The Bender family traveled from Tallahassee to the Nemours Children's Clinic, Jacksonville so that their son Nick, who is profoundly deaf in his right ear, could have cochlear implant surgery. A few weeks after the procedure, they came back again for activation.
Nick's mom, Michelle says, "Today is the day we've been waiting for. He had his cochlear implant turned on and it's activated and he's hearing -- and it's just very exciting."
She goes on to point out, "It's interesting.The audiologist goes through several sounds and pitches to make sure he's hearing at the different levels he needs to, and to make sure all the electrodes in the implant are working."
Michelle also says, "We've become part of a team. They treat us like family. We feel so connected. He loves to come here. To him it's not a doctor's appointment, it's time to play. There are so many fun games, you don't even know you're working toward a goal. It's such comprehensive care. He's able to see his audiologist, his ENT specialist and speech therapist in one place. They're all friendly and warm and all work together, side by side. Because he's able to have the cochlear implant procedure, we know that he can do anything. He'll be able to hear, to speak more clearly and communicate with others and that's we hoped for."