Zem's progress

Zem's been having a few fevers since we came home. Yesterday (Tuesday) he fevered all afternoon. Today he was fine in the morning and then fevered in the afternoon again. The doctor has told us that we should try to keep him home if we can. We have some antibiotics here at home with us too. We have a GP appointment tomorrow to get some more antibiotics as the stuff that we have will run out tomorrow. Hopefully, he will have progressively better days.
Zem played a game of Snap (using Uno cards) with us this evening. We used the game to teach him the basic colours. He did begin to place his own cards on to the card pile, which we thought was pretty clever.

The switch-on date has been postponed until January 13 and 14.
"Five weeks after the operation!" You say.
Yes, but usually the wait is only two weeks (it seems that nothing is normal for us.)

The following are a list of common questions that we have been asked, along with the common answers that we have given.

Q. "Why is it taking so long?"
A. Firstly because SCIC (Sydney Cochlear Implant Centre) closes down for Christmas...(how dare they!)
Secondly, the Med-El representatives are 'unavailable' until a week after everyone else goes back to work (I reckon they are snow-skiing in Austria).

Q. "Will he be able to hear?"
A. Short answer: Yes.
Long answer: We don't know how much, and we won't know for about a year (until he should be starting to say words). The specialists calculate his 'hearing age' from the date of his switch-on.

Q. "If he can hear, will he catch up to other kids?"
A. Yes. If all goes as hoped, he will catch up to the other kids by the age of five.

Q. "Will he hear like other children?"
A. He will always need to concentrate more in order to listen, and at best, what someone hears through an implant has been described as "hearing under water". Also, he will find it difficult to hear in large groups. He will probably only be able to concentrate on listening to one thing at a time.

Q. "How long will he need to see specialists?"
A. He will need to see someone from the SCIC once a week for a year. After that, he will need to see them every 3 months until he is 5. After that, every six months to a year until he is 21, and then once a year for the rest of his days. (He will need additional schooling until he is 5).

If you have any other questions, please write them as part of your comments and we will answer them on upcoming entries.