Toluca Day 2 - Peds!!!

Day 2 went by even faster than day 1. I can't thank my translator enough. A handful of university students have volunteered to be on site every day to help with communication since there is such a language barrier. My translator, Melissa, and I have it down to a science and we're a juggernaut fitting duo. The most amazing feeling is standing eye to eye with a happy patient. They're speaking a mile a minute to me in Spanish, shaking my hand, sending blessings, etc, and I don't need Melissa to tell me what they're trying to communicate. There's such a strong connection between people despite the fact that we don't speak the same language and have entirely different cultures. I'm so sappy and there's no stopping the flow of sap.

It has been mostly adult patients, but a couple profoundly impaired kids showed up today. I was lucky enough to be able to fit one. He's nonverbal, so we were just watching for behavioral reactions to see whether he heard the sound. When I had reached his threshold of amplification, he whipped his head to the right, the side I was fitting, and kind of growled at me. Good sign. When I'd for both aids, he jumped off his chair and barreled straight into my chest and wanted pictures. So we took 'em, by gosh! 

Another nonverbal boy screamed when he heard for the first time. He jumped out of his seat, hugged the starkey volunteer fitting him, and then sprinted around to hug everyone he could see in a red Starkey polo, screaming the whole time. I've never seen such a strong reaction. This kid was overwhelmed and SO. HAPPY. I have never seen that level of happiness. Here's a quick shot-- he ran into Derek's arms before Brittany was even done with the fitting! 

This is exhausting, but I wouldn't change it for the world. Every 5-10 minutes, we're changing the courses of peoples' lives. How cool is that? HOW COOL IS THAT?! SO FREAKIN COOL.