“All I want for Christmas is new hearing aids.”

So said our 12-year old daughter Keisha last month as we began thinking about the holiday season here in 2009.  Keisha’s had her current hearing aids for over four years, and they are showing their age and losing their effectiveness. In addition, she’s had a growth spurt has outgrown her current earmolds.

Background

A little bit of background might be helpful here.  Keisha was born just before infants started being checked for hearing loss, so we didn’t find out that she had bilateral sensorineural hearing loss until she was about 3 years old. She currently wears Phonak BTE (behind-the-ear) aids in both ears, along with FM receivers. The FM receivers enable teachers to speak into a special microphone so that Keisha can hear over the rest of the room noise.

We’re still learning how to communicate and often have communication breakdowns associated with living with hearing loss. In addition to her aids, we use some sign language, lip reading, and handwritten notes. Keisha prefers to communicate orally, but her hearing loss has left her with the need to get speech therapy to make sounds she cannot hear.

Audiologist – Take 1

We received a referral from the insurance company to an audiologist, so that he could test Keisha’s hearing and make a recommendation for new aids and make new impressions of her ears so that new earmolds could be made.

Yesterday afternoon we met with the audiologist, and he noticed quite a buildup of wax in her ears. There was so much so that he couldn’t get a good reading when he measured the air pressure against her eardrums and didn’t get any response. He referred us to an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat specialist) in the same building and we made an appointment for this morning.

Otolarygologist (say that 3 times fast!)

The ENT appointment was pretty quick, because he just needed to remove the wax from Keisha’s inner ear, and more gently than with any tools the audiologist could have used.  The suction tool is very similar to what dentists use. It was kinda gross to hear and see, but it was necessary. He actually pulled out a piece of cotton that had been up near Keisha’s eardrum.

LESSON LEARNED: Do NOT use cotton swabs in the inner ear. They only push the wax further into the inner ear.

We asked the ENT how Keisha could best keep her ears dry, especially since she puts her aids in after getting out of the shower. In the past, leftover moisture, when she puts her aids on, has led to an ear infection (“Swimmer’s Ear”). The ENT recommended a small capful of isopropyl alcohol in each ear when coming out of the shower to dry off the inner ear.

Audiologist, Take 2

Back at the audiologist’s office, Keisha went in for her hearing test. I liked watching the program he used, and we could see when Keisha pushed the button to indicate she’d heard a sound. After this, he tested the air pressure in her ears and got a satisfactory response; i.e., nothing was blocking them, no fluid was built up behind them, and her eardrums were not perforated.

How Keisha Hears

After this test, we went to a room, and he put Keisha’s audiograms up on a screen. We asked him to demonstrate what Keisha’s hearing was like. First, he played a woman speaking normally to give us a baseline.  Then he played the audio through a filter to mimic Keisha’s hearing loss in her right ear. It was very muffled, and I could barely pick out some of the words.  Then he played the same audio through a filter to mimic Keisha’s hearing loss in her left ear. I could barely make out any sound at all.

I looked at Keisha and felt like crying. This was the first time in my life that I’d been able to experience what her hearing loss is like. Even now, as I type this, I’m feeling emotional.

In Color or Black and White?

Keisha has described not being able to hear effectively as experiencing the world in black and white.  When she’s able to use hearing aids effectively, she said it’s like she’s able to experience the world in every color. We can definitely tell a difference in her mood and personality. She definitely shines when she’s able to hear.

Waiting for the cost

We got a recommendation for the best hearing aids that will accomodate Keisha’s type of hearing loss. Now we’re waiting on the insurance to tell us how much all of this will cost us.  We are certainly not in a position, given my unemployment, to pay for these out of pocket.  I’m guessing that, with the cost of new ear molds and aids, it could be upwards of at least $3200 total. How much of that we’ll be expected to pay we’ll know for sure soon.

Conclusion

The most moving part of today was being able to experience, to a small extent, what life is like for our only daughter without her aids. I can understand more clearly how valuable and important having good hearing aids is to her. I’m a bit nervous about the potential cost, but I’m also hopeful that we’ll be able to raise the money somehow.

UPDATE!

We got word back from the insurance company. With the discount we’re getting on the aids, including audiological services and new ear molds for the aids, we anticipate the total cost to be about $4000. That’s a lot of money to come up with, for sure.

But then again, what if 400 people gave us $10? Or 200 people gave us $20? Not quite as overwhelming, necessarily. We’re going to look at other ways to get the money, but I thought I’d put this out here, since many of you have asked about how you can help.

Related articles by Daniel Johnson Jr and Zemanta

• Acoustically Emotional (journeyinsidemymind.com)
• Hard of Hearing Posts (journeyinsidemymind.com)
• How To Prevent Swimmer’s Ear (howcast.com)
• Strategies for Helping Those With Hearing Loss Enjoy Holiday Season Are Offered by HearUSA Audiologist (prweb.com)

Happy Birthday, Mom!

Today is my Mom’s birthday, and it gives me a lot of joy to share how much I love and appreciate her.  Naturally, if it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here.  Happy Birthday, Mom!

For most of my life now, we have lived hundreds of miles apart from one another, yet we remain very close. It’s nothing for me to contact her through GoogleTalk or call her on the phone.  She is a great Nana to our daughter Keisha, and Jennie, Keisha, and I really loved when she lived with us some years ago.

Domestic Violence Awareness

My mom’s experience with domestic violence and abuse is a strong motivating factor in my passion in promoting domestic violence awareness.  She has publicly shared her story on her own blog, and, in honor of her special day today, I would love if you did me a favor and read her story. She wrote it in two parts.

It’s graphic. It’s not for the faint of heart.

She would say it’s only by the grace of God that she is alive.  But, and I think she’d agree with me, by sharing her story, it might help someone else in a similar situation.

Once again, my Mom is a hero to me. She is a survivor. My respect and love for her grows every day. I am proud to be her son. Read this and you’ll understand why.

• Why doesn’t she just leave? Part 1
• Why doesn’t she just leave? Part 2

Related posts you might be interested in

• Domestic Violence Awareness: Social Media Release
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 1
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 2
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 3
• One Voice Domestic Violence Community Awareness Walk, Part 4

Image by danieljohnsonjr via Flickr

Whew! Ever feel glad the weekend was over so you could go back to work and rest? I almost feel that way. Here’s how last weekend went for us.

FRIDAY

Friday night after work, I stopped by the church building to pick Jennie and Keisha up from a preteen meeting. When got back home, I watched The Bourne Ultimatum while Jennie and Keisha did their thing.

SATURDAY

Saturday we went to our Weight Watchers meeting and then to the Baroque Violin Shop in College Hill to pick up a viola for Keisha. We then dropped her off at a friend’s house.

After this Jennie dropped me off at home, and she went to get a pedicure. I took a nap. When she came home, we watched TV for awhile and then got ready for my 20-year high school reunion.

The reunion was something that I and several others had been working on for several months. It was great to see all the hard work from everyone come together. But it was even greater to see so many folks that I hadn’t seen in 20 years.

SUNDAY

Sunday morning we woke up and went to church. I always get there early since I help run the sound. Yesterday we began a four-week series on Worship, and there were some changes in how the sound and lighting were set up. Adaptability is key in these situations.

It was a great service and left me feeling really grateful that I don’t have to worship God the way he commanded in the Old Testament and very grateful that through Jesus Christ God has come near.

Afterward, Keisha and I went to choir rehearsal for two of the songs we’ll be doing in the next couple of weeks. That has been something we both have been enjoying together.

After church we went to Winton Woods to join up with others from our class and their families. We had lunch and got to spend more time together and have more in-depth conversations than we were able to have the night before. It has been very cool to reconnect with these folks, and thanks to social media tools, we’re able to stay connected.

We hung out at the picnic for a few hours and then returned home to get a grocery list together. I got a phone call from one of the ministers from church, who asked if I could head back to the building to lock it up. The usual person who locks up was out of town, and he was in an appointment with another couple.

Since it wasn’t too far to drive, I offered to help out. I dropped Jennie and Keisha off at the store along the way. We eventually came home, put everything away, and still had a bit of time to relax.

It was quite an unusual weekend, and I’m really glad it was memorable.  How was yours?

This post originates from http://journeyinsidemymind.com

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Greetings from my new iPod touch! Last Friday Jennie, Keisha, and I went to the Apple store in Kenwood Towne Center (map). I now understand why so many folks rave about their experiences there.

After having all our questions answered, I bought Jennie and I each a new 16 GB iPod touch.

It is truly a remarkable thing to behold. Already we are loving that our music libraries can fit on it. And I’ve really started enjoying all the applications that I’ve added.

I am typing this from the WordPress application, for example. I’m still trying to get used to typing here, and I often fat-finger a word or three, .

What applications do you recommend I check out?

11 Years Old
Originally uploaded by danieljohnsonjr

Eleven years later and I can still remember it like it was yesterday. Here are some links to a 2003 series I wrote about her birth:

• Out She Comes! Part 1
• Out She Comes! Part 2
• Out She Comes! Part 3
• Out She Comes! Part 4
• Out She Comes! Part 5

Happy Birthday, Keisha! You make me proud every day. I’m so grateful that God chose me to be your Daddy.

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Connect on LinkedIn
Interesting Things I’ve Read

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Summary

Listener feedback, New Media Cincinnati updates, and celebrating mothers!

Listening Options

• Direct link to file (mp3, 45:55, 42.0 MB)
• JIMM Podcast on MySpace
• Subscribe to the feed
• Add to your iTunes subscription
• From ANY phone: +1 (650) 523-6856 (via Podlinez.net)

Music from the Podsafe Music Network (PMN)

Happy Mother’s Day to mothers everywhere!

Listener Feedback

• Ed Ovett from http://edsmixedbag.com commented on Keisha’s guest host appearance on JIMM 105
• Kevin Reeves from http://kevinreeves.net contacted me because he saw me give out my number on Twitter

New Media Cincinnati Update

• http://twitter.com/newmediacincy is one of the best places to get updates on the group
• http://newmediacincinnati.com redirects to the Facebook group
• Audio from the May meetup posted to http://journeyinsidemymind.com and http://danieljohnsonjr.com
• Working on getting meetup setup for June 2008

Podcamp Ohio is June 28, 2008!

• More info at http://podcampohio.com
• Are you going? Contact me so that we can get together! +1-206-666-5466

Celebrating Mothers

• Keisha shares about her Mommy, Nana, Grandma, and Grandma Linda
• Jennie shares about her Mom and about being a mother to Keisha
• I share about my Mom (aka the Official Mom of Journey Inside My Mind) and about Jennie being Keisha’s Mommy

Music Played

Special thanks to all the independent artists who’ve let their music be played on this episode! (via http://music.podshow.com)

• Rory, “Up and Go” (JIMM Theme)
• Kevin Reeves, “Mother”
• Adam Zampino, “Mystical Vista”
• Beth Hirsch, “All Together”
• Alexander Blu, “Childhood”
• The Alice Project, “I’m Having a Great Day”
• Martin Herzberg, “Walk for Change”
• Rebecca Haviland, “Sleep”

Other Link-Love

• Twitter in Plain English (video)
• Daniel Johnson, Jr.
• Journey Inside My Mind Podcast on MySpace
• Get That Job!
• QuotesBlog
• Follow me on Twitter
• New Media Cincinnati on Facebook
• New Media Cincinnati updates on Twitter
• Sunday Sundown

Related tags: jimmpodcast jimm journeyinsidemymind journey+inside+my+mind daniel+johnson+jr

Summary

Keisha brings some music she picked out and shares some interviews with Mommy and Daddy.

Listening Options

• JIMM Podcast on MySpace
• Subscribe to the feed
• 1-click iTunes subscription
• From ANY phone: +1 (650) 523-6856 (via Podlinez.net)

Music from the Podsafe Music Network (PMN) and other places.

1. Taxi Doll, “Be With You (Josh Harris Remix)”
2. Girl Stuff, “Big Deal”
3. Girl Stuff, “Secrets”
4. Beatrice Ericsson, “Put A Little Love”

Other Link-Love

Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast on MySpace
Podcamp Ohio
e-Mail Our Military

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I’ve been listening to the Dave Ramsey Show via podcast on my commute up to Dayton every day. Our family is going to buy his book The Total Money Makeover: A Proven Plan for Financial Fitness. We think this is a good deal. Not sure if we want to wait for it to be delivered or simply go buy it now at the brick and mortar store.

Related tags: dave+ramsey total+money+makeover personal+finances

Weight: 221.6
Pants size: 40

You may be aware that since the second week of January, all three of us have been attending Weight Watchers meetings. I started out at 231 lbs and size 42 waist.

I’m thinking of blogging my continued efforts. I’d have to say that, in addition to the normal things like tracking what I’m eating better and exercising more, attending regular meetings and having our entire family involved has been really helpful.

There’s a whole fatblogging movement going on already here, so I think blogging about my efforts here will help.

Feel free to join the conversation!

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr fatblogging

The weekend is here and it’s setting up to be a busy one:

• Jennie works tonight.
• Saturday morning we have our weekly Weight Watchers meeting.
• After that meeting we’re going to call the pediatrician to see if she’ll see Keisha about her earache, the same one that’s been keeping her from wearing her hearing aids.
• Saturday afternoon I’m going to the New Media Cincinnati meetup.
• Sunday morning I’m singing in the choir at church, an a cappella song called “How Excellent”. It’s gonna be awesome.
• I’ll also be helping run the sound during the service. Come join us if you’d like.
• Sunday afternoon I have a 20-year reunion planning meeting with other classmates.
• Sunday evening I’ll be on The Pod 5 Live, and I hope you’ll join the party there as well.

Somewhere between we’ll be resting and eating and grocery shopping and somehow spending time together as a family. I guess I’ll be looking forward to getting back to work on Monday so that I can get some rest, .

—–
Check out my other blogs:
Daniel Johnson, Jr.
Get That Job!
Journey Inside My Mind Podcast
QuotesBlog
Twitter.com/danieljohnsonjr
Are we LinkedIn?

Related tags: journey+inside+my+mind journeyinsidemymind jimm daniel+johnson+jr weight+watchers new+media+cincinnati mt+healthy+class+of+1988