Hello! My name is Missy Stithem and my husband and I have two girls. Camryn is age 14 with normal hearing and Emersyn is 11 with bilateral cochlear implants. We have no history of hearing loss in our family so it was quite a shock when we learned that Emersyn had a profound hearing loss in both ears. She is now a 5th grader in a mainstream school in Lincoln and uses spoken language. I chose to be a Guide By Your Side as I have a passion to help families that are just starting this hearing journey. No one gets it like a parent who has been there before. I helped to start a hearing loss support group in Lincoln called Amplify and serve on several hearing loss boards. My family and I have also been a host family for Roots and Wings sponsored by Boystown and we are mentors for Advanced Bionics. I am very anxious to be a parent guide and to get connected with more families in Nebraska that are on this hearing loss journey!