Hello,

It's been awhile since my last post - back in February when we had the big snowstorm here in DC. We obviously survived that, then had a pretty uneventful spring. But I have been pretty busy since, as right near the end of the school year I was promoted to Interim Athletic Director at the Barrie School. I am grateful for this opportunity, and take this as a vote of confidence not only professionally, but personally as well. I hope my actions can help others to believe that they can do or become anything they want CI, or no CI!

Anyway, the main reason I am posting another blog is because today my wife and daughter and I participated in the Walk 4 Hearing 5k walk around the Tidal Basin and other famous landmarks in Washington, DC. I had been contacted by Dee Dee Wright about joining the Cochlear America team and I readily agreed, for two reasons: one, to give back in a small way to the people who meant so much to me from the beginning; and two, because it is right about the 2 year anniversary of my CI being activated, so it would be a nice way to celebrate. So on this sunny, cool and breazy Sunday we met up with Dee Dee, Megan, Ginger and others and had a wonderful time walking and interacting with a couple of hundred others from the hearing loss community.

As you can see from the picture, we also had a chance to meet Reed Doughty from the Washington Redskins. Mr. Doughty also has hearing loss and was serving as a spokesperson for the event. It was a thrill to talk to him, a great easy going guy who can be a tremendous role model for others.

At the conclusion of the walk, which was about 3 miles and took about an hour we were treated to pizza, and stuffed our pockets with candy. I also had the opportunity to spend some extra time talking to Dee Dee and Ginger. Dee Dee showed me her new Nucleus implant upgrade that she signed up to recieve and cool two way remote control device that she uses with her tele-coil for hearing in noise. Instead of taking her CI off to adjust the volume/sensitivity she just uses the remote. As for me personally, I don't know if I would have had the courage to try this new (clinically proven) updgrade. If something is working well for me I usually want to keep it as is. God bless you Dee Dee - it's because of people like you that pave the way for others to try new and better things.

After the event, Tammie, Danielle and I took the opportunity to walk to the Washington Monument and White House, taking more pictures and enjoying some good quality family time together. Although we arrived back home fairly exhausted from all the walking, it was a day well spent. We look forward to this becoming an annual event on our calendar.

Now that I have taken the time to post another blog, I hope to get back to doing this on a somewhat regular basis again, maybe monthly or something close to it.

Take care

Dan

Hello,
Monday night and still at home from the snow, so I thought I would post another note here. By Saturday evening I had finished shoveling out of the 36 inches of snow and literally right when I was done my wife came out to announce the power and electricity had come back on. Hallellujah! We had been without it since early that morning and the house was getting pretty cold. I was also grateful for the disposable batteries I had for my implant, since I couldn't charge the other ones! I have been using the rechargeables almost exclusively since the first week of activation more than a year ago
And now they are predicting another 12-15 inches of snow beginning tomorrow night. Amazing!
I also wanted to mention the conference I went to last week. Dee Dee Wright had emailed me about speaking at a cochlear conference for hearing professionals, in Fairfax, Va. I agreed because I have always been willing to tell my story and this was also a way to give back to Cochlear America as well. Megan Kessler, and Ginger Grant were there and I also met Laura Carr for the first time. After Megan had presented a powerpoint I got up before about 13-15 hearing professionals (and one set of parents) and presented my hearing history, from the time I was 4 years old and my mom first recognized a slight hearing deficiency to my cochlear implant surgery, to now. This was the first time I had done this and I hope I was beneficial in some way to those listening. Afterwards I thought of a couple of other things I could have done to make it a little more interesting in case I get another chance to do it. An audiologist from Silver Spring, Andreas Cossettini asked if I would be willing to speak to any of her clients about my CI, which I am more than happy to do. A worthwhile evening all around. I did not stay very long afterward since it was snowing outside. I have never looked forward to Spring so much!