Baha Adventures.

 

So my daughter Rosie was born with some challenges. Being born with a cleft lip and palate can cause havoc on your ears. She has two perforated eardrums and as a result suffers some hearing loss. The day I heard that I cried! No parent wants his or her child to be different or suffer loss of any kind. But everyday parents and their children have challenges and well it’s just a part of life right? The bright spot is as Rosie grows older she maybe a candidate for a Tympanography or an eardrum repair. This surgery may restore her hearing loss and cause her to not need hearing aids at all. But until then the better she hears the more likely her articulation or talking skills will develop normally. So she needs one! So yesterday, was the day to meet with the Audiologist and get the dreaded device. That hearing aid in my mind would make her appear more different from she already is. So needless to say I wasn’t looking forward to the whole experience and was actually losing sleep over it. I even got my 14-year-old daughter Emma out of school early to support me and encourage me not to emotionally breakdown as the hearing aid was being fitted. Silly, I know but for some reason the whole her needing a hearing aid ….HIT ME HARD. And yes, I am a Speech Pathologist and Yes, she needs it! Yes, it will help her! But I would just rather NOT! I prayed about it. I was humbled by it. I prayed about it some more. And today my prayer was answered, with the click of a switch. When Rosie’s audiologist flipped the switch to that BAHA hearing aid and turned it on, the delight and smile on Rosie’s face calmed all my fears. The dreaded device transformed from being a hearing aid to a magical headband that had the capability of not only making her hear better and then in turn helping her speak better. It had Bluetooth and Streaming capabilities. It was not just a magical headband it was an Apple compatible headphone set. Not to mention the head band could be decorated to transform into a fashionable accessory, to give those many beautiful hair clips we have a much-needed home. I had not faced this kind of excitement since I purchased my iPhone 6s last year. The sadness of it all turned to joy! And I was grateful to be able to get it. This dreaded BAHA hearing aid had once again changed from being a nightmare to a beloved friend.  It was obvious this would be a sweet relationship. A new world of sound was introduced to her. A clearer more distinct world of exciting and informative sound possibilities. Though her hearing loss was not severe, a moderate loss can keep you from hearing some of the most important things. Speech discrimination can really matter when you realize your mom is talking about cinnamon rolls instead of the FSU Seminoles . Both very awesome, but one serves as a much better breakfast than the other one! So as my middle daughter, Emma, said, “Wow, mom that couldn’t have gone any better!” She was right! It was a blessed day! A day of somewhat new beginnings and hope that Rosie’s articulation may with continued speech therapy and with the help of this magical headband or amazing piece of technology will ONEDAY be a thing of the past! I am so grateful that we have a God that is there for us when we face challenges and he can turn those challenges into possibilities. I love how God can turn a day of expected sadness into one of the sweetest memories we have had since adopting Rosie. In our yesterdays, we had the awesome privilege of giving her a family but in our today’s we had the unexpected privilege of giving her the gift of a little more sound, better speech and a brighter future. Both are priceless gifts and both make this rocky road of adoption worth the hard times and a little brighter. Sometimes God really does use our disappointments to make us feel life deeper, become more grateful and hear things a little better! So I am not sure what you are dreading today or what disappointment you are facing. But what if God has a magical headband he is going to give you to overcome it. It might not have Bluetooth capabilities or streaming technology but it might just have something better. Don’t fight it. It just might make you a little more grateful and be able to hear HIS Voice a little more clearer.

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