Man-Made

One year ago a mother contacted me and informed me that her son had the model of the first Clarion recall. Three times. Her son was implanted and explanted three times with the same recalled model.
So, when I read about the Voluntary Recall announced by Advanced Bionics, I placed the information on both the Italian blog and the American blog.

No one wins in this situation. I am thankful that Advanced Bionics takes their responsibilty to their ci recipients seriously and made the recall extremely public.

My first thought was to inform the families, so that they would be able to be pro-active in monitoring their children. I informed surgeons so that they could be pro-active in response to the needs of their patients. Then, I had a critical moment of self-doubt...
People have many reactions in moments of crisis.
A mother on the Italian forum wrote:

I'd like to introduce myself: I'm the mom of a little tigerette with a profound, bilateral hearing loss that appeared, cause unknown a year and a half ago. She wore hearing aids for six months and received a cochlear implant, model Advanced Bionics one week ago because we believed it to be the best model for her needs. We are anxiously awaiting activation and trying to handle this new situation considering the news...

Another mother immediately replied:

Hi and welcome!! My three and a half year old daughters each received a cochlear implant AB Harmony in June. The implants were activated in July and now when I ring the doorbell of my house, they open the door and greet me with an "Aaaaooo...mamma!" It takes time, but we are laying a solid foundation!! Good luck!!"

This mother who replied to the other mother had sent me an email 25 minutes earlier in panic over the news.

Yes, we have each selected a man-made device to offer more opportunities to our children, and this carries risks. Just as it is our choice to offer our children more opportunities, it is also our choice as to how to face eventual complications or even the mere threat of unforeseen complications.

The human spirit...the need to offer support to others...the human spirit...that too is man-made and extremely powerful.