" work better, I couldn't tell how he felt about that. He has been slightly irritable and emotional this week and has been fighting with his brothers (more than normal). He will walk by the blinds, rub his head on the couch and shake his head so that the processor "accidentally" falls off and he'll then say "whoopsie" and look at me like "oh well". I feel terrible that this is so rough for him-- although each day has gotten better. I don't want this to be a bad experience for fear that he'll never like the new "ear".

We made a calendar and marked the day when he could wear both of his implants. He counted the days from now until then and gave me a thumbs up!

I have been trying to be patient as well. I have come accustom to having him hear my voice and respond, so it's been frustrating to have to tap him to get his attention, or run after him when we are crossing the street. And the worst...losing him in a store today and knowing that he can't hear me call his name or even answer a stranger when they try to help him. Ughhh!

He has been focusing so much on lip reading. We have been working so hard to teach him to not do that for the past year, but I have not discouraged it these past few days because, again, I want to make this as easy as possible for him.

Today he was able to repeat the ling sounds, which he wasn't able to do the last few days, so we're getting there. I just hope Logan can be patient.

Logan's new "Bat-Man" ear is up and running!

2009-01-05T22:14:00.006-05:00

Today was Logan's activation day for his second implant. It, of course, wasn't as dramatic as turning on the first one, but it was still a big day for us. Everything looks great and the surgery was a success, but Logan isn't too keen on this new ear. He will wear just the new ear for about two weeks to get his brain to start relying on that side as well as the right. The problem we run into is that with only his new implant on, it's like starting over from the beginning--meaning he can't process sounds or language quite yet--which is very frustrating for him. He has adapted very well to hearing the sounds and voices around him, so when he was not able to quite understand the sounds that were going in, he became upset. He told us that he didn't want to wear the new ear because it was "too loud". The audiologist told us that the volume was at a comfort level, but that was just Logan's way of trying to express that he couldn't make out what he was, or wasn't, hearing. We were talking to him, asking him questions and he had a sad, confused look on his face as if he were slightly scared and nervous that he had lost the understanding he once had. Without an implant on, he knows that he doesn't get any sound, so I think it confused him that even with an implant on, he wasn't registering the sounds.
We brought the pack of Bat-Man stickers with us to the appointment and put the stickers on right away. He now has a "Spider-Man ear" and his new, "Bat-Man ear", he now has double the super hero power!
We had to coax him a little to keep it on the rest of the night, but we know things will get better. We are eager to see what this next year has in store for Logan!

It was a little surreal for me to see him with both implants on...

mapping (programming) the new implant...

Not a happy camper...

Make an on-line slide show at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Cool ABC language book...

2009-01-04T11:55:00.000-05:00

I saw this on the Today show and thought it would be a great way to do an ABC experience book incorporating your own pictures. I made a-cheaper and more time consuming--version for my nephew...
(I had my 6 year old color the pictures)

but although this one is a bit pricy, I think it's fantastic and fun.

HAPPY 2009!

2009-01-02T11:45:00.001-05:00

I love to read all of the success and joy that has come with your child's journey into the hearing world. Thank you for sharing your stories.

May 2009 continue to bring new and amazing discoveries.

Love this...

2008-12-31T22:51:00.000-05:00

Commencement Address to Clarke graduates

by New York Times Bestselling Author, Josh Swiller

"...Graduates, I would also like to offer another, perhaps more unusual kind of congratulations. One you might not hear in too many other places. What I would like to do is congratulate you on your deafness. I, like you, have a profound hearing loss. I, like you, have had to struggle with my disability every day to get the most out of life that I can.

One thing I never had when I was your age, that I wish I did, was an understanding of and an appreciation for all the amazing things that deafness has given
me. Deafness makes some things harder but it also makes everything much richer. It does. Really.

So I want to congratulate you on your deafness and tell you a little bit about how it will make your life a little more wonderful.

First, your deafness will be a great filter. You will find again and again that while not hearing can make it harder to meet new people, the kind of people deafness does attract are of the highest class – thoughtful, intelligent, kind. Throughout your life, if you keep your eyes open and your heart brave, you will meet sensitive, warm, understanding people. If you look around you – you already are surrounded by such people. That is a rare thing – congratulations on that.

Second, your deafness will be a great comfort. The world you are going off to is a beautiful and exciting one, but it can also be stressful, tiring, scary, or just plain confusing. For hearing people too! But with deafness you will always have the wonderful option of turning the world off and stepping back into a quiet, private place where you can relax, breathe deep, think clearly, and recharge your batteries. Anywhere you go, you can do this – most people can’t. Just make sure you don’t do it when your mother is telling you to clean your room.

Third, and most important, your deafness will be a great, great teacher. It is already teaching you at every moment. Is being deaf easy? Is it a walk in the park? No, it’s hard. But hard things give you character. Difficult situations and events teach you to be brave and compassionate – that means learning to care for others. Challenges force you to grow up. Trust me, an easy life with no worries is not good for the soul. You know all those young Hollywood celebrities like Lindsey and Britney and Paris who are now having all these troubles with drugs and relationships and jail and other things? That is because they lost the ability to self-reflect and be true to themselves. Somehow despite the fact that they seemed to have everything – money, fame, hearing – they lost sight of the fact that life is a precious gift and could not make the right decisions for their lives. But you have deafness and it will never allow you to behave so childishly. Deafness will force you to ask yourself again and again – how can I keep going? How can I remember to be thankful? How can I give to others who need help? – these are important questions to ask yourself and it is wonderful to have something that will make you ask them everyday. Everyone should be so lucky as to have something that forces them to ask such questions. Do you understand? This is deafness teaching us how to better love ourselves and others. Otherwise, what is life about? Getting the high score of Super Mario Brothers?

So my friends, mi amigos, congratulations.

Learning from deafness in these ways I have been blessed to live a life more wonderful than I could have ever imagined. I trust you will go and do the same. I have traveled the world many times, lived and worked in cities, in forests, in tiny African villages so small they don’t even have names. I have met incredible, inspiring people – all this is possible for you too. And I expect you to do it, or at the very least, to never ever use deafness as an excuse for why you can’t. Understand? That excuse is off the table. If you feel that deafness is being unfair – and believe me, there are many times it looks that way – you have to ask what deeper lesson is it trying to teach me? Because there always is one.

So let it be your teacher, your filter, your friend. Are you ready to let it be all those things? Good.

But first, congratulate yourself! Well done!"

Christmas 08 recap...

2008-12-29T23:15:00.001-05:00

SOME OF OUR CHRISTMAS ACTIVITIES...

At DisneyWorld with Gma & Gpa Cragun, Uncle Josh& Aunt Jessie...

CHRISTMAS EVE...

CHRISTMAS MORNING...

Our Christmas Experience / Vocabulary Book...

2008-12-16T13:02:00.000-05:00

"Merry Christmas"

"Christmas tree" - "candy cane"

"elf" - "present"

"Santa Claus" - "Christmas lights on a house"

"wreath" - "gingerbread man"

"holly" - "bells"

"Santa's sleigh" - "the Wisemen"

"christmas lights" - "mistletoe"

"Santa going down the chimney" - "Santa's reindeer"

"ornament" - "snowman"

"turkey" - "Rudolph"

"Baby Jesus" - "Gingerbread house"

Questions!

2008-12-15T15:14:00.000-05:00

Many of you who read Logan's blog are old friends who don't have any previous knowledge of deafness or cochlear implants. You have all been so great in wanting to understand and ask questions about Logan's journey. I sometimes forget to explain things more in plain terms. A few of you have asked about the surgery (don't worry Jen, you were not the only one :) ). What exactly did the surgery do? Did it fix his deafness? What does "activated" mean? Does he still have to wear the "ear".

Logan will always be deaf. The implant is like a more powerful hearing aid, although it is very different from a hearing aid. Instead of simply amplifying sound, it creates signals that the brain interprets as sound, making it ideal for people who have little or no hearing. Cochlear implants use a device called an external speech processor, worn outside the ear, to capture sound and convert the sound into digital signals. Those signals are then sent to a surgically implanted electronic receiver inside the head, which tells the implant to stimulate the electrodes inside the cochlea (inner ear). The brain then recognizes these signals as sound. Those that are qualified for an implant must have a certain degree of hearing loss (meaning "bad") and not get any use out of a hearing aid. I use to see a person with hearing aids and ask myself, "Why don't they just get that surgery done to 'fix' their hearing." I now know that most that wear the hearing aids, get enough sound from them, so that there is no need for an implant. Logan was one of those people at birth.

Normal hearing is about 10-20 decibels. When he was born, he heard between 30-50 dB, his hearing loss was only mild to moderate (see chart below). He wore hearing aids beginning at 4 1/2 months old. As he got older, his hearing loss became worse and the hearing aids were no longer serving a purpose. At about 2 1/2 years old Logan was considered profoundly deaf, hearing between 90 and 110 dB (depending on the frequency, meaning high pitch sounds vs. low pitch sounds).

The surgery that was recently done gave him a second implant on his left side. He still wears the one on the right. The “ear”-as we call it-- has an inner device that has to be surgically implanted. He cannot hear with just that, he has to attach the outer device-also called the processor (it is a magnet that attaches to the magnet on the inner device) in order to receive sound. So at night when we take his ear off (the processor), he cannot hear anything.

"Activated" basically means "turned on" or "hooked up". Logan's activation date is January 5th, so he is not getting any sound yet in his second ear. When we go to that appt. he will receive the second processor and will begin hearing in "surround sound!" :)

Does that help? Here are some pictures for you to see what the implant looks like.

This is what is implanted inside...This is the speech processor that is seen on the outside...

Hope this helps!

Ready to get back to life!

2008-12-15T00:07:00.000-05:00

Logan is recovering nicely. Kids are so much more than resilient than we are! He was eager to remove the bandages and even got up in the middle of the night, on day two, to throw the ace wrap in the garbage. When I asked him why he took it off he told me that Dad said he could take it off when he woke up. Dad was right, only we expected his wake up time to be about 8 am, not 2 am!
He stopped needing his medication earlier than expected and has been begging to go back to school. He will continue on the antibiotics to keep him infection free (from the mucous issue).
His activation day is on January 5th. We are eager to see the results once we get this second one up and running. Thanks again for all your well wishes. I look forward to one day, Logan understanding how loved he really is.

We were slightly shocked that the incision went up into his hairline, we were told it would be completly behind his ear, like his first one. Hopefully his hair will cover it better when it grows out.

Logan's incision began opening up, so "Dr. Dad" shaved his head a bit so he could apply some butterfly closures...

I also thought I'd attach these fun pictures of our visit with Santa this weekend...

Phew!

2008-12-09T22:14:00.000-05:00

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way." --Unknown

Logan was wonderful today. He is such an example of courage and strength. As soon as we entered the pre-op room I think he became slightly aware that something was up. I could tell he was a bit nervous but he was very cooperative with all of the procedures that needed to be done before surgery. I was doing fairly well until Logan called my name as he was walking away and signed "I love you". Jake was able to take him back to the surgical room this time, which was nice. He did as we practiced and took ahold of the "sleeping mask" himself and went right to sleep without a fight.

During surgery, the doctor found mucous in his inner ear which was cause for concern. He warned us that if we continue with the surgery, there would be a greater risk of infection and meningitis. We decided to continue with the surgery and feel good about our decision.

After surgery, Logan woke up a little groggy and irritable but calmed down pretty quickly. We went home only 2 hours after surgery.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes, we are grateful for all of you! Also, a big "thank you" to Grandma Cragun for flying in to take care of the other brothers today while we were at the hospital.

Making sure we get the correct ear...

Dad and Logan ready for surgery in their hospital PJ's...

Gator and Logan reading their new Christmas book...

Being silly with their caps...

AFTER SURGERY--

Playing with his new Star Wars toy...

At home watching Polar Express...

Obviously, feeling much better...

Good Night...

I think we're ready!

2008-12-08T22:51:00.000-05:00

Last week we went to Build-A Bear to let Logan build a "surgery buddy" for the big day tomorrow. He chose a green alligator and dressed him in a Batman shirt. He named him, Batman-Gator! We also purchased a set of scrubs for the Gator to help in preparation for Gator to "go to the doctor and get a second ear."

We practicing prepping Gator for surgery by taking his blood pressure, listening to his heart and taking his temperature. The Gator would put on the oxygen mask and take a nap. We would then wrap his head in a bandage and when he woke up he would receive some juice and a small surprise. We have been practicing all week in hopes that Logan will be as calm and prepared as he was last year. It's almost midnight, we go in a 6 am...I better try to get some shut eye!

Quick Note: Logan has been sick for the last 5 days, so we are crossing our fingers that the surgery can still go forward.

Bringing the Gator to life...

Giving him his first bath...

All dressed up...
In his "doctor clothes"...

Prepping him for surgery...

Practicing wearing the mask,taking a nap and wrapping his head with a bandage on...

Good night...

Happy Hearing Birthday!

2008-12-05T23:59:00.000-05:00

It has been one year since Logan's world opened up in a whole new way! It has been quite the journey, one that I never thought would be as difficult or as rewarding as it is. I remember thinking that Logan would never develop spoken language, never hear the sounds of the world or enjoy the voices of his family. Now I love when I hear him whisper a secret to his brother, giggle at the funny noises his little brother makes and even talk back to me when he's been naughty!

I will be forever grateful to Logan's surgeons, audiology team and therapists who have invested their time and efforts to help him succeed. I wasn't prepared for what all of this entailed. I had no idea that teaching Logan to speak would be such an educational process and I appreciate these professionals for sharing their wisdom and patience with me.

What a better way to celebrate than to be receiving a second "ear". We are excited and anxious for Tuesday to come. Thanks for all you well wishes.

Here's to many more beautiful, loud hearing birthdays to come!

(pause music on the bottom of page before viewing)

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Click here to see Logan one year ago today!

Shadow Fun...

2008-12-04T23:55:00.000-05:00

Let's Not Forget

2008-12-03T23:09:00.000-05:00

With Christmas approaching so fast, I didn't want to forget to post a (belated) Thanksgiving post. We have been truly blessed and would seem ungrateful if we didn't express how thankful we are for all that we have.

Thanksgiving was different this year, but still memorable. We spent 5 days in Orlando and got a chance to visit all of the Disney Parks. We spent the actual Turkey Day with old friends (in Tampa) that we haven't seen in 5 years. I beamed with delight as Logan walked around the serving table and told me which food he wanted on his plate. "Turkey, please." "I want peas." "More pie, please." "Rolls all gone." Hearing him speak, never gets old.

Logan (accidentally) scored the highest score of the day on the Buzz Lightyear ride at Disney World...

We were some of the lucky few who received the Dream Fast Pass as part of Disney's Year of a Million Dreams...

Thanksgiving Day...

Is Bilateral Really Better?

2008-11-26T16:56:00.000-05:00

From Ci Circle News

Is Bilateral Really Better?

Written by Val B., Nov 14, 2008

"One of the most common questions people ask me is "So what's the difference between having a child with unilateral and bilateral hearing?" Having a child who wears only one cochlear implant (CI), but also a child who wears two, lets me see on a daily basis how different my children are in that respect. Before I begin telling you about my kids, I wanted to mention that not everyone is a candidate for bilateral CIs. It may surprise you to hear that just because your child received a cochlear implant in one ear, doesn't necessarily mean that they would be a good candidate for bilateral CIs. Maybe they have good access to sound with amplification or a hearing aid or maybe medically they don't qualify for the surgery itself, but you should always consult your surgeon and audiologist to help determine whether your child would be a good candidate. In my son's case, his anatomy prevents him from receiving a second cochlear implant. He has severe inner ear malformations and his facial nerve is also higher than that which is found in a typical patient. In fact it took two attempts for him to receive his one CI.

When each of my children received their cochlear implant (Gage at age 3 1/2, Brook at age 2 1/2), we knew we had done the right thing. We couldn't have been more pleased with the results, they were actually hearing. It was amazing to watch them listen to new things, hearing soft sounds they never knew existed. While at the audiologist's office for a routine visit, we were told that my daughter would be a great candidate to receive a second CI. I told her we would think about it, but I seriously doubted that we would be interested. I had already read about the benefits of bilateral hearing: I knew that it would help with localization (figuring out the direction where sounds are coming from), I knew that she would have an easier time hearing, I knew she would be less tired at the end of the day. My concern was that I had a five year old boy, who I could not offer these things to. How could parents offer all these great and wonderful things to one child, and not the other? After many sleepless nights, I realized that we as parents shouldn't deny my daughter these things either, just because her brother was not a bilateral candidate.

I called the audiologist's office, and we began the pre-implant process once again. Like before, we didn't really know what they were missing until she received this second cochlear implant. She wore both processors from the beginning, removing her first one during therapy visits, so that we could try to teach her to hear with the newly implanted ear, just as we did after the first surgery. Within weeks, my now bilateral child, could actually hold a conversation in the car without me having to turn around to face her, something I still need to do with my son.

Even today, over a year later, she cannot only hold a conversation in the car, but she can do it with the radio on. I also discovered that she was no longer searching for sounds, they simply found her. If they are both playing on the floor and the telephone rings, my son's head pops up, he looks from side to side, and resumes play, realizing it was the telephone. My daughter never even looks up, but might say "Is that my Nanny calling?" She automatically processes the information since she can determine direction from where sound is coming. While outside playing, my son can hear cars pass by and for safety reasons alone, we are so thankful he can. My daughter however, can hear the cars approaching, before they pass by, truly amazing. When using the phone, my son needs to use the telecoil option on his processor. My daughter can use the speaker phone and not only hear the person on the other end of the line, but she can hear background information from that party and detect what is going on at that house. She heard her grandmother cooking as she spoke to her on the phone one day, and that was incidental information. We naturally say my son's name before we speak to him, to let him know that he needs to listen to us, but with my bilateral daughter, we can skip this and jump straight into conversation and she can follow along with greater ease. If someone approaches my son unexpectedly or doesn't announce that they are speaking to him, he always follows with "what?" needing a repeat.

Those considering bilateral cochlear implants for their child need to also consider the added expenses. The child will need to have both processors mapped as opposed to just one device, and there will be other added expenses such as batteries, co pays, etc. For us, we decided the benefits outweighed these expenses and we chose to proceed with our daughter's second device. We felt that having a back up way to hear, should one CI lose sound temporarily, would be to her advantage. I can certainly tell when my daughter only has one device on, because she needs frequent repeats just like her brother. We feel good that she now benefits from the bilateral hearing, and we know that her brother has learned to adapt well with his unilateral hearing. He automatically positions himself close to the speaker, he uses closed captioning when available, and he has little sister to look to for help when he needs it."

Story Kit

2008-11-26T11:06:00.000-05:00

Logan's teacher did this fun activity in class to help teach Thanksgiving vocabulary. When we were reading the story, The Old Lady Who Swallowed a Pie, he asked me to tkae a picture to show his teacher "Ms.Virgi",so I shot this little video.

Photo and video editing at www.OneTrueMedia.com

My Busy Day...

2008-11-24T20:02:00.000-05:00

I had speech therapy at 8 am with Miss Brittany...

I had my Thanksgiving celebration at school at 11 am...

I took a quick snooze in the car at 12 pm...

I met up with dad for my ENT pre-op appointment at 12:30 pm...

Then we were home for about 20 minutes--long enough to do my "stars"...

We were then off to another appointment for my pre-op with anesthesia at 3:30 pm...

And finally, a reward for all my patience and good behavior today...

I should probably explain the Mickey Mouse countdown above...

2008-11-23T14:45:00.000-05:00

I received a phone call form the surgeon's office 2 days ago saying that they had a cancellation and that Logan was scheduled to have his surgery done THIS Tuesday, Nov. 25. I was a thrilled that they got us in so fast, I was nervous that we hadn't had time to prepare Logan for his visit to the hospital, I was emotionally not ready for it to happen so quickly and then....I was disappointed that November 25 would not work for us. We are planning on going to Orlando (and Disney World) over Thanksgiving break. The boys would be crushed if we changed plans and since they had another date that was also soon, we took that one instead.

DECEMBER 9, 2008!

Here we go again...

Logan's new speech therapist!

2008-11-22T14:19:00.001-05:00

While I was in the next room yesterday, I heard my older son, Tanner, doing "therapy" with Logan. It made my heart melt!

Make an on-line slideshow at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Ci Circle post

2008-11-21T12:35:00.000-05:00

Although I know that by making the decision to have Logan (bilaterally) implanted we have given him a better future, you still worry every waking moment if he's progressing enough, when he will catch up with his peers and how hard his struggle will be as he grows. I love stories like this that give such hope and remind us that all this hard work is definitely not going to waste!

I found myself on YouTube!

2008-11-13T16:32:00.000-05:00

I was searching through The John Tracy Clinic's website and came across this video of me being interviewed about Logan's story and the clinic, when we lived in LA. If you can get past the fact that I am speaking a million words a minute, it's fun to watch...

Fun!

2008-11-12T10:12:00.000-05:00

So cute. Click here to check it out!

"My son has what?"

2008-11-09T13:51:00.000-05:00

I received a very interesting phone call from the surgeon's office last week. Here's how it went:

Dr. Antonelli's assistant: So Mrs. Cragun everything looks good to go forward with the surgery, we are just waiting for insurance approval. The doctor looked at the CT scan and other than Logan's birth defect, everything else looks normal.

Me: I'm sorry, did you say birth defect?

Dr. Antonelli's assistant: Yes, Logan's E.V.A.S.

Me: His what?

Dr. Antonelli's assistant: His E.V.A.S., enlarged vestibular aqueduct syndrome.

Me: You'll have to start over, I have no idea what you are talking about.

Dr. Antonelli's assistant: Mrs. Cragun, your son has E.V.A.S. This is the cause of your son's deafness. Is this the first you are hearing of this? What did your previous doctors tell you the cause was?

Me: We were told that every possible test was done and that the cause of Logan's hearing loss was unknown, so yes, this is news to me.

After the call ended I immediately Googled Enlarged Vestibular Aqueduct Syndrome. I learned that E.V.A.S. is the number one cause of progressive hearing loss and the only cure for it is Cochlear Implants. A ton of questions went through my head. Why is this the first I was hearing of this? It's not like it is uncommon. Why wasn't Logan tested for this sooner, especially since they knew he had a progressive hearing loss? Why did his first surgeon not see it on the CT scan? I became confused and upset at our previous doctors in LA. I couldn't help but to think, "what if". If Logan had been tested for this when he was younger, he could have been implanted by age one (which is recommended). If the doctor had seen it in the CT scan last year, they would have known that Logan needed the second implant and we wouldn't have had to fight them for it (and fail) like we did. We had struggles with our audiologists and doctors in LA from the beginning and I feel like this just put me over the top.

Knowing this new information doesn't change the future much and I know that. Logan is still getting the second implant and that's what is important. But I think as a mother, you become upset by feeling that your child was not fully taken care of. I look at the struggles he is facing right now and how he is now starting to really feel the effects of not being able to communicate with children his own age. I can't help but to think that we are two years behind in his progress because he was not diagnosed and implanted 3 years ago.

Someone asked me, if it makes that big of difference that we know the cause, because it doesn't change much of anything--and they are right. But knowing that Logan has E.V.A.S. and that his left ear will FOR SURE become progressively worse, helps me feel peace now in getting the second implant done. I have been slightly nervous not knowing if we were doing the right thing or not, I know now that we are. Once again, I am grateful that we followed our promptings to pack up our family and move across the country. I know that a lot of this move had to do with Logan, we are so happy that things are all coming together.

Already?

2008-11-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

People stare at Logan's "ear" all the time, I have just come accustom to it. It doesn't bother me, it never has. Logan's CI is what makes him special, unique and I want him to grow up knowing that and appreciating it. I actually prefer it when strangers (politely) ask about it rather than point and whisper. I have had many different assumptions from people as to "what is on his head."

I actually did have someone say to me, "How cute! He wants to be a big boy with his pretend bluetooth." I thought this story was outrageous, but I guess the CI does look quite similar. I have also had someone ask me, "What kind of brain disorder does your son have?" And one of my most memorable was when we were at Disneyland last year and a man came to me and said he wanted to pray for my son to heal him and give him blessings. He proceeded to lay his hands on Logan's head and pray. I interrupted him and explained that the Lord had already "healed" him by providing a way for him to hear and that this little device was our blessing. Children are my favorite. We have been in the check-out lines many times when a young child will ask out loud, to his mother, "What is that thing on his ear?" The mothers are always extremely embarrassed and either ignore their child or whisper to them that it is not polite to say things like that. I always smile and go forward with telling the child that when Logan was born his ears didn't work so well, so now he gets to wear this cool blinking thing on his ear to help him hear and learn to talk like other children.

Again, none of this has ever bothered me . . . until I saw it bother Logan. He, too, has adjusted well to wearing the implant-it's a part of his every day. But the other day we were in the post office and this older woman was staring at Logan's implant. I smiled at her and then looked at Logan only to notice that he was covering up his implant with his hand and burying his head into me. I asked him what was wrong and he pointed to his ear and then pointed to the woman. She quickly turned away and I apologized to her, as to which she did the same. It broke my heart. When did Logan become self conscience about his implant? Logan has always thought his implant was cool, with the blinking light and the cool stickers. I wonder why that changed. We thought that this would possibly become an issue as he grows older, and we have prepared ourselves to maybe have to deal with this in the future. He is only 3 1/2 years old, and it is already starting. As silly as it sounds, this was actually one of my concerns about getting a second implant...he would no longer have a side of his head that looked normal.

I think sometimes we forget what a miracle this really has been. I am grateful for the opportunity to share our joy with others. Logan is by no means speaking "normally" so we forget how far he has actually come. We are coming up on Logan's 1 year "hearing birthday" and are still astonished and amazed when something new comes out of his mouth. We know how blessed he is and we will make sure that he knows that as well as he grows and continues on his journey.

That's My Name!

2008-10-30T23:22:00.000-04:00

Logan loves to share things with his younger brother, Chase. Every time he sees Chase in the morning he says, "Chase, wake up, yeah." Every time he gets out of the car to go to school, he says to his brother, "Chase, Bye." Every time we pick him up from school, he says, "Chase, Hi. How are you?" and shows him what he colored at school by saying, "Chase, look." This goes on all day, however, Chase never responds to Logan or even acknowledges that Logan is talking to him, mainly because Logan still hasn't mastered Chase's name yet--Chase doesn't know he is being addressed. I usually repeat Chase's name to him, so that he will look up at Logan-I want Logan to know that his words have meaning, that we are understanding, so that he doesn't get discouraged.

Anyway, today in the car, Logan was sitting in the backseat, behind Chase. Logan found a batman toy in the car that he wanted to show Chase and said, "Chase, Chase!" (with the 'ch' and the 'a' sound sounding very clear). I was getting ready to repeat Chase's name for him, when Chase looked back at Logan and said, "What." He recognized his name! Logan said it good enough for Chase to understand. I grinned from ear to ear!

I feel like this is a start for "normal" brotherly playtime!

Prayers Answered!

2008-10-27T21:17:00.000-04:00

The only thing that has been standing in our way of the second CI (as far as we know), was getting insurance to pay for it. My husband is a (non-paid) resident at Univ. of Florida and I am a stay at home mom--therefore, the kids and I are on Medicaid with a second type of insurance, CMS (children's medical services, a insurance for disabled children).

Medicaid does not pay for a second CI and we were told by doctors and audiologists that they had never heard of CMS paying for a second one and to not get my hopes up. Also, our chances were lower than normal especially with the economy being in such bad shape. My husband did not want that to stop us from doing this for our little boy and said that we would take (more) loans out if needed.

We are a family who live our lives based around our faith. All of our major decisions that we have had to make regarding Logan have not come with out much prayer and faith. This decision was no different. When my husband graduated UCLA dental school, we had a choice to make about where he would do his two year endodontic residency. We could stay at UCLA, which was financially a better decision, or go to Florida, which would put a real strain on us financially. Neither of us had been to Florida, we didn't have any family or friends near there and didn't know much about the city. We tried to ignore the feeling that we should make the move to Florida, it was a scary, unknown adventure. After much thought and prayer, we felt that there was something in the small town of Gainesville that was drawing us there, possibly getting Logan's second ear done, since UCLA was denying us one there.

On Sunday, my husband and I decided to fast for the purpose of hoping that CMS would cover the $80,000-ish upcoming surgery.

I was surprised to hear from CMS so quickly today, I wasn't expecting a call for another week or so. Well, the answer brought me to tears...in a good way. They were going to cover the surgery! I was shocked and had to ask again if they were aware that this was CI # 2, because I heard that they don't cover that normally. The woman chucked and assured me that CMS knew what they were approving! I am still a bit skeptical since this has all happened so quickly and easily, we'll keep our fingers crossed!

I know that my Heavenly Father is mindful of us and am grateful that prayers are answered!

No CT Scan needed!

2008-10-25T20:40:00.000-04:00

The ENT's office got a hold of Logan's CT scan from last year (which I have been trying to get my hands on for weeks) so a new one isn't needed! Yeah!

2 "ears"?

2008-10-23T19:48:00.001-04:00

So as many of you know, we have been eager to get Logan a second CI, although this decision was tough--it was easier than deciding on getting the first one. When we lived in LA, UCLA denied us a second one because "he was doing so well with just one". We have been pursuing it again since moving to Florida. We finally got an appointment with the ENT doc and the day went like this...

-I signed Logan in as a new patient and filled out required paperwork.

-We were called back by a nurse and met with the doctor's assistant for about 25 minutes for a routine "getting to know you" appointment. After we were done I briefly mentioned that we were interested in getting the second implant done but was interrupted in by a knock on the door.

-Dr. Antonelli came in and gave Logan a high five, looked in his ears and listened as the assistant gave him cliff notes on our 25 minute conversation. She ended her speech by saying, "Oh, and they would like to look into getting Logan a second CI on his left ear."

-The doctor then said, "Sounds good to me, nice to meet you." and they both left the room after giving me discharge papers.

What just happened??? Was he saying "sounds good to me" to the implant, or was just that his normal good-bye/see-you-later speech.

...Later that night I got a call from his office giving me the date and time for Logan's CT scan--October 30th! I was confused and asked the nurse why he was getting a CT done. She said, "It says here in his file that he is having the cochlear implant surgery done and this needs to be done prior to the surgery."

YIPPEE!! That was what I was hoping she'd say. But wait, was it really that easy? I say, "We want a second CI" and the doctor says, "OK"? I am not getting my hopes up, but it sounds like its a go. I'm sure the Audiology and CI team have to meet to agree on this and insurance has to approve (which seems to be near impossible to get a second one approved), but so far it sounds like we are on the right track.

2008-10-19T23:24:00.000-04:00

click here and here

New experience book...

2008-10-14T15:49:00.000-04:00

Holidays seem to be awesome ways of introducing new vocabulary to Logan, so I made a Halloween experience book of all of the "Scary" things that are involved with Halloween. I used pictures from the items that are around the house so that he can also identify them to me as he walks by them...

Skeletons...spider webs

Leaves...candy

witch...candy corn

black cat...scary house

Jack-o-lantern...monster

pumpkins...ghost

costumes..."Trick-or-Treating"

Great Language Games from Cranium...

2008-10-14T14:57:00.001-04:00

"Hullabaloo" helps with animal recognition and sounds. Also with colors and shapes and names of motor skills. Logan has to listen to the DVD for instruction on what to do next. Ex: "Hop to a purple mat..."

"Cariboo" teaches numbers (1-4), colors and letters (A-D).

My Halloween Ears...

2008-10-08T19:42:00.001-04:00

Logan's Spider Man stickers were getting old, so we decided to change them out. We have been talking so much about Halloween lately and learning all of the "scary" words, that Logan wanted "scary" stickers on his ears. We thought pirates would suffice. He loves them and shows them off to everyone. Before, getting him to wear the hearing aid was a struggle, but now, he wants to wear the aid as much as the CI!

Long time coming...

2008-09-28T20:38:00.000-04:00

Logan will be 4 in January. I realize that I get him started on "things" later than I did my first son. A lot of my excuse is because there is so much focus on getting him to speak that the other "things" get put off. One of these things is chores. Logan picks up his toys and helps around the house, but has never been given official chores. My older son had minor responsibilities when he turned three, so I decided to crack down on Logan and start him this week (when you are in a family of 5 you have to learn to pull your weight at an early age).

I bought some wooden star shapes and colored popsicle sticks from Joann's. I took pictures of his chores and printed them out small enough to fit the stars. After attaching the stars to the sticks, I wrote "done" on the bottom of the stick. After a chore is completed, he turns the stick over in the jar. When all his jobs are finished he gets a sticker. He loves this and is eager to get his jobs done. It has been a great language activity as well as he learns names for items around the house.

Fun language activity...

2008-09-19T23:48:00.000-04:00

We found lots of fun today with a big cardboard box, paint and little paper men. Logan's puppet was Daddy. We really haven't role played much and I didn't know that Logan even knew how, but it was hilarious to watch him as he told stories as if he were Dad. "I Daddy, I go school...I Daddy, I go school..." (My husband is in a dental residency so he wears blue scrubs and goes "to school") Tanner would explain the "play" to Logan and then they would act it out for me and Chase. Logan wouldn't get all of the details, but it was great to see him say or do the parts that he understood. Tanner would say, "Logan you sit on the tree and I will throw you a ball." Logan would walk his puppet over to the three and sit on top. Then he said, "Up tree, I want ball." Tanner looked at me and said, "Mom, I didn't even sign and Logan knew what I was saying." It put such a smile on my face to see my boys playing "normally" together.

The simple sound of rain...

2008-09-16T22:54:00.000-04:00

Before having a child with deafness I never stopped to listen to the rain. I find that that is true with many sounds around me. I am grateful for the small and simple things that I am able to experience through Logan.
Yesterday it rained pretty heavily for about an hour. We sat outside and listened as each drop hit the ground. We walked down to the retention basin on our street and listened as the frogs croaked in the rising water. The sound of live frogs was something Logan had never heard before--again, small and simple things...

Tanner reading to Logan...

2008-09-09T00:38:00.000-04:00

Make video montages at www.OneTrueMedia.com

Update...

2008-09-08T22:56:00.000-04:00

We have been busy lately with the start of school and therefore...I have neglected the blog. Logan is loving school. He is doing well and has definitely become more expressive. Although we don't understand all that is being said we are already at that point where we are saying to ourselves, "Does he ever stop to breath?"
We are set up to see the audiologist this Thursday for the first time since moving to Florida and are crossing our fingers that a second CI is in our future. We are also set up with a great AVT and will see her soon.

Logan had a great time at a church water activity last weekend even though I wouldn't let him wear his CI due to all the water (although it has already fallen in the pool and in the toilet and has survived). The fire department came, which was Logan's favorite part.

School...

2008-08-19T11:07:00.000-04:00

Last Friday we got a chance to go and meet Logan's new teacher and see the classroom. We had been excited all week, only to walk in to some minor disappointments. Although we were excited about the teacher (she is fantastic) we were not thrilled about the other elements of the program. We were promised a room with carpet--which is important for CI users to avoid echo and bad acoustics-- and the room was tile from top to bottom. Also, the speech therapist that will be working with the children not only had no experience with working with CI kids, she didn't even realize that there was a difference in teaching a hearing child to speak vs. a implanted child. I left there disappointed, sad and slightly deceived. I felt like the school, in a sense, said, "Here's a teacher and a sound field. There's your Oral program." I understand that being a new program, that there will be kinks to work out. But a few of the major issues, that were previously promised to us, were not in tact. Logan is at a crucial time for his language development, and although we are doing all that we can at home, his school experience needs to be up to par. I decided that Logan would attend class on Monday and that I would go in with a more positive attitude and do what I could to help get this program started.

Logan could hardly contain his excitement all weekend. He packed up his backpack with tons of school supplies (see video below) and helped me make his lunch. I felt more at ease when we walked in to the classroom and saw that adjustments had been made to the room. There were a few rugs around the room and color had been added...it was now more kid-friendly. Logan was slightly hesitant, but once he saw the play dough, his worries vanished.

At the end of the day I spoke with his teacher, Ms. Mills (who is a bi-lateral CI user) and seemed confident that Logan would get what he needed from her and this program. We, of course, need to continue his "therapy" at home but I think he will progress nicely under Ms. Mill's care.

getting ready for school 8/17/08

2008-08-19T11:03:00.001-04:00

Sound Bingo

2008-08-12T12:01:00.000-04:00

In the previous post, Logan was playing "Sound Bingo" purchased from Kindermusik. They also have an ABC Sound Bingo. Both of them are on sale now. Click here and type in "Sound Bingo" under Search. Happy shopping!

2008-08-10T22:20:00.000-04:00

My husband will be done with his residency in about two years and we have been thinking a lot lately about where we want to end up...for good. The Dallas area has been top on our list and after seeing this video, my husband says Dallas is now his #1 choice! :)

2008-08-08T14:54:00.000-04:00

This isn't a super interesting video, but just wanted to document it. It's the boys playing Sound Bingo...

Playing Sound Bingo 8/7/08
(click on image to view)

Mom did a NO-NO...

2008-08-05T23:28:00.000-04:00

Today I took a trip to Target, with all 3 boys, to pick up a few things. As we walked into the electronics department, Logan lagged behind getting distracted by a Batman DVD he saw. Near me was a older gentleman talking on the phone to what seemed to be a cell phone company. Logan picked up the DVD and began to call Tanner's name to show him what he had found. Tanner's name is very difficult for Logan to pronounce, it usually comes out like "Ah-Ah". When Tanner didn't look his way he began to yell his name louder and louder and louder to get his attention. I then heard the older gentleman holler out, "Could someone quiet that kid down?" I immediately became irate, left my other two children in the cart and walked over to the man. I then did something that I said I would never do (no...I didn't slug the guy), I blamed Logan's deafness for the scene he had just caused. I sarcastically apologized for Logan and rudely explained that my son was deaf and was just trying to communicate with his brother and that he has a difficult time with volume control. I wanted to make him feel guilty for being so rude, so I pulled out the deaf card. As I was confronting the man, two other men came to also defend Logan using profane language to express their "disgust for people being insensitive." I grabbed Logan and walked away as the men proceeded to 'discuss' the issue. As I calmed down, I began to feel awful for what I had just done. Although the man could have been kinder with his words, he didn't know Logan was deaf and was not trying to attack his deafness. I went back to sincerely apologize to the man, but he had already gone.

I think this has been weighing on me for the last few weeks. For some reason Logan's "volume control" has been getting worse and the people in this new city have definitely noticed. This is the 4th or 5th comment I have received implying that I need to quiet down my son (although the other comments were tactful and kind). Church has also been slightly uncomfortable for me since Logan has somehow forgotten how to use an inside voice and always has so much to say.

I know I shouldn't care what strangers think of me and my son, but it's makes my outings less stressful when we blend in to the crowd like everyone else. I also think this is an important thing for him to master, especially with school starting soon. I have tried teaching him at home to mimic a whisper and what the difference is between loud and soft. He is not getting it, or maybe he just doesn't want to! So...any suggestions on how to get Logan to know the difference between a loud voice, a normal voice and a quiet, inside voice? He seems to only have one setting--extra loud!

Thanks for the emails...

2008-07-28T20:59:00.000-04:00

I have had a few other 'CI MOMS' email me and ask what kind of program/therapy we have Logan in. We are still trying to set all of that up, since we have just moved, but here is what we have been doing this summer to keep busy...

Logan attended the Preschool at the John Tracy clinic last year and that is where we learned most of the “therapy” that we do at home. They have free online courses, if you’re interested. Go to http://www.jtc.org/ to sign up. We just moved from California to Florida, so the only therapy he has received this summer is at home with me. I usually set aside one hour in the morning and one hour after his nap and play with him, making it a language activity. I am talking to him all day about everything we are doing. I ask him to repeat a lot. It took him a while before he would mimic me, but now he does it without me having to ask.

I choose a theme for the week (or sometimes two weeks) and we read books, do crafts, (try to) go on “field trips”, all having to do with that theme. I print off pictures of that theme (from the computer) and hang them up around the house. When we walk by the picture we say the name. For example, one week we did fruits and vegetables. We had pictures of apples, peas, corn, etc. around the house. We then went to a strawberry farm and picked strawberries. We also made carrots out of tissue paper. Then every night we read the same book, which has to do with our theme. My older (hearing) son enjoys the activities as well, and my 20 month old benefits from the language activities as well!

Right now we are working on the Alphabet. We do two/three letters per week, but don’t move on until he has mastered the current letters. There are letters hanging up around the house. When Logan walks past one, he comes to tell me what it is. When we read our book at night, we try to find the letters of the week, in his book.
You can find a lot of ideas off the Internet. Many preschool sites have free lesson plans; we use those, and then just tweak them to fit Logan’s needs.
Also, once he starts school, we'll find out their theme for the week and do our own activities at home that go along with what he is learning at school.

I am also a big fan of "experience books". Logan simply loves them and I find myself needing to make a new one about every month. I make experience books with Family members, daily activities, and objects/places that he sees everyday.

I would also love to hear any ideas, form any of you, who have done things that have worked as well. Please share!

For other CI parents...

2008-07-28T11:57:00.000-04:00

(FREE ONLINE COURSES AVAILABLE THROUGH COCHLEAR...NEXT ONE IS TUESDAY, THE 29TH. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER)

Our next HOPE Online event features provides 20 top tips for achieving the best outcomes with a cochlear implant. It is appropriate for both professionals and parents. As always, our HOPE event will be captioned and will offer CEUs from ASHA and the American Academy of Audiology. This course will also provide credits that can be applied to AG Bell's Academy for Listening and Spoken Language. To ensure your place at this popular event, please sign up at least 4 hours in advance at: www:cochlear.com/HOPE in the area marked Online training for professionals in education.

Achieving the Best Outcomes with a Cochlear Implant: 20 Top TipsPresenter: Donna L. Sorkin, M.A., Cochlear Americas & Ashley Garber, M.S., CCC-SLP, LSLS Cert. AVT, HOPE Specialist Date/Time: Tuesday, July 29, 2008 at 3:00 p.m. (Eastern) / 12:00 p.m. (Pacific)Description: This session will review four key topics that impact a child’s outcomes with a cochlear implant: (1) maximally using the sound processor, (2) empowering parents to promote auditory learning (3) addressing needs in school settings, and (4) involving friends and family members to aid in the child’s personal development. Each topic will be explored by sharing a series of tips and related resources that can help families and professionals achieve the best possible outcome.

Medical Bracelet

2008-07-26T22:19:00.000-04:00

We've been thinking about getting one for a while, so with school starting up soon we finally ordered one last month. He thinks it's pretty cool, but will only wear it for moments at a time. Hopefully he'll get used to wearing it. LOGAN CRAGUN

PROFOUNDLY DEAF

NO MRI'S

NEEDS A COCHLEAR

IMP. TO HEAR

Our first 5 word sentence...

2008-07-26T22:10:00.000-04:00

Tonight Logan was picking a straw for his drink and said to me, "Mommy, which one, blue, yellow?"

One of Logan's new words...

2008-07-23T22:38:00.000-04:00

"MOT-MAUN"

(BAT-MAN)

I bought some fun Batman masks at Walmart for the boys and he has quickly become the favorite superhero around the house. I hear "mot-maun, mot-maun" ALL DAY LONG!!! We're glad his language is expanding!

Logan's speech...

2008-07-20T23:48:00.000-04:00

(click on picture to view video)

Logan's speech 7/20/08

2008-07-17T15:20:00.000-04:00

CNN also went to John Tracy and did this story on Jose.

2008-07-16T12:12:00.000-04:00

I was shocked and angry when I read this, especially since it is someone we know. The little boy, Jose, was Logan's best friend while he attended the John Tracy Clinic in LA. It breaks my heart.

Disney World...

2008-07-15T23:26:00.000-04:00

We were so excited for Logan to experience Disney World since the last time we were at Disneyland was before he was implanted. The sounds were fantastic to him and he even tried to sing along with "It's a Small World". I would have never thought it, but what a great language experience Disney World is. There were so many new things he had never seen, the characters, the colors, the songs! He loved every minute and wouldn't stop asking how to say everything he saw. Although we had so much fun, unless we were actually on a ride it was very stressful for me to struggle with Logan hearing me through all the crowds. (Another reason we are eager to get the second implant done.) I was shouting most of the time just to get his attention. We also ran into a problem with him wandering off so much. Because Logan is still very visual, so many things seemed to catch his eye and he'd wander towards it. It was difficult to keep track of him because we were also with his two other brothers and their 3 cousins! I would usually keep little Logan on one of those cute "leashes", but that wasn't something he wanted to wear since all of the older kids were free to walk on their own.
All in all it was a great three days and he can hardly wait to go back.

New receptive and expressive words learned from Disney World:
"Mickey"
"Lion"
"weeee"
"Rhino"

One of Logan's favorite rides was at the Animal Kingdom, the Safari. There was a picture list of all the animals we would see on the safari. Every time we saw an animal, he would find it on the picture board, ask me how to say it and try to mimic it.

Happy Independance Day!

2008-07-08T13:33:00.001-04:00

We had a great 4th of July. It was a new expreience to watch Logan observe, and try to mimic, the sounds of the fireworks.

I love this picture...he is expressing how loud they were. This time last year, they made no sound at all--at least to him.

Logan in the church bike parade...

Telling Dad that he heard a new sound and asking what is was...

2008-07-03T00:45:00.000-04:00

Logan 6.26.08

(click on image to view video)

quick update

2008-06-21T10:49:00.000-04:00

So on our cross country trip from LA to Florida, we stopped in San Antonio, TX to visit family. While we were there, we spent two days at Sea World. We saw the Shamu show a few times because it was Logan's favorite. Anyway, today we were lounging around the house listening to music and having fun with each other when Dad put on Neil Diamond's "America" (my older son loves that song). As soon as Logan heard the first 4 beats, he did the sign for Whale and tried to tell us that that was the same song he heard during the Shamu show. He was right! Simple, I know, but we were amazed that he made that connection and was learning to distinguish music like that.

Logan is progressing nicely. Just the other night he needed help with something and said a 3 word sentence-spontaneously- "Daddy, help me." He is also weening out the sign when he speaks, "mommy" and "daddy" are completely 'sign-free'. It's almost as if he knows what words he says well and are understandable because those are the words that no longer are accompanied by sign.

We received confirmation that the oral program here ion Gainesville is a for sure thing and, in fact, they just hired a teacher. The program director said that they were really happy with the decision made to hire this teacher and that she is fantastic and ...she, herself, has bilateral implants! Pretty cool. There will be 6 children between the ages of 2 1/2-4. Three with CIs and 3 with hearing aids and they are all between 3 to 9 months hearing. We are excited and hopeful about being apart of the start of this program.

We are in the process of setting up new audiologists, ENTs, etc and will start our process of trying to get him the second implant.

2008-06-21T10:10:00.000-04:00

I know this film is fairly old, but I finally got a chance to watch it last night and I really enjoyed it. I laughed, I cried and I understood a little bit more about Logan's world. If you haven't had a chance to see it yet, do!! It is on HBO and I'm not sure if it's available anywhere else as of yet.

It is a documentary of a 65 year old couple who have been deaf their entire lives and decided, now, to receive cochlear implants. The film is narrated to us by one of their daughters who also gives an insight as to what it was like growing up with deaf parents. I loved it!

A CI model!

2008-06-20T14:21:00.000-04:00

Logan posed for a new textbook coming soon. Look for this photo of him in Occupational Therapy for Children, 5th Edition, Jane Case-Smith, Mosby, Inc, St. Louis, Missouri!!