Update!

Well, our budding star did great at her Christmas program....we took a movie of it, but figuring out how to post it here would require more technical skill than I have time for, so we'll have to save it for another day.

Pics! The ear looks great - we are so happy. After a brief communication with Dr. Reinisch, we are likely going to be scheduling a second surgery very soon. Her ear does need some refinements. The posterior sulcus (pocket behind the ear), the shape of the canal opening (which at the moment is not very round - kind of jagged almost), and the tragus are the areas that need refinement. That, and the strange little hairs growing out of her ear. Thankfully she doesn't seem to notice or care. According to Dr. Reinisch, this is a much less invasive surgery that doesn't require an extended stay or even any hair shaving.

Now the fun begins - we've changed insurance companies since March 07, so we are going to have to tiptoe around that minefield to find out exactly what has to happen for pre-approval for the surgery, percentages, etc. We've been there a few times now, so hopefully I've gained enough knowledge to get through it with our pocket book relatively unscathed.

One interesting thing to note - the ear is pretty stiff. It doesn't bend like a natural ear does. Apparently this is normal for this type of implant. That doesn't bother Kelley, either, so I guess it doesn't bother us.

As for her hearing, she was actually scheduled to have a hearing test today, which we were to send to CEI for Dr. Roberson & Sheri Byrne-Haber to review. Unfortunately, Kelley has come down with her winter sickness, and we have to postpone. She's coughing, sniffly, running a low fever, and is really tired. Probably not the best of circumstances under which to test. We'd like to get the best results possible, obviously, so we have the best information going forward. It is likely, however, that if we don't have improvement from her July test, then we will seriously look into adding the titanium implement and seeing if that makes a difference.

She is doing well in school, and her teacher is very accommodating about where she sits in her classroom. There have been a few worksheets that come home that could use a little improvement, with remarks like "didn't follow directions." This makes me wonder what the circumstances were in the classroom when instructions were given. Was there ambient noise? Was someone else engaging her at the time? Questions for her teacher when we have our next conference.

And, we still haven't changed our minds on the SoundBridge. Right now we are thinking that it is a 'no' for us.

The final two pics - we had a snow day today. I bundled everyone up and let them tromp around outside. Ryan was totally fascinated by the snow, too. Kelley was showing him what snow was in the last picture and his face totally lit up. He had a great time.

Ok, so, now I'm going to take a little time to fancy up this blog. I've learned a few new tricks, so I'm going to add links in the margins & whatnot.

Always, thank you for reading and keeping up. The support we get from everyone in our lives is amazing.