David’s CI Activation and Mapping Days
I just finished making a vlog about my son David’s CI activation and mapping, done in American Sign Language (you can view it at the bottom of this posting), and now I am writing this posting, in English, as a transcript for my vlog… That way, people whose native language is ASL could view my vlog while people fluent in English could read my posting, so that they would not miss anything.
The experience has been interesting for me, to observe David undergoing the cochlear implantation, recovery, activation, and mapping. Three weeks ago, he had a minor surgical procedure which he had the magnet planted against his skull and electrodes in his cochlea, leaving a small scar right behind his ear. Three weeks later, this past Thursday, we woke up early in the morning for a 30-minute drive to the hospital. We waited for several minutes and three audiologists came to us and took us to the therapy room. David sat next to the desk where the computer was, with three audiologists seated before desk, ready to observe him and to take notes, and an interpreter sat next to me.
The audiologist handed the CI device to David for him to put on. He had a few seconds of confusion of locating the magnet and when attached, the audiologist started the program. She tested to see if all electrodes (22 electrodes) worked, no circuit shorts, etc. They worked beautifully. David was not hearing anything at the moment. Then he was told he’d be hearing “beep”s as the audiologist tested each electrode to see if he responded to each. He raised his hand as he heard the beep… he responded to all electrodes, which meant all electrodes were fully inserted in his cochlea.
Then the next step was to have David to respond and to inform when the “beep” from each electrode got a bit loud for the audiologist to establish the maximum comfort and threshold levels. It went for about an hour, which was a little boring for him… enough for him to become fidgety in the chair. The reason for the slowly establishing the threshold/maximum comfort levels is to prevent to overload the brain when the CI is activated. That was the initial mapping.
He was asked if he was ready for the activation and he said yup. She turned it on and at first he heard nothing. Then she turned the volume up a bit… he heard little. She turned it up more and then he reacted, by laughing shortly and claiming it was weird. He heard us talking… we sounded like cars honking and geese honking to his brain. We were told to expect the sounds to sound robotic or Donald Duffy’s voice. Then the audiologists showed us the box containing the twinkles and bells of the CI device (another processor intended to be used as back up, hooks, etc.) Of course, David was fascinated with the box’s goods. No, he did not show any discomfort nor pain; he acted it was cool, different. To observe his reaction (around the minute 2), you could observe the URL link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_wJ5VbqUg4
Then I drove him to school where he spent the rest of the day there with his CI on. He came home and he immediately noticed that his sister had a high-pitched voice and that his father was a loud talker and it caused discomfort to him. I suggested to him that he took the device off and he refused, preferring to leave it on. OK.
The next day, we went back to the hospital, again, for the 2nd day of mapping, now that he had spent a full day wearing the CI device, giving his brain a chance to process the sound waves. When his CI was activated, his brain interpreted the sound waves as sensations… the feelings/vibrations, so to speak. His brain quickly interpreted the sensations into the levels of loudness, which became consonants. The audiologists said that he quickly distinguished “s”, “sh”, “b”, and “m” so far, due to his being born with normal hearing. So it’s more like for him to learn to ride a bike all over again after not riding it for years. He had to sit through the 2nd mapping which was very much like the initial mapping… responding to “beep”s, etc. The goal of mapping is to get him used to the increasing range of loudness (high and soft sounds) of each electrodes (pitches.) He still hears people’s speech as car honking though. He quickly came to appreciate music more with CI now, but he winces at the singing because it sounds like… car honking, and he’d rather listen to music without songs.
He will start the auditory therapy next Monday at school for 3 x a week, to train his brain to interpret that honk is short “i”, that honk is long “a”, so forth. But so far, it has been a very good, positive start for him. He told me that he wanted to get another CI next year. Good, just wait until we get everything settled before he could proceed to another CI 
)
Obviously, CI benefits hard of hearing people, late deafened people (like David), and the babies who’d have to receive therapy (AVT) upon receiving the cochlear implantation. David has shown no pain, no discomfort, no headache, no nausea so far, since the activation and the mappings. The whole experience has been positive and I really appreciate it.
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Deaf Village David’s CI Activation and Mapping Days
November 22, 2009 at 12:16 am
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November 22, 2009 at 12:25 am
Groovin’ already to go bilateral, golly-goodlums! (To use a Paotie aphorism) And he ain’t got past Donald Duck yet.
Glad to learn David hasn’t had any serious side-effects to bother him.
Blastin’ down the highway and mow-me-down!
Ann_C
November 22, 2009 at 3:15 am
Myself and my sibling were both profoundly deaf from birth. We both were implanted in our 40’s and were very successful. Never in our dreams, we would be able to talk on the phone even to strangers and going to musical concerts. We were able to understand speech from day one for which it blew our surgeon and audiologists away.
Debbie
November 22, 2009 at 4:10 am
Congratulations to your son, David. The successful activitation and mapping were attributed to his understanding of English used by his audiologists.
My concern is for babies who are implanted SANS the acquisition of language. They would not understand audioogists’ questions concerning the activitation, mapping, and other CI-related issues.
Jean Boutcher
November 22, 2009 at 4:47 am
Thanks, Ann_C
)
Debbie, it sounds like you and your sibling wore hearing aids prior to getting CIs and that both of you were motivated to make your CIs to work for both of you. My son wanted to get the CI and I simply made it possible for him.
Jean Boutcher, I hear your concern. I have already met many children who were implanted with CI at the early age at the camps hosted by AGBell’s chapter in the past summers and they are doing very well, already having languages, etc., thanks to the parental involvement. We just need to acknowledge that there are many factors for both success and failure, just same as hearing children.
kmayes
November 22, 2009 at 12:15 pm
Impressive! Your son, David did not afraid of anything, even, with the electronic shock!
I think we should thank for the wonderful and modern technology that have saved so many lives.
I find it interesting because the sounds such as b, sh, s, m can connect to your son’s brain waves at the beginning of his first activation. That’s a good start.
Ask David to see if the difference between his hearing aids and CIs — based on the mapping. Just curious.
White Ghost
November 22, 2009 at 2:26 pm
Hi WG,
I just asked him if he noticed any differences between his hearing aid and his CI. Interesting response… he said that the sounds were more clear and distinguishable through his hearing aid than through his CI. He added that the sounds were more loud through his CI than his HA. And that the music sounded more beautiful through his CI than his HA.
So, with his auditory therapy which he will start tomorrow, things should improve once he learns to distinguish the differences of the speech sounds.
kmayes
November 22, 2009 at 2:59 pm
Good detailed coverage on your son’s implantation, activation and etc. Looking forward to how he does with AV. The fact that he can recognize the S, SH, Z, CH, etc is an indication that CI is way better than HA’s. I’m wondering if he will eventually be able to say, after AVT, that the CI is clearer and distinguishable than HA’s. One thing, many who have never had HA’s needs to understand that when using HA’s for the very first time or when switching from one HA’s to another after a few days without, you will always note the difference in sounds, it is kind of fuzzy and after wearing the New HA’s for at least a day, everything comes back “normal” and you don’t see the difference anymore. I’m guessing that is how it is with CI? If so, then it’s normal because it takes time for the brain to pick up on new stuffs.
Gamas
November 22, 2009 at 7:22 pm
As for Jean’s comment above, I think with babies it is a whole lot different and from what I have learned, it is better and easier and less complicated for babies to pick up on spoken language (after implantation) rather than those who have never heard before and are already older. I think that has been proven, yet, it also varies with every individual. We can’t use one example and apply it to all, as we have already seen. As we have seen, even a 40 year old can do well.
Gamas
November 22, 2009 at 7:25 pm
Yup, Gamas… more reason for David to get started on the therapy. He said that the sounds sounded robotic, unlike his early memories as a hearing and hoh child. So yes, it takes time and motivation.
kmayes
November 22, 2009 at 8:01 pm
I’m very eager to learn the difference between the stem cell treatment and the CI activation for the late deafened adults (Progressive Hearing Loss).
With all the wonderful and successful procedures from the medical community on both sides (Stem Cell Treatment and CI activation) without getting any side effects, I know many adults will be facing the “weigh-in” decision to make.
I would not worry about the babies who are implanted SANS acquisition of language because they will be picking up the words through the brain very easily. It is the same with the stem cell treatment on babies.
Gamas at 7:25 PM, Nov 22 is right at this point.
White Ghost
November 22, 2009 at 9:00 pm
We have seen how much of a success Chloe was. My decision to get stem cells is an easy one due to all the advantages stem cells has over CI. I have explained it further in my blog.
Deafdude
November 28, 2009 at 7:16 am
True, Gamas, about HA’s. Gone thru umpteen number of hearing aids for a lifetime and each one required a “breaking-in” period of adjusting to different sounding voices, phone rings, etc. Someone I’d perceived with an older HA as having a low voice may sound higher pitched while breaking in a new hearing aid or vice-versa. Has to do with pitch variance from one HA to another, I guess.
I suppose with a CI it’s the same thing, that the brain will need to make adjustments from what one previously heard with a HA or after having been hearing once.
Ann_C
November 22, 2009 at 9:28 pm
Yup… David keeps saying that CI sounds very different from normal sounds as he remembers when he was younger. Takes time from the brain to get used to it…
I remember when I first started wearing high frequency compression hearing aids, I had a short time adjusting to it… quickly, since I had never heard high frequency in my life and I took to it very quickly and very well. But for late deafened adults, hmmm… takes more time because the sounds are different?
kmayes
November 22, 2009 at 9:43 pm
So… if I went for CIs myself, there’s a good chance that I might take to CIs quickly because I already have a language, have a good understanding of phonics, already comfortable with wearing hearing aids, etc. I have never heard “normal” sounds in my life. So adjusting to CIs might be easier for me than late deafened people?
I am just mulling, that’s all. Since Debbie in her comment says that she and her sibling took to wearing CI very quickly, being born deaf.
kmayes
November 22, 2009 at 9:49 pm
You raise an interesting question, Karen.
I think with adults considering CI’s, brain memory of sounds and speech would be very important, that is, if the adult qualifies for cochlear implantation. Keep in mind that some ppl don’t qualify due to malformed cochleas, too much calcification due to meningitis, or other physical causes. But brain memory of sounds and speech is a big success factor in a CI adult.
Like you, I’ve never heard “normal” sounds in my life either but I’ve worn HA’s and kept up with speech skills all my life. Adaptation took place early in life whereas with late-deafened people, adaptation takes place much later when hearing loss occurs. The advantage late-deafened ppl have is that they know exactly what speech consonants and vowels, with all the combinations thereof, actually sound like. That’s the advantage they have over you and me.
The advantage that you and I have over late-deafened persons is that we learned earlier to adapt to what is hearing for us. Hearing thru hearing aids or some other means. That is, technology is something we’ve already adapted to, and it doesn’t take a huge amount of adaptation to another technology or treatment that will improve our hearing.
Ann_C
November 23, 2009 at 1:44 am
I enjoyed watching your vlog about your son’s CI activation and thereafter. Alot better lecture than what I have seen you at CID without signing !
Rick
Rick Freeman
November 23, 2009 at 2:44 pm
It looks like David will do really well with his CI. There is a great deal of improvement in the first few weeks and months. I bet his understanding of sound improves rapidly.
For babies being mapped, they have really well trained audiologists who are very good at reading body language and expressions. Babies don’t try to hide their reactions, and it is actually really easy to map them.
As to adults, there are 3 “keys” that help determine how well they will do with the CI. Previous hearing ability, determination, and speech ability. It seems that even with profoundly deaf adults, if they have good speech ability, they seem to do better with implants than people who cannot vocalize well. But these are just generalizations. Since the brain’s ability to make sense of sound varies from person to person, there is no way to know for sure ahead of time.
K.L.
November 23, 2009 at 6:38 pm
Thank you for sharing. Congratulations to David!
Lisa C.
November 24, 2009 at 9:00 pm