Miss-Delectable
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Oh, what a beautiful sound!
It's been nearly a year since Katy Mulryan-Miller's world of sound opened up like a giant volcano, spewing out noises she had never heard. After Cochlear implant surgery, her world is now full of sounds - a concert of cicadas, a chorus of birds on a telephone wire and the gentle sounds of a blowing wind - sounds that most people take for granted.
But nothing would be as sweet as hearing her baby boy's first sounds early Friday morning at King's Daughters' Hospital. Aidan Thomas Miller entered this world with a full set of lungs. His mother listened with joy - and with a few tears.
Katy said she had been told that every baby has a distinct cry and her son's was sweet to hear. "But my favorite sound was his sneeze," Katy said. "That's what I loved so much."
Her angst over not being able to hear her baby's first sounds - as well as the fact that the little hearing she had left was quickly diminishing - inspired her to go ahead with the Cochlear implant surgery last August.
After the surgery, she was not only able to see her baby's likeness in ultra-sound pictures and feel his strong kicks into her ribs, but she was able to hear his heartbeat in utero as well as his first attempt at communicating with the world outside the womb.
Not unlike her own debut into the world of hearing.
For some, the decision to add sound to a deaf world is a controversial one. But not for Katy.
Today, as a result of the magnetic Cochlear device she wears most of the time, her ability to distinguish sounds has jumped from 20 decibels to 110 decibels - the bottom end of normal hearing range.
And, earlier this year, when she married Scott Miller at the First Christian Church, she didn't have to rely on reading lips to hear her husband say "I do."
"I didn't even have to look at the pastor when he read our vows," she said.
She recalls the days as a child when her inability to hear was most challenging, especially a time in junior high school before the days of closed-captioning.
"We watched a movie - I think it was the 'Donner Party' - and then were tested on it," she said. "I got an 'F' because I couldn't hear anything that was said in the movie. Everybody else was able to understand. When the teacher realized I was deaf, he changed the 'F' to an 'A.' After that, until the school bought all new TV's with closed captioning, I brought in my own closed-captioning box."
Then, there was the ridicule and kids laughing at her that challenged her self-confidence.
"If I could have had the surgery when I was in high school I would have," she said. "But the decision to have the Cochlear implant surgery should only be made by the person, not the parents or anyone else. It is a personal decision that is not always a popular one in the deaf community."
Although Katy's voice has gotten stronger and more confident since the surgery, there is sometimes still a lull when she communicates.
"There is some hesitation before she responds, especially on the telephone," said Scott. "It takes some time for her to process what has been said before she can respond."
She also still reads lips, mostly out of habit.
"I think I'll always do that, especially if I'm not wearing the device," she said. "But I'm working on not relying on it too much. I can't depend on reading my husband's lips when he's at the computer, facing the other way."
Which is much of the time, her husband added in jest.
Now that she can hear, she appreciates what she couldn't have before.
"When I was little, the grown-ups around me would be irritated when I played around making noise with plastic bags. I didn't know why. Now I know," she said, nodding with a sheepish grin.
Now a member of the hearing world, she leaves behind having to depend on people to communicate.
But the experience has given her a unique perspective with one foot in each world.
"It gave me an opportunity to be in both the deaf and hearing worlds," said the certified deaf education teacher who teaches American Sign Language (ASL) Courierarea residents. "I was able to make friends and help others who are deaf."
When she first visited Madison, she found that some area deaf people had no one to talk to.
"Recently, I helped a deaf woman and a gentleman with interpreting," she said. "They were so grateful."
Katy will be teaching Aidan sign language as soon as he is ready - long before he can actually talk. His first laugh. His first word. His first song. She will be able to hear them all - thanks to the Cochlear implant.
"I don't think I'll ever take my hearing for granted," Katy said.
Aidan's hearing was checked as part of the routine tests done for newborns at the hospital Friday morning and Scott said their baby came out with positive results.
"I wouldn't care if he had been born deaf," Katy said while running her fingers through Aidan's soft, fine hair. "He's just so beautiful to me.
It's been nearly a year since Katy Mulryan-Miller's world of sound opened up like a giant volcano, spewing out noises she had never heard. After Cochlear implant surgery, her world is now full of sounds - a concert of cicadas, a chorus of birds on a telephone wire and the gentle sounds of a blowing wind - sounds that most people take for granted.
But nothing would be as sweet as hearing her baby boy's first sounds early Friday morning at King's Daughters' Hospital. Aidan Thomas Miller entered this world with a full set of lungs. His mother listened with joy - and with a few tears.
Katy said she had been told that every baby has a distinct cry and her son's was sweet to hear. "But my favorite sound was his sneeze," Katy said. "That's what I loved so much."
Her angst over not being able to hear her baby's first sounds - as well as the fact that the little hearing she had left was quickly diminishing - inspired her to go ahead with the Cochlear implant surgery last August.
After the surgery, she was not only able to see her baby's likeness in ultra-sound pictures and feel his strong kicks into her ribs, but she was able to hear his heartbeat in utero as well as his first attempt at communicating with the world outside the womb.
Not unlike her own debut into the world of hearing.
For some, the decision to add sound to a deaf world is a controversial one. But not for Katy.
Today, as a result of the magnetic Cochlear device she wears most of the time, her ability to distinguish sounds has jumped from 20 decibels to 110 decibels - the bottom end of normal hearing range.
And, earlier this year, when she married Scott Miller at the First Christian Church, she didn't have to rely on reading lips to hear her husband say "I do."
"I didn't even have to look at the pastor when he read our vows," she said.
She recalls the days as a child when her inability to hear was most challenging, especially a time in junior high school before the days of closed-captioning.
"We watched a movie - I think it was the 'Donner Party' - and then were tested on it," she said. "I got an 'F' because I couldn't hear anything that was said in the movie. Everybody else was able to understand. When the teacher realized I was deaf, he changed the 'F' to an 'A.' After that, until the school bought all new TV's with closed captioning, I brought in my own closed-captioning box."
Then, there was the ridicule and kids laughing at her that challenged her self-confidence.
"If I could have had the surgery when I was in high school I would have," she said. "But the decision to have the Cochlear implant surgery should only be made by the person, not the parents or anyone else. It is a personal decision that is not always a popular one in the deaf community."
Although Katy's voice has gotten stronger and more confident since the surgery, there is sometimes still a lull when she communicates.
"There is some hesitation before she responds, especially on the telephone," said Scott. "It takes some time for her to process what has been said before she can respond."
She also still reads lips, mostly out of habit.
"I think I'll always do that, especially if I'm not wearing the device," she said. "But I'm working on not relying on it too much. I can't depend on reading my husband's lips when he's at the computer, facing the other way."
Which is much of the time, her husband added in jest.
Now that she can hear, she appreciates what she couldn't have before.
"When I was little, the grown-ups around me would be irritated when I played around making noise with plastic bags. I didn't know why. Now I know," she said, nodding with a sheepish grin.
Now a member of the hearing world, she leaves behind having to depend on people to communicate.
But the experience has given her a unique perspective with one foot in each world.
"It gave me an opportunity to be in both the deaf and hearing worlds," said the certified deaf education teacher who teaches American Sign Language (ASL) Courierarea residents. "I was able to make friends and help others who are deaf."
When she first visited Madison, she found that some area deaf people had no one to talk to.
"Recently, I helped a deaf woman and a gentleman with interpreting," she said. "They were so grateful."
Katy will be teaching Aidan sign language as soon as he is ready - long before he can actually talk. His first laugh. His first word. His first song. She will be able to hear them all - thanks to the Cochlear implant.
"I don't think I'll ever take my hearing for granted," Katy said.
Aidan's hearing was checked as part of the routine tests done for newborns at the hospital Friday morning and Scott said their baby came out with positive results.
"I wouldn't care if he had been born deaf," Katy said while running her fingers through Aidan's soft, fine hair. "He's just so beautiful to me.