The gift of hearing!

Dear friends of Ashley Bittner,

 

Tim and Kim Chambers here, with an invitation to give the gift of hearing to Ashley. If you don't yet know Ashely, you will be quick friends once you do, as you'll discover Ashley's contagious smile and laugh, her authenticity and gentle nature, and her spirit of giving and kindness. Ashley is an artist and children's book illustrator, loves horses, and tends her flower garden, gifting beautiful floral arrangements to friends.

 

Ashley has attended my painting workshops, and she also introduced me to a device that would reshape the way I hear the world.

 

When she was only six months old, Ashley lost the ability to hear due to a virus. Ashley had cochlear implant surgery soon after, enabling her to learn to hear and communicate. She received a second cochlear implant in her other ear when she was 17 years old.

 

We hear when our bodies convert sound waves to electrical impulses. For many who are deaf or have profound hearing loss, the inner ear is incapable of perceiving some or all sound frequencies. Cochlear implants are an incredible device that converts sound to electrical impulses and then bypass the defective inner ear and deliver the electrical signal to the nerves in the cochlea, a spiral, snailshell-shaped organ the size of a pencil eraser. The brain then does what all of our brains do- it interprets the signals into meaningful sounds. The cochlear implant is one of the most amazing life-enriching technologies that exist.

 

There are two parts to the cochlear implant: the implant itself, which is implanted beneath the skin behind the ear, and the processor, which receives sound, processes it, then sends it to the implant which feeds it to the cochlea. Though the implants last a lifetime, processors require updating every five years, just as all of our electronics do (anyone here still using a Walkman or an iPod?).

 

As you can imagine, it is a costly upgrade. And this is where you can help Ashley. She is long due for new processors. In fact, Ashley has only been using one of her two processors due to expenses being beyond her reach. We'd like to help change that. 

 

With the new processors come a series of visits with an audiologist to calibrate the settings to Ashley's particular hearing loss and also to the way her brain interprets sound. You know how you like one song and your friend likes something completely opposite? Yeah- we all have unique hearing tastes, and this is part of the adjustments that need to be made per each cochlear implant recipient.

 

Ashley has not been able to update her cochlear processors due to the expense involved. We desire for Ashley to hear all the beauty that she is capable of, and that's what this GoFundMe event is about.  Currently Ashley cannot localize sound, cannot follow a conversation in a group, and always has to position herself on the left of people so that she can hear them with her right ear. Would you like to help change all that so that she can hear out of both ears?

 

This is where we all come in. Our hope is that those who have loved and been loved by the Bittner family will consider helping Ashley get the cochlear implant updates and audiology training. Our goal is to cover the cost of new processors, their accessories, and audiology appointments.

 

Let's gather together and help Ashley hear what we all take for granted. Thank you for contributing a donation! No gift is too small! 

Kelly, Nathan, Anne, and Ashley

Ashley's sister-in-law, brother, and mom.

Always missing her sweet Dad and husband to Anne.

Tim went Home on January 23, 2014.