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Madalyn and Jarrett

Welcome to our web page. We decided that this would be a great way to keep friends and family (and anyone else who's interested) updated on Madalyn and Jarrett's progress.

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Madalyn and Jarrett were born on December 1, 1999 at 30 weeks gestation. They weighed in at a mere 3.3 and 3.1 pounds respectively, and they spent 26 days in the NICU at Vanderbilt University Hospital in Nashville, TN. Our twins basically stayed in the hospital to "feed and grow," and we were able to take them home the day after Christmas.

EARLY DIAGNOSIS


We felt very blessed that Madalyn and Jarrett didn't experience any real problems as a result of their prematurity. We began to worry about the kids' lack of language at about 16 months, but we were assured by the pediatrician that they were both fine--they passed their newborn hearing screenings, and twins and preemies just talk later. To make a long story short, we didn't confirm their hearing impairments until they were two years old. Madalyn was diagnosed with profound hearing loss in both ears, and Jarrett had a moderate loss in one ear and a severe loss in the other. We were devastated, but we forged ahead.


MADALYN'S COCHLEAR IMPLANT


In April 2002, Madalyn and Jarrett both received hearing aids. Madalyn wore her aids as a part of the cochlear implant evaluation process. As expected, they gave her little to no benefit and we proceeded with the CI. Her first surgery took place in June 2002 when we attempted to get her right ear implanted. After a couple of hours in the OR, the doctor discovered an infection in the mastoid and he couldn't proceed due to the risk of meningitis. When the ear was still infected a month later, we decided to go for the left ear. Talk about scary! The second surgery went off without a hitch, and she was activated in August 2002. The results are truly amazing. In one year, Madalyn has been able to make more than 2 1/2 years of gain with her receptive and expressive language.


How a CI Works


1 = Sounds are picked up by the microphone.
2 = The signal is then "coded" (turned into a special pattern of electrical pulses).
3 = These pulses are sent to the coil and are then transmitted across the skin to the implant.
4 = The implant sends a pattern of electrical pulses to the electrodes in the cochlea.
5 = The auditory nerve picks up these electrical pulses and sends them to the brain.
6 = The brain recognizes these signals as sound.


JARRETT'S DIGITAL HEARING AIDS


Jarrett currently wears Phonak digital hearing aids with an integrated FM system. For those of you not familiar with an FM system, this allows us or the teacher to use a special microphone which transmits our voices remotely to his aids. We can also hook the microphone to the TV which helps keep the volume at a reasonable level. Jarrett's vocabulary has soared to above age-level, and now we are focusing on his articulation and some oral motor issues. We constantly monitor his hearing to make sure that it does not decline any more.






WHERE WE GO FROM HERE


Although both children are succeeding beyond our wildest dreams, we feel that we can do more for Madalyn. Paul and I began researching bilateral implants about six months ago, and are seriously leaning toward implanting her other ear. There's not a lot of scientific data about this yet, but common sense tells us that two ears are better than one. Most adults who are bilaterally implant report that they have an increased ability to localize sound and listen in noise. We feel that we want learning to be as easy as possible for Madalyn. Our surgeon recently agreed to do the second implant, so we are waiting on a surgery date and information from the insurance company. Madalyn will be the first (or one of the first) kids to have Med-El bilateral implants. One other CI company, Cochlear Americas, has begun bilateral trials, but have only implanted a small number of children to date. During this exciting and stressful time, we hope that this website will keep us connected with family, friends, and others who are interested in hearing loss and cochlear implants. Please check back often for updates (I'll do my best!) Thanks to all of you who love and support us.

Love,

Megan, Paul, Madalyn, and Jarrett

Note: We decided to go ahead with the implant surgery which took place on January 26, 2004. She was activated on February 26, 2004. Check out previous journal entries for details.

Journal

Tuesday, July 3, 2007 10:32 AM CDT

Well, I see it's only been a YEAR since I wrote a journal entry. I looked at the guest book and saw that a few people were checking out the site, so I thought I'd give a quick update. Madalyn and Jarrett just finished first grade--I can't believe it! They were very successful, and their reading is coming along at an amazing pace.

Madalyn still receives the help of a language facilitator and has weekly auditory verbal therapy sessions, but she is totally mainstreamed. Although her progress is remarkable, we've still got some grammar and auditory memory things to work on. Jarrett continues to receive speech therapy at school, but his issues are mainly articulation and oral motor.

Madalyn has become quite the swimmer and ended up continuing it throughout the school year. We have recently moved and are hoping to start a swim team in our new neighborhood. This is the first year that she's complained about not being able to hear in the pool. We've had a few instances of "it's not fair," but overall, I think she realizes temporary deafness is better than the alternative. We're working hard to remind her friends to face her in the water and tap her when they want her attention.

Other than that, I can't think of any earth-shattering news. It's amazing to be in a place in our lives where hearing issues do not take center stage. I would have never thought when we first got the diagnosis for both kids in 2002 that our lives could eventually be "normal." Whatever that means of course!

Megan

Read Journal History

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Hospital Information:

Children's Hospital of the King's Daughters

Norfolk, VA

Links:

http://www.medel.com   Madalyn's implant company
http://www.phonak.com   Jarrett's hearing aid company
http://www.listen-up.org   Tons of info about hearing loss


 
 

E-mail Author: hopkinsmegan@cox.net

 
 

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