Hearing Henry: Feeling Thankful

For the past three months we have been living in accommodation provided to us by the Royal Institute for Deaf and Blind Children (RIDBC) in Sydney. I feel such an overwhelming depth of gratitude; I really don’t know how to express how thankful I am. We were living overseas when we starting investigating the possibility of cochlear implants for Henry. The decision to implant your baby is stressful enough, but for me that was clouded enormously with the stress of worrying about where we would stay if we had to come back for the surgery and how we would manage all the appointments required for Henry without compromising his journey to hearing. It is not something you can just fly in for and leave again. During the first year, the mapping (fine tuning of the sound received by the cochlear implant) and therapy requirements are huge. We came up with a plan whereby we would come to Sydney for three months for the surgery and intense mapping and therapy afterwards, then return to Sydney every three months after that. We just had to find somewhere for stay for the three months of surgery and follow up. I would have been happy to rent somewhere, but we had no furniture, and furnished rentals are SO expensive! We even looked at house swapping, but it was just going to be so difficult. We were at a loss. Henry was only confirmed to actually require the implants in December 2010, and the surgery date was booked for January 2011. While we were so happy that things could be expedited as they were, it just didn’t give us a chance to pack up our life in Dubai and move to Australia in time, even if we wanted to. So I was immensely thankful when we were offered the opportunity to stay on campus at RIDBC for the three most important months in Henry’s life.

Our house here- cottage 365 – has become our temporary home and I have such special memories of our time here. I am really sad that we will be leaving next week, and I’m sure the kids will feel the same. When we arrived here, off our 16 hour flight from Dubai, we had with us a ten month old baby who, as far as I know, had never heard a sound. Henry was gorgeous and clearly intelligent, but he was in his own world. He didn’t engage with us. Now, we leave here with a 13 month old boy who just has so much charisma. He wants to be involved with everything! I don’t know how to describe it, but he participates in our life. From the moment he wakes up in the morning, he doesn’t stop communicating. Asking questions- he hears a sound outside and he looks at me and points and coos- ‘what was that mama?’ and wait for me to tell him, or better show him. He hears Immi entering the room and he is so excited – where is she? What is she going to do next? (It could be anything!!!) He even recognises Will’s voice on Skype when he calls in and points and tries to bang on the keyboard.

Henry and I had a whirlwind trip to Australia in December and met with the Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre (SCIC). At the time, we were told that Henry was covered for just one implant, but there was a chance that donations which had been made to SCIC could be used to cover the second. Shortly before our trip to Australia for the surgery we were informed that Henry would indeed receive bilateral (two) cochlear implants.

William and I will be eternally grateful for the support, guidance and assistance provided to us by RIDBC and SCIC. The expression ‘life changing’ is bantered about, however this truly has impacted upon our, and most importantly Henry’s, life and set him on an amazing path forward. I truly believe there is nothing he cannot do now.

Thank you RIDBC and SCIC.