Scans in UK

I got my appointment for the scans last week (I also got a bad case of Gozoitis, which is a relaxed, lazy lethargy one gets when one visits Gozo, the sister island, but that's another story). So on the 10th May I should be doing my MRI and CT scans at Manchester.

Thing is, last week, my scans from Malta were also sent over, so I might not need to go. Frankly, I prefer to avoid such a visit, and keep my holiday leave and expenses for the trips that are hopefully to follow!

So it's fingers crossed for now, but we're currently booked on flights to Manchester for the 9th of May.

Appointment details

This morning we made our tentative bookings for flights, ruing the punishing costs of the lack of fair airline competition here in Malta (it is costing us Lm420 - that's about EUR 1000, for 2 adults and a child).

I am looking at this appointment with some trepidation to say the least. Firstly, it is something we've been waiting for since January, and it really came out of the blue, as Mandy mentioned. Then there's the knowledge that in about a month's time it will either be the end of the road for me (if I am not suitable for the implant) or the BEGINNING of the road while I wait for the operation. I'm praying it's the last one, quite feverishly in fact. Last night was rather sleepless, aside from the fact I have a horrible cough going on, but I must think positive.

So, three weeks from now hopefully we'll be landing at Manchester Ringway. Fingers crossed!

Appointment Date for Scans

On the way home from work today, I noticed a brown envelope in our letter box…..it could be either one of two things, some letter from the Inland Revenue Department or mail from Manchester Hospital (these two use similar envelopes). In fact, it was the latter. I tore the envelope while I was still outside our house, and quickly skimmed through the first few lines of the letter. It was Ivan’s appointment for both his CT Scan and the MRI in the United Kingdom. The appointment is for the 10th May, which is a little more than three weeks away. Needless to say, this was the news that we have been expecting for some time now. We shall be on our way to Manchester very soon now.

Prolific day today!

Just when I was going to start my day's work - I found this interesting article, available at http://www.insidetxbiz.com/adminnm/templates/healthcare.asp?articleid=706&zoneid=8 but I am reproducing it in its entirety for convenience. In a nutshell, PDA's are being investigated to replace the existing BTE and Body worn processors. This makes sense - PDA's have alot of computing power, but at the same time they can be used for other things, not just a captive device for one single purpose. In addition, they are relatively cheap, costing something like EUR 550 for a decent one, as opposed to EUR 4000 for a BTE processor.

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UTD professor awarded $1.3M for new hearing impaired technology

Dr. Philip C. Loizou, an electrical engineering professor in the Erik Jonsson School of Engineering and Computer Science at the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD), has been awarded a three-year, $1.3-million contract from The National Institutes of Health (NIH) to build an interface that will enable personal digital assistants, or PDAs, to transmit sounds to an implant worn in the inner ear of deaf individuals.

“This will no doubt have a profound impact on the life of hearing impaired people,” Loizou said. “To them, this PDA processor could not only be a speech processor, but a PC, a phone, an assistive listening device, a GPS device, an Internet browser and a music player — all integrated into one device.”PDAs have grown in popularity as personal data organizers, Web browsers, cell phones and music players. Loizou said the new interface he hopes to develop will allow PDAs to process acoustic signals — such as speech — through a microphone that is worn behind an individual’s ear. The signal would then be transmitted wirelessly into a cochlear implant in the inner ear. According to Loizou, technology currently exists to transmit sounds to cochlear implant users, but it is costly and relies on custom-made speech processors.

Replacing the speech processors with PDAs will make the technology more affordable, and the flexibility of PDAs will make the technology more accessible. “The goal is to develop the PDA as a research processor that is portable, flexible and easy to use, and make it available to researchers interested in clinical studies,” Loizou added. “Open access to such a PDA processor could accelerate the research at a faster pace. PDAs provide powerful computing ability and have excellent wireless connectivity options, and this will make cochlear implant technology accessible to all, including the hearing impaired population in Third-World countries.”

The team that will work on the project draws from several areas of expertise and includes four faculty members from UTD’s electrical engineering department, including Dr. Hoi Lee, Dr. Murat Torlak, Dr. Nasser Kehrtarnavaz and Loizou. Dr. Anu Sharma, who also will collaborate on the project, is from UTD’s School of Behavioral and Brain Sciences and has extensive clinical experience in neurophysiology. This is the second NIH award Loizou has earned. The first, which he received in March 2005, was a five-year, $1.5-million grant to improve the performance of cochlear implants by programming the prosthesis to operate more effectively in a range of listening conditions.

Loizou joined UTD in 1999. He earned his B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in engineering from Arizona State University.For more information www.utdallas.edu.

By the Way

I've been meaning to do this for some time! There's a certain Micallef family that visits this blog every once in a while - they're resident in New Jersey and we spent a wonderful time with them last year. Anyway, hi to you all! :)

Looking back...

My Hi-Res CT Scan has been sent to the UK by courier, so hopefully it's in the hands of the consultant there. Maybe I'll have an answer next week on whether the scans are suitable or not, and whether I need an MRI.

I feel like rambling away a little today, so here goes. Looking back, my cochlear implant journey has been closer to the biblical exodus rather than traipsing into the park as I expected it to be. Something like 2 years ago now, I started researching cochlear implants, and sometimes I wonder whether I will actually get to a point when I actually DO get the implant done.

It has at times been disheartening - I guess I've had a stroke or two of bad luck - the fact that I needed the MRI was a 4 month setback at the least (and the fact that my first appointment was in the Christmas period also cost me a month or so). Then for the MRI in Manchester to break down for several months, well, that's what I would call misfortune. This has led to quite a bit of tension and stress - our lives are literally on hold waiting for something to happen. I don't think this is fair for Mandy and Maria, I feel guilty at times because aside from the actual expense of it all there is the sense of anticipation that has been over us since August of last year when I started the first journey.

Mandy's mum is in Lourdes, France right now, and she promised to pray for us. I am not particularly religious but that place does have a sacred aura, you can actually feel the presence of something holy, hallowed. We went there last year, but I don't think we prayed hard enough!

Anyway, tomorrow is Good Friday, which for us Christians is a very holy, solemn day. In Malta Good Friday Processions take place in villages throughout the countries, and we have a tradition of following the seven visits, where we go to seven different churches and recite particular prayers. We also fast - of a sorts. It's breakfast, Lunch and Dinner, nothing by mouth besides these meals, and no meat, sweets and goodies until Sunday.

If I don't post before then, Happy Easter to everyone! L-Għid it-tajjeb għalikom u għall-familji tagħkom kollha!

Small update

Well, not really much to report but anyway, today, the CD's from my scan are to be sent to England, hopefully - about bloody time after 2 weeks. Hopefully next week they'll get to England, but as my luck would have it next week is Easter so probably there's a sort of shut down so in reality they get seen week after, Tuesday at the earliest as there's a bank holiday on Easter Monday in England (lucky sods).

In the meantime, I'm just waiting for something to happen. These past few weeks have been quite eventful. Mandy had a tonsillectomy and went through 3 weeks of misery. now I am in the throes of a nasty colon bug (no wisecracks please!) that has led me to my lack of sleep for the past week or so. Fun! That'll teach for for getting a grotty lunch from a Chinese greasy spoon!

Today I am going to make figolli, the Maltese Easter Cake, but I haven't got the recipe here so it'll have to wait until next week, sorry!