Hello! My name is Missy Stithem and my husband and I have two girls. Camryn is age 10 with normal hearing and Emersyn is 7 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 1st 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!