Wednesday 29^th

Charlotte visited Southampton University today for her yearly audiology check up for her cochlear processors (18 months overdue mind). Of course, Charlotte is profoundly deaf, but with her cochlear processors she is hearing so amazingly well. In a quiet environment she demonstrated she could hear down to 26 decibles using just 1 processor. Even the audiologists were saying WOW ! it was one of the best results they had seen in a very long time and we couldn't be happier.

There was never any guarantee how well the cochlear implants would work, but clearly they are working beyond our expectations. Charlotte loves to listen to the birds singing so in reality think with both processors she can hear into the normal hearing range as the chart shows. Bloody Fantastic

Sunday 24^th

A special day today. Charlottes first private physio session of many that will be paid for by the money recently raised by all the wonderful people who donated and sponsored the amazing Nina J Amps. THANK YOU ♥️ . A new 2022 will follow soon with photo updates of her progress

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/keepcharlottewalking

Sunday 23^rd

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/keepcharlottewalking.

Today is the day our incredible friend Nina Amps and her son Zach did the are running the Cardiff 10K to help raise money for Charlotte's ongoing physiotherapy costs. They have now raised an incredible £1138

Sunday 15^th

https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/keepcharlottewalking.

Today is the day our incredible friend Nina Amps and her son Zach are running the Caerphilly 10K at 10 am to help raise money for Charlotte's ongoing physiotherapy costs.

We were out and about a few weeks ago with Charlotte in her walker and a lady came to talk to us. She said "That was just like my Holly at that age". How lovely I said.....she then said "she is 33 now and in a power assisted wheelchair". This is why we will continue with her physiotherapy, no matter what !

She set a target of £500 but the current total is an incredible £1008. Every pound raised will go directly to paying for Charlotte’s ongoing physio therapy needs.

Physiotherapy Costs

• 30 minute session = £50.
• 45 minute session = £70.
• 60 minute session = £95.

New 2022 photo section with pictures of her physio and year to follow

Keep Charlotte Walking

It has been a few years since we have updated Charlotte’s Website but we are going to restart soon with regular photo and Diary updates

As the years have gone by, although still needing her Kaye Walker, Charlotte was able to do more independent walking and by age 11 was walking a lot without her kaye walker, which was now only needed for longer walks.

Sadly, growth spurts in early teenage years halted Charlotte’s progress and things started to go downhill quickly. Charlotte started complaining of having pain in her legs and asking for “her legs to be fixed”, just how she felt her ears were years previously. With the NHS stretched, Charlotte only had access to an NHS physio 4 times a year.

The kaye walker was now back in use full time and the turning point came when Charlotte asked for a wheelchair whilst on a caravan holiday early in 2021. She was clearly upset at the change to her walking and had started to become sad (Charlotte’s word).

Something had to be done, Charlotte had to stay on her feet. It gave her independence and confidence and it makes her happy. Determined that things would not slip further, we started to investigate the possibility of Charlotte attending a physio therapist privately in 2021. We found the perfect private physio and an initial assessment showed that Charlotte would greatly benefit from regular physio therapy sessions.

In 8 months we have spent nearly £3000. It is a struggle and we will soon need to be cutting back on her weekly sessions. In the short few months that Charlotte has been having physio, Charlotte has been doing really well. She has stopped complaining of having pain in her legs, she has stopped asking “when will my legs be fixed” and has stopped asking for a wheelchair. It is likely that Charlotte will always need her kaye walker but the physio sessions have halted the rapid decline and small improvements are now starting to show. Charlotte’s walking is deteriorating and without access to weekly physiotherapy it is likely things will get much worse. The NHS can only support her with 4 sessions each year.

We hadn’t really thought about fundraising. We are the type of people who don’t really like to ask for help and we just get on with it. So, it was a complete surprise when a very close friend of ours set up the following fundraising page https://www.justgiving.com/crowdfunding/keepcharlottewalking and started running !

She announced she was to run 2 x 10k runs and would like to raise money for Charlotte’s ongoing physio therapy. We thought it was an incredibly kind gesture, but also made us realise that paying £95 per week wasn't sustainable for us.

We are going to post updates and photo’s about this and future updates on the Website to help Keep informed all the very kind and generous people whom have already donated to her ongoing physio costs. We have already setup a bank account for Charlotte and 100% of all funds raised will go to it and every penny raised will go to her physio costs.

Friday 9^th

we were So proud of Charlotte at her 9 month post cochlear implant switch on appointment in Southampton today. I was totally amazed at the quiet speech she could hear. In a listening test she demonstrated she could hear speech at 38 decibels. The audiologist explained that a child of 5 with normal hearing could expect to score between 30 - 35 decibels in the same test ! No need for them to "pump up the volume" this time.

What a miracle this has truly been as before the switch on in January she had nothing even at 95 decibels and would not have heard a Jet Engine flying past her ear whereas now she can hear down to a whisper. She was able to hear a whisper from 100 cm away in one test. They had hoped to just achieve a level of 45 decibels 12 months post op and said they were amazed by the progress she has made in just 9 months which is very very good.

We also just had a school report which said, " The differences in Charlotte since her Cochlear implants have been amazing. She appears far happier and interested in the world around her and her behaviour has improved greatly since her ability to hear". She has changed from a very frustrated child not able to communicate to a much happier one. She will have her 12 month checkup next and then it will be once a year.

Wednesday 15^th

We really cannot believe she has turned 8 years old today. 2014 was such a difficult year for all of us when around February Charlotte lost what little hearing she had. Not being able to explain what was happening or why we simply couldn't fix it was heart breaking. Every time she had a hospital appointment, for whatever reason, she would get excited and say "fix ear". However all that is now behind us after Charlotte had 2 cochlear implants which were switched on in January.

It really feels like a miracle and we are now able to communicate with Charlotte better than we ever had before. This year on her birthday we could sing Happy Birthday and she heard us. It is the first year she has got excited about her Birthday. She went off to school singing "happy birthday to me". It was wonderful to see.

Charlotte has gone from a sad, frustrated child after she lost her hearing to a very happy little girl. She still has her moments when she has a bit of a tantrum but they are getting few and far between now. She still sometimes refuses to do as she is told and is stubborn and obstinate, and so much so it makes us want to scream. But compared to last year she is now a different child.

There has unfortunately been one side effect to the cochlear implant operation that we weren't quite expecting and that is the question "Why"!!! If we hear it once we hear it a thousand times a day. What's even funnier is that she has now started to answer her own "why" questions by immediately saying "because........". Funniest "why" question was when she said,"mommy, listen to me" so I replied, "I'm listening to you Charlotte" to which she replied, "why". LOL

All in all its been a great year so far. We felt like everything was on hold last year but now we can look forward to the future knowing that Charlotte finds it so much easier to communicate now. Happy family