Mapping day!

When a cochlear implant is programmed, it's called mapping. It's quite an involved, long process as there are four programs (maps) in the processor. Today was DS1's mapping of his left ear. He had his first implant surgery in November, 2005. His second surgery, the left ear, was December, 2006. His left ear has been activated about 2-1/2 months.

Today, after tweaking the mapping on his left ear, our audiologist tested his hearing. What stunning results! Our audiologist - the wonderful Stella - was beaming ear to ear! Here are his results from today:

Word recognition: left ear only - 94%
Word recognition: both ears - 98%! The only word he missed was sane - he thought it was same
Sentence recognition: both ears - 100% wow, wow, wow!

I almost started crying, which is just what your 14 year old wants you to do. We've seen such nice changes with the addition of the second implant - much easier to talk with him in a noisy setting, he can directionalize sound. It's so very exciting for him and for us! It's been such a miracle. Just prior to his first implant, in October 2005, his word recognition score with his hearing aids was 4% - quite an improvement, wouldn't you say?

I did get to knit - a little - in audiology. I'm still working on my pink silk sock. I'm in the home stretch with sock #2 - yay! I can't wait to feel it on my feet - I think it will be really soft and comfy.

I'm hoping to get some of my socks pictures up soon.