CI Conference Day 2

Today's conference went pretty well. My mom was late arriving, so she missed the part where Dr. Kelsall was talking a bit of the surgery. The pictures he had in his powerpoint were pretty neat though. Again she learned a bunch, and I had trouble keeping up. No interpreter, and the speakers were far enough away that it was difficult to lipread. Well, with Allison, she was behind the laptop at the podium so most of the time I couldn't even see her mouth! But that's ok. I did talk with Dr. Kelsall for a few minutes after his presentation. He encouraged me to fill out the application for the CNI CI Assistance program.

Allison spoke about the cochlear implants and of the mapping sessions, and of how the evaluation is done. But I've already been evaluated so I don't really need to worry about that much.

Then it was lunch time. Then during the afternoon, Allison and a speech pathologist talked of rehabilition for kids with cochlear implants. Again I couldn't follow, so I got bored and ended up playing with my SideKick 3 more than I paid attention. Oops. Although, I did send off some more emails. Emailed Judith at the CNI and asked her if I should have the cat scans and the meeting with Dr. Kelsall taken cared of before filling the application, and she said yes. The Gift of Hearing Foundation recommended that I fill out the CNI application, but I can't until I've met with Kelsall. So I emailed Gift of Hearing and shared with them what Judith told me.

Then after the conference was over (we finished earlier than planned), I went over to the DFS office real quick and asked about the elibility criteria for Medicaid. For sure I don't qualify, as I am over 19 and I'm not expecting a child. They even gave me a letter of proof so I can send this to Gift of Hearing.

Next, well, I'll just talk with my mom some more, and see if we can figure out when we can make another trip to Denver to meet with Dr. Kelsall. Once we have an idea, I'll email Johnnie at Rocky Mountain Ear Center for an appointment and for a doctor's order for the CAT Scan (they will fax or send the order to the facility), and we'll go from there.