Two words.. THANK GOD! I don't know what we can do without "waterproof" device..in general. I know that Nucleus 5 is water resistant/waterproof..what's the difference? I'm not sure..but anyway. IT is a MUST have if you have an active toddler or sport-goer type kid..and one thing I know for sure that Cory really LIKES having his CI on in the pool. We went swimming with PALS class at BCF, I noticed two other kids that are wearing theirs in the pool. One with swimband, and other one..nothing! One of the mom kinda of twisted my arm.. LOL ..no..she convinced me, I guess. It would be important for Cory to swim with his CI. ( I wouldn't use both) For one thing for sure, I'm not "chasing" after him due to water safety, and it is hard to communicate when he doesn't have CI on but he knows sign language anyway. So it's not a big issue. However, I was thinking about signing him up for swimming lessons soon.. but how would he be able hear or understand the instructor at the pool? So that's when I thought..okkkkk here we goes..
He loves it! You can see the instant sparks in his eyes..and immediately, he submerged in the water with his CI. I was little bit nervous. oy oy! Then when a mom asked me if that his CI have rechargeable battery not dispositable..I was like ?????? oh crap! (It was ok..it just scares me when she said that..)
My parents said that I was LUCKY to have such a device. They had to go through troubles with my hearing aids when I was younger, I was quite an athletic and would be playing soccer in the rain, mud and puddles. That's where I played the best. Mom and Dad would spend hours on drying my aids afterward, with a hair dryer and praying that they would be working again..back then we didn't have a special dryer or such a thing as waterproof aids. :)
One time, a month ago, we were in a park, when it was quite a downpour that day, Cory's CI fell out and landed right into a deep puddle. I thought oh yikes!! Took it out right away. It was still ok..
if that was my hearing aid..it would be a goner for sure!!!
Anyway, Cory just kept on submerging his CI ear into the water over and over again..I can tell that he loves how it sounds and he become more awareness with it. It is interesting to see how a child changes from not having it on and then have it on. I think I will be in trouble..when it's bath time...
I don't know our audiologist feels at the BCCH about this..I know I asked about it before. They strongly do not recommended this..maybe they are just being "safe"? But I know it's under warranty so if anything..I can replace it? is that true? is that too simple? Or am I taking a big risk?
ADOPTING A DEAF BOY, OUR JOURNEY & EXPERIENCES WITH COCHLEAR IMPLANTS.
I am so glad that you let him experience that! I know that it must be very exicting for them to hear their peers laughing and splashing and having all that fun rather than just watching, it adds that extra excitement! I know that cochlear says its water resistant, that children can have fun by the pool side and that they tested it for up to half an hour fully submerged! Now no of coarse they are not going to say go ahead and submerge it for hours on end, lol! They don't want to have parents be upset that their childs processor has stopped working after being under water then coming to them saying BUT YOU SAID it was water reisistant!!! But the fact is what child is going to have their head under water for more than 30 minutes? and YES it is under warranty! As I said Jasmines old freedom went through the whole wash cycle and still worked fine! I just make sure after Jasmines gets wet I take it apart, dry it with a towel and stick all of it including the battery into the dehumidifier while she is napping! So far we have never had a problem, hopefully never will, I might think twice about doing it once the warranty is up though, LOL!!!
ReplyDeleteI've dropped my digital hearing aid in the glass of water....and next morning saw on the bottle of the glass which was filled with water! Took it out and didn't turn it on. I just let it air dry for 2 days and put it back on. It still worked!! Phew!!
ReplyDeleteI'm so proud that you gave him the opportunity to try. And you have no worries with warrenty. And you can purchase extended warranty after the three years are up. Something that I will be doing forsure, especially at the expensive cost of replacements. They are so good at Cochlear, and how can they prove that he wasn't beside the pool and it fell in. I have yet to hear someone with a huge issue with water damage yet. And the new experience for him! looked like he loved it!
ReplyDeleteMy son has two freedom processors(we can't upgrade to the N5 yet) and we use a aLOKSAK bag(like a ziplock bag but more waterproof) and a swim cap to swim. I wouldn't try it at all until he got two new freedoms and had two freedom backups(we upgraded his body worn processors). HE LOVES swimming with his CI on and it has helped a lot with his behavior.
ReplyDeleteJust be careful that he doesn't SWIM with it, meaning moving water. dunking is fine I think, but it is the moving water that can be an issue.