Where's Aiden's Implant?

You may have wondered where Aiden's Implant is in the pictures that we just posted (see next posting below). It's there - it just looks different than you are used to (unless you have seen Aiden lately). About 2 months ago, we got a bit of a hardware "upgrade" for Aiden's implant. You may remember that we were having no end of troubles keeping the behind the ear mic on Aiden's ear. So, we switched him to a device called a "behind the ear processor" or BTE. There is still a magnet on his head. That cord is attached to the BTE. The BTE is supposed to be worn behind the ear (hence the name) like a hearing aid. But, Aiden's ears are not close enough to his head, nor strong enough to hold it. So, we have it safety pinned to his sholder for the time being - as you can see in the above picture with Auntie Sharon.

When you see a picture of him face on, you don't even realize that it's there - especially if the BTE has been pinned a bit back on his sholder. So, now instead of having a blinking light on his ear, there is a blinking light on his sholder....

This, of course, is not a permanent solution. We make jokes about Aiden having this extremely high tech piece of equipment, valued in the neighbourhood of $10,000 (just for the hardware), and we have it safety pinned to his shirt....

There had been some talk of Aiden meeting with a plastic surgeon to see about firming up his little ear, and tucking it in closer to his head to accommodate the processor, but I think he needs to be a bit older first. I really NEVER thought I would be talking about taking my 2 year old to the plastic surgeon!!! Of course, I never imagined I would be doing a lot of things that I find myself doing :>