Loving the Nucleus 5 Processors

Another week has gone by. We have pretty much gotten the Nucleus 5 processors figured out. The difference between the new and the old (Nucleus Freedom) has been amazing! Taylor has really started trying to say words. This week alone, she has tried to say Waffle, Ball, Baby, Moo (as in a cow), and she is a PRO at saying Mama. :)

Once we got the new processors on her, with the appropriate settings and volume, she has loved them. She tries to put them back on herself. She has made an immediate and drastic improvement in her attempts to babble and to speak actual words.

The decorative covers are really cute too. We have the lavendar swirl ones and some pink camo covers.

We talked to our insurance company again this week, and they said they will be covering the surgery. I'm still waiting to see the EOB for confirmation.

Stay tuned for pictures and video.

Happy Times - Taylor is 18 months!

Taylor turned 18 months last Friday. It has been 6 months this week since we found out that Taylor is deaf. At her therapy session last Friday, Taylor was tested to see how well she is progressing. It had been 12 weeks since her activation. In terms of word recognition and cognition, Taylor now has the word recognition of ....... (drumroll, please............) an average 18-month old!!!!! She has in 12 weeks caught up to that of an average child her age. WE ARE THRILLED! This isn't the case for her verbal skills -- she is babbling more like a baby, maybe 10-12 months. She says Mmmm, Mama, Hi, and other than that, she makes sounds like wa wa, Oh, etc. Still no consistent dada or baba. She really likes music and is a great little dancer as she hums along with the music. Yesterday, we received a couple of very interesting items in the mail. Nucleus 5 Processors!! Amazingly small, with a great iPod-like remote to control volumes and programming, love it. It supposedly came with Taylor's maps on it, but she didn't like them and kept taking them off. Next Thursday, we have a mapping appointment, so I will let the audiologist get them mapped and wait until then for Taylor to wear them. Copies of Letters between our insurance and Blue Cross/Blue Shield in which BC/BS is denying payment of her surgery because it "wasn't deemed medically necessary." This is ludicrous considering that they approved the bilateral CI surgery back in July. Any advice??? At the end of the day, when I look back at the past 6 months, I am so happy and thankful that Taylor is doing so well. If I have to pay $100k for her to have unlimited opportunity, then I guess I will, but not without one heck of a fight with BC/BS.