Elizabeth's "Ear Buddies"

So yesterday we took Elizabeth to her audiologist Dr. Maria Abramson to have her fitted for hearing aids. We were a bit anxious about the thing, but all of our worrying was for naught.

Elizabeth had a great time. Dr. A is a kids dream doctor. She is full of life and super animated--and after 20 years of working with the hard of hearing she talks LOUD and uses lots of gestures. She also wears colorful clothing and generally seems to have a blast doing what she is doing. Luckily the material needed to get a mold of E's ears looked a lot like silly putty--so E thought it was just hysterical when Dr. A used a large syringe to push "silly putty" in her ear.

Elizabeth and Dr. A spent most of the appointment making one another laugh. It was actually a fun time. And she got a great impression of E's ear to boot.

And we went through the list of all of the possible options for a hearing aid--which we have to decided to call Elizabeth's "ear buds" or "ear buddies" when we are talking to Elizabeth about them--it just sounds a lot more fun that way. And what a world of this world of "ear buds" is. They are truly amazing pieces of technology--and not cheap--but now I know why.

Here is a link to the super duper model that we got for Elizabeth. I understand about a tenth of what these things can do, but plan to try and figure it out. In the meantime we hope that are as amazing as they sound.

Here is the link:

http://www.exelia.phonak.com/en/home/

She got the "micro behind the ear" model, as that is the only one recommended for children. And yes, there are all sorts of accessories that can go along with it. As my brother said today, "when she asks for a BMW on her 16th birthday, we'll have to tell her she has been wearing one on her ears for 14 years now!"

And they also seem pretty discrete. We got her a pair in black so that they blend in with her hair. She will also have a flesh colored mold in her ears that attaches by a tiny clear wire to the aid.

We put a rush rush rush on the order so she should be fitted with them by next Wednesday. The audiologist will start her out slowly so as not to overwhelm her.

There's more to the story--I'll fill you in later.