Not Quite Finished with CCCDP Just Yet

 

Well, I thought we were finished with Bud's audi team in Durham at CCCDP, however we were having difficulties with his left processor yesterday.  Actually, his processor would flash orange every once in a while the past two weeks, but it completely went on the fritz first thing yesterday morning.  I played around with all kinds of stuff on the processor, the cables, etc.  I checked his remote and it told me that the processor was on the wrong ear.  Incorrecto, Remote Assistant, as I had checked that already.  Not that I ever put his processors on the wrong ears - ever :)

His processor finally began to flash green when I put it on Bud's ear for the millionth time, and he seemed to do fine, so I went ahead and sent him on to school.  Everything was still fine.  Then, last night, he was flopping around on the couch watching Bubble Guppies, his ear came off, I went to put it back on, and then the flashing orange crap again.   Nothing me or hubbers did was going to bring it back to life.  So, just to rule out every possible (and horrible) issue, I took him to Durham, a one hour and 15 minute trek forcing us to leave the house at 7:30 this morning.  This meant shoving sausage patties into a snack container and having Bud eat it in the car on the way.  Luckily, I had called Cochlear yesterday while Bud was at school in anticipation of the thing completely dying within 24 hours (I was right on that one), and they believed that it was due to a faulty wire in the cable leading to the coil causing a weak connection.  We think this was caused by Bud pulling his ears off and yanking at the cable when he is mad or when he is trying to help us out by taking his ears off before nap and bedtime.  

As a bonus for making an impromptu trip to Durham first thing in the morning, we got another left ear booth test with a mapping (let me just say that trying to keep a two year old focused during a booth test is like trying to wrestle an alligator).  Bud now has his sensitivity levels tuned up so that he truly gets surround sound now, which is exciting.  And, as we all figured, his processor just had a bad cable and wire.  But I will admit that I had a panicky moment when I saw that flashing orange light.

It was a little sad to leave - again.  This was where Bud got his start and where his hearing journey began.  The people in North Carolina who have worked with him these past two and a half years treated him as if he was their own, and that's something that we will never forget.