Celebrate Communication

I volunteered for Christian's Cochlear Implant company this past Saturday at the Celebrate Communication event in Northern Virginia. It was a great opportunity for me to get out and share our family's experience, advocate, and network (and also practice my signing...I AM RUSTY!) Christian was excited to enjoy the day with some school friends who came up. He got his face painted like the Incredible Hulk in the children's area, which he keeps talking about. It was definitely the highlight of HIS day!

I represented the company on my own in the booth, and while I was a little nervous at first, I found that the folks who were stopping by were either already users of one of our products OR were interested in learning more about the candidacy process. I had to preface a couple of answers with "I don't actually WORK for Cochlear, but I am a parent of a very successful user".  Many folks stopped by to see the new Nucleus 5, and to learn how they could upgrade their Freedom or older processors. Which, by the way, we are currently working on. Cochlear has a wonderful program for existing Freedom customers and they are currently working with our insurance company. How NICE it is to not be the one fighting the insurance company directly these days. Our fingers are crossed that they will approve the upgrade, as we honestly believe the Nucleus 5 will improve Christian's life even more than what his Freedom already has. If insurance doesn't approve, Chuck and I are going to continue playing the lottery. CIs are CRAZY expensive!

It was great to see so many familiar faces and friends. My good friend Mike who wears bilateral Cochlear Implants from a competitor company kept me company and even watched my booth while I escaped for lunch. It takes a lot for this Maryland Momma to cross the Potomac and hang in Virginia, but I am so glad that I did.