The journey to new ears begins

At five weeks old James became one of the youngest children out there to recieve hearing aids. Lynella, our Advisor on Deaf Children, was determined to keep James' time without sound to a minimum, and he took to them immidiatly.

He loved music, and was in seventh heaven every time he heard his brothers voice. He started to shout at us, and began to learn how to use his own voice.

However, it wasn't to last. One of the major problems of meningitus caused hearing loss is that it gets worse and worse. The cochlear (the part of the ear that turns sound into brain waves) fills with soft tissue, which then turns to bone. This essentially stops it from doing it's job, causing profound deafness. James' hearing deteriorated very rapidly, and at four months was almost entirely deaf.

This did put James on the list for a cochlear implant though. The implant essentially replaced the cochlear, and sound goes directly through the hearing aid-like exterior part, through the implant which turns the sound to electrical impulses and into the brain. We were thrilled that there was a way that James should be able to hear.

Then we were knocked back again when Lynella told us that the NZ government will subsidise only one Implant, essentially giving James hearing in only one ear. According to the specialists, for him to get on as normally as possible in life, hearing in two ears is essential. Our brains are made to process hearing from both sides, and without it life becomes a lot harder.

And this is why we have started this blog, and why we hope you are all reading along.

We are now fundraising the $30,000. needed to get James the second implant, and to get him the best possible hearing that we can. We will also need to fundraise the first upgrade (these upgrades will happen every 5 - 7 years) which will be $10,000 per upgrade. It's rather a daunting prospect - finding $40,000, $30,000 of which needs to be in the next year. However, we are keeping positive, and have already had a lot of people give their support. We are going to keep up the progress here so that all you amazing people who have helped or sent best wishes can keep track as well.