Sunday, May 25, 2008

Swimming with Cochlear Ziploc Food Saver



Lily could hear at the pool today and it was great!

What a difference. Instead of fighting me as she swims, I was giving her instructions in a non yelling voice- "like close your mouth", "use your arms", "open your eyes underwater", I will hold you up"...

Today I said "paddle like a dog" and she had never thought about dogs swimming I think but said "I am a puppy"

Without hearing, swimming with Lily is more like a contact sport were I think she thinks I am trying to tickle her or chase her. Without her implant she also thinks "I can do this myself" when she really can't swim yet. And yes because she can't hear she gets very loud.

This year is better than last because she is 42 inches tall (not yet four years old) and the pool is 3 and a half feet deep(42 inches).... So she has learned to bounce off the bottom. She is also very close to being able to actually dive and swim.

We used the modified food saver and ziploc attempt as seen and detailed on a blog from Holland about Lottie Soffie -http://lotte-sofie.blogspot.com/search/label/Swimming

After 3 or 4 attempts in getting the speedo bathing cap on and holding the implant coil and processor in the right spot we were able to get the cap on properly. It did take my wife and I one to hold the magnet in place and one to get the cap on.

A ridiculous scene really.



I didn't get a lot of good photos because I was in the water with Lily, but I did get one of her waiting for "the bucket" which fills up and dumps ever 2 minutes.


The force of the water actually moved her cap (see photo) and the experiment was over... But if we had avoided the bucket everything would have continued to work.



A couple more photos







American Gladiator Brick Reilly Cochlear Implant


This is great - awesome to see contender Brick with a cochlear implant. I guess he isn't wearing the implant under his helmet over the water. Maybe Cochlear can come up with a water proof version...(see Lily post) He was also being hit in the head by a 290 pound behemoth named "Justice" in the joust.

He is a tree climber and is dominating the other contestant. He even dislocated his shoulder and popped it back in and finished.

From his bio on NBC. Brick Reilly is a 27-year-old tree climber from Springfield, New Jersey. He was born deaf and has always deemed athletics an important escape from the realities of life. Though Reilly recently had a cochlear implant which gave him the ability to hear, he never used his disability as an excuse in his life. He works as a mentor for deaf children in the New Jersey area.
http://www.americangladiatorsblog.com/contenders/season-2-contenders

Cochlear Impant 16 year old dancer


Nice article on girl from New Jersey. Annette Tavernese
Born to dance
Teen determined that being deaf will not keep her from achieving her goals


Great video too.

Wednesday, May 14, 2008

Video from last December

This video shows how far Lily has come from March 2007 activation to December 2007 - She is answering her sister's question... What do you want for Christmas?

Monday, May 05, 2008

You Tube Hookup Cochlear Implant at Shands

From March 2007

Non Updated Blogs are the worst




Lily is doing incredibly well and coming up on her 4th birthday.



Lily and her cousin listening to a story by Grandpa