A Good Report

Yesterday I took Luke to Iowa City for his annual cochlear implant check-up. It has now been 8 years since Luke received his cochlear implant and he continues to make gains and show improvements. Over the past few years Luke has began to look forward to his annual visits to Iowa City. He enjoys getting to see the staff and is excited to take the tests and eat in the fun cafeteria where he can choose whatever he wants to eat for lunch. Yesterday he informed the audiologist he was working with in the morning that he likes a challenge when taking sound recognition tests. He improved on his scores from last year - something that is a little out of the ordinary this long after implantation. The audiologist said many kids have plateaued at this point so we were excited to see continued growth. Luke also scored very well on a number of problem solving tests - it was fun to watch the "gears" of his brain work. Throughout the day Luke was his typical jovial self and inspired many laughs among the staff as they worked with him. His exuberant personality brings life and joy to those around him - what a blessing.

In talking with one of the audiologist I learned that bilateral implantation (both ears), is now pretty much the standard for young children that are implanted. Some children that received one implant as toddlers are now having their 2nd ear implants also and see gains in listening in loud environments and greater ability to localize sound. Mike and I have been hesitant to pursue this for a number of reasons to this point - Mike thinks that further advances may come in Luke's lifetime that would be of greater benefit than the cochlear implant, we have been a bit leery of putting him through another surgery when he's doing so well already and Seth's struggle with autism has taken more of our focus over the last 5 years. But I had to ask myself on the drive home yesterday if we are shortchanging Luke in any way by not pursuing this opportunity. It is something Mike and I want to pray and talk about further.

But overall we are so pleased with how well Luke has utilized his cochlear implant. He now takes responsibility and great care of his device. The first thing he grabs in the morning is his CI - he wants to hear all that's going on in the world around him - he doesn't want to miss a thing. When the batteries die he now goes the cupboard with the batteries and changes them on his own. Sometimes I find it hard to believe that he's this grown up. He continues to excel in school. He truly loves to learn and functions beautifully in a gen ed classroom with some minimal supports. We have been blessed by the many caring teachers and special educators at his school who have been a great support and encouragement to him in his school experience. At home he is a typical, high-energy boy who loves to play soccer, ride his bike and skateboard, play x-box, and pick on his sister. I am so thankful for the opportunity the CI has given him to be a part of the hearing world. Praise the Lord for modern technology!!