The Language Lane

As I write this post, I’m struck by just how far we’ve come. Our gorgeous little boy is now eight months old!

Though each day we get further and further away from the most terrifying time of our lives, that pain and trauma still linger in the little moments. The featured photos that pop up on our phones from before he was sick and the hours spent scrolling photos searching for a hint of “what did we miss?” or “how did this all go so terribly off course?” Quite honestly, I’m still not sure if those feelings ever go away but it’s our little boy who grounds us. We are loving watching his personality emerge moment by moment. It astounds us, and everyone he meets, just how much joy he has for life and the people in it. I like to think it’s not despite what’s happened to him but because of it that he sees the world a little brighter than the rest of us!

The last time we left you, we’d just been told the timeline for Tucker’s cochlear implant surgery needed to be moved up due to some scarring in his cochlea as a result of the bacterial meningitis. If you’d like a refresh on all the emotions and decisions, go back and read this post.

We’re now officially more than two months post surgery! And, eight weeks ago, we watched Tucker hear sound again for the very first time. It felt wonderful and magical but nothing like those viral videos make it out to be. This post is for the parents who are googling at 2am like we once were, and for the village walking this road with us.

Surgery Day

The morning of surgery came far too quickly. We woke early, bundled our sleepy boy into the car, and made the quiet drive to the hospital.

There’s something indescribable about handing your baby to a surgical team and trusting them with not just his health, but his future. Tucker, as usual, was completely unbothered. As the nurse carried him out of the waiting room, he didn’t even give us a second glance, too busy soaking up the attention of the nurses cooing over him!

Even though we knew it would be a four-hour surgery, the hours dragged. Every time the phone buzzed, my heart skipped. When the surgeon finally called, relief washed over us. The procedure had gone as well as they had hoped and, even with the scarring, they had achieved full implantation.

It’s worth pausing here to explain why “full implantation” was such a big deal. A Cochlear™ brand implant has 22 tiny electrodes designed to sit inside the “hearing zone” of the cochlea. The best outcome is when all 22 are successfully inserted, giving the brain the most information possible for speech and language development. Sometimes, especially after meningitis, bone growth inside the cochlea prevents surgeons from inserting them all. The implant will still work, but speech and language outcomes may not be as strong. So, hearing the surgeon confirm all 22 electrodes were successfully implanted felt like a massive step forward after so much stagnant uncertainty.

Tucker lived up to his reputation and was an absolute trooper post-surgery. Although he was groggy and uncomfortable that afternoon, by the next morning he was playing as if nothing had happened. We knew that while the hardest part was behind us, the next step would be just as significant.

Switch-On Day

On a chilly Monday morning eight weeks ago, we watched Tucker hear sound again for the first time.

As we sat in the waiting room of the Audiology department at QCH, another mother approached us. She had noticed the bandages on the back of Tucker’s ears and asked gently if he had just had cochlear implant surgery. When I nodded, she shared that her (now older) son had undergone the same surgery at two years old. “You’ve already done the hardest part of this journey,” she told us. I cried at her kindness. Here was a stranger, but one who had walked this road before us and knew just how much we needed reassurance that we’d made the right choice. I’ve spoken before about Tucker being between two worlds – the Deaf world and the hearing world – but in that moment, I realised he was also stepping into a new one: the CI world.

That reassurance carried us into the appointment with a little more confidence. Through what felt like God’s perfect timing, just two weeks before Tucker’s surgery, Cochlear™ released its first new internal implant in years. The CI team at QCH managed to secure one for him, making Tucker the first child at the hospital to be switched on with the Cochlear™ Nucleus® Nexa™ Implant. A representative from Cochlear™ was even there to guide the audiologist through the new system.

That first appointment was as much about teaching us how Tucker’s processors worked as it was about turning them on. We had seen the viral videos, but our experience was much quieter – literally and figuratively. Switch-on isn’t a magic moment where the world suddenly floods with sound; it’s the very first step in a long process of mapping, adjusting, and learning.

Tucker’s reaction was subtle but beautiful: curious glances towards our voices, tiny pauses, and little smiles. It wasn’t dramatic or movie-like, but it was perfect.

Post Switch-On

Since then, we’ve been adjusting to life with cochlear implants, and we’re already seeing signs of progress. Tucker has started noticing sounds like the birds chirping, clapping hands, songs and we are making games out of the “Learning to Listen” sounds, turning everyday moments into learning opportunities. Hearing him mimic some of our sounds has been nothing short of incredible.

It’s been a steep learning curve for us too. We are balancing access to sound with learning Auslan, making sure Tucker’s world is always rich with language in every form.

And through it all, Tucker’s personality hasn’t changed. He beams every time we put his CIs on, and he still chats away to himself in the mirror, full of smiles and curiosity.

The next few months will bring more mapping sessions, therapy appointments, and hopefully new words, both spoken and signed. This is only the beginning, and we look forward to sharing more about post switch-on life as it unfolds.

We’re so grateful for the support that continues to surround us. If you’re just beginning this process, please know you’re not alone. These early weeks are full of emotions, but they’re also full of wonder. We’d love to hear your story too.

Celebrating each new sound, one smile at a time,

Tyler and Corrie

References

Cohen, N. L., & Waltzman, S. B. (1993). Partial insertion of the nucleus multichannel cochlear implant: technique and results. The American journal of otology, 14(4), 357–361.

CochlearTM. (n.d.). Cochlear nucleus implants for hearing loss. Cochlear. https://www.cochlear.com/us/en/home/products-and-accessories/cochlear-nucleus-system/nucleus-implants