Activation #2

I waited awhile to post this because I wasn't sure where we were going to end up. Things didn't go the way we assumed they were, so we didn't know how this post would end, so I waited...but I feel ready now, so here we go!

Wednesday morning we picked Miss Kat up from school and took off on the two hour drive to her audiologist. We were all very excited, especially Miss Kat (because she gets to go to the local creamery and get homemade ice cream after audiology appointments).

So, we hooked her up, did the NRI's, set the T and M levels and got a nice MAP all set up. Then the audiologist lowered the volume and set three MAPs for us to slowly work up through. Then he turned the mic on to "go live".....and all hell broke loose! Miss Kat ripped the CI off her ear and SCREAMED. Ok, that happens sometimes, he turned the volume all the way down and we had her put it back on. When she put it back on, she was ok with it, but she didn't let him turn it up anymore.

So, we took it off, and the audiologist programmed it and the back up and handed it back to us. Miss Kat REFUSED to put it back on. She screamed and cried and even hit us! Wow, we were NOT prepared for this...(her first activation went really well and she liked her CI, right from that first day). So, we argued, and pushed, and bribed and scolded...and nothing worked. She would start to put it on and then FREAK OUT and refuse.

It was  insane! She already has one CI, it works great, and she has been using a hearing aid in that ear nearly her entire life! How different must the signals be to her! So, eventually, after about 15 minutes we scoop up all our stuff and leave the audiologist's office. His job was done, there was no reason for him to stick around.

So, we go out into the hall and lobby and argue and fight and bribe some more. Eventually, she puts the implant on, sobbing. She tell me that she "can't hear" with it, and it's "beeping". We promise her that if it still hurts after 5 minutes, she can take it back off. But she leaves it on while we head over to get some ice cream. After 8 minutes she says "I can hear with (this) ear!". Oh good, maybe things are improving!

On the way home we stopped at a playplace so Miss Kat could get french fries (one of our bribes) and to avoid rush hour traffic on the way home. She was awful the entire time. She was mad and complained that it was too loud in there, and even took the implant off while we were there. It was a fiasco.

As we were leaving we offered to rent her a Red-box movie for the rest of the drive home. She picked one out, but as soon as we tried talking to her again, she started SCREAMING and throwing another fit. She starting crying and complaining about the "beeping" again. I called her name, she ignored me, again and again and again. I got super frustrated, and tapped her...turns out her other battery had died and she had just been using the new implant for awhile...argh. I felt terrible.

So, we put on her spare battery and headed home EXHAUSTED. We were completely unable to turn the volume of the programs up at all. We struggled getting her to go to bed, it was all around a DISASTER, and we knew, in the morning, we would face the exact same thing again...