Here we go again...Surgery #2

I remember thinking "way back when" they scheduled the first surgery that I really wish the two were closer together - just antsy I guess for Chloe to have both of her CIs...but boy, where did that time go??  Here we are again, the night before her second surgery.  Tomorrow she will receive her left cochlear implant... yeah, I know, I should be in bed, but who really needs sleep these days?

Over this past weekend, we celebrated Chloe's First Birthday (yes, a little early)... Where has that time gone?  Honestly, the first few months are a blur but what seemed like forever to get to where we are today is here...Chloe was surrounded by family and close friends who helped sing her Happy Birthday - and with lots of hard work and a lil patience (maybe a lot of it), we are here - awaiting her second surgery.


God truely reminds me how much he has control - as much as I want to organize, plan and re-organize all of my life steps - he pops in and reminds me to have Faith, Patience, and Trust he has a master plan for me and my family.  Not a day goes by that we aren't thankful for the circle of faith, prayers, thoughts, and encouragement that surrounds us and our family, we wouldn't be here without all of you, helping our little blessing through what is an amazing journey ... We ask that you say a little prayer for Chloe to be comfortable during surgery and recovering quickly back into our arms, we ask for strong and steady hands of the surgeon and surgery staff tomorrow...

Week 1 of Chloe's Hearing Journey

When they told us we would come home with a suitcase full of accessories, they were not lying.  Thank goodness the upper level is assigned to the girls - it has saved us from not building an addition!  Chloe is primarily wearing her AB Neptune processor, and yes, it is PINK!



Chloe is doing amazing if you ask her mom!!  For the most part she is leaving her CI (cochlear implant) alone and when she does pull at it she tries to give it to you.  Sort of cute if you would ask me again.  Brian and I are learning to go against the natural of saying "NO" when she pulls it off - and just naturally put the CI back on with out making such a big deal of it.  Otherwise we have been told that it may become more of a game.  I think for less than a week with the CI, she tolerates it well...

We have noticed limited reactions to noise/sound from Chloe but too understand it is very early in her hearing journey.  ((But she might have proved me wrong here within the last few nights, as we have seen more reactions))  It may be months before we can get her to turn her head to the sound of her Daddy coming home or her sister running across the room, the amazing part is we know that she is HEARING.  Chloe was a great the second day of activation and gave them all sorts of feedback to judge where she is at.  However, we have noticed that her babbling has picked up tremendously which is good as it really died off about a month before surgery.  We have been give such great feedback on how extremely well Chloe is doing from her audiologist and speech language pathologist.  So encouraging to hear!!  There have been a few times (for parents and daycare) that once Chloe hears a certain noisy toy or two she promptly shakes her head no and removes her CI.  Hmm, I am thinking she doesn't like the sound of it, what do you think?

"Up, Up, Up"

Can't believe her first birthday is going to be here before we know it!!

Activation

Just a quick update... Activation was a SUCCESS!! Miss Chloe Jean had no tears and even had a few smirks!! There were a few moments when she stopped playing and by looking at her eyes she knew there was something different.
Will post more later (in a few days) but until then we are thankful God has answered our prayers and enjoying playing with Chloe and introducing her to all the new sounds!! Here is a quick video- hope the quality is good, I'm still learning how to get it on here- you will see how she stopped and focused on the new sound once they started ringing the bell...

Surgery #1 - Right Ear

"What Mom"

Just a few pre-surgery photos...

"Cheese"

The first day after Chloe's surgery has gone pretty good if you consider the surgery she just had.  She slept like a rock last night - and played a little and slept a little the rest of the day (hoping she repeats it tonight).
Her balance was off for most of the day - which they told us about since they worked on the inner ear - poor thing could barely hold her head up first thing this morning.


By the end of the day, she was laughing and playing with her Big Sister!  She loves her so much - it was priceless last night when Chloe finally got to see Sydney.  It was the only smile we saw since surgery.

Chloe has to wear the red head bandage (we like the choice of color they picked, getting her ready for football season) - and she doesn't seem to tolerate it well and can get it off in a snap.  So needless to say her few awake hours today its been quite the battle keeping her distracted to leave it on.

From our interpretation - they were able to get successful feedback from the hearing nerve when they tested the internal processor.  Dr. Lusk seemed pleased with how the surgery went and it felt good to give him a hug after his report.

Brian's highlight from yesterday (besides having a successful surgery, of course) is the fact that we got to pick an extra color for the caps/magnet/buttons... Mom already had picked out a light pink, darker pink and purple...any guess what color Dad picked out??  Yup, RED!!  And he already has plans to get a Husker sticker to put on them as well.

Matthew 21:22 And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive, if you have faith.”

Surgery day...

6:30 am...
Here we go! All checked in and waiting for them to take her down to surgery... Praying she will soon be back in my arms.

10:45 am...
Update... The cochlear implant is in, currently testing device, Dr Lusk will be closing up incision soon then take tube out and should be in recovery within the next hour...



Noon...
Out of recovery and into the room, my arms!! She is sleeping now and doesn't seem to tolerate the IV or the bandage

Think we are ready...

Pre-operation Exam...Check!  Passed!

Pre-operation Physical...Check!  Passed!

We have taken all of the "pre" steps needed in order to stay on schedule with surgery on 

TUESDAY, July 24th...just a few more days.  

A little details about Chloe's surgery:

We are scheduled to be at the hospital at 6:15am with surgery scheduled for 7:45am.  The surgery will be approx. three hours long and she will be kept in recovery up to an hour before returning to her room. Chloe will get monitored for two to three hours following surgery before being sent home. Chloe will wear a bandage for three days to cover the incision, which will be very minimal if you think of the surgery involved. If you fold your ear flat and trace the edge, that's approx what her incision will be.

Activation (turning on external device) is scheduled for 10:00 on August 1st. However she will need an X-ray first thing that morning and approval from Dr Lusk before proceeding. 

Plans are to do the right ear first - second surgery scheduled for August 21 - due to the risks involved with the length of surgery, both ears are not done at the same time.

I will try to give updates day of surgery...let the prayer circle begin!!

3 weeks and counting...

Just three weeks until Chloe's first surgery and the Mommy nerves have already started. Nervous for the surgery itself and the risks that are always there. Nervous for the new journey once her first cochlear implant has been activated. But I'm anxious too to see where this journey takes us and to watch Chloe's reactions as she discovers sounds for the first time. But overall we are ready!! 
(Chloe's ear infection has cleared, we go to the surgeon next week for final clearance and ear check)


The device we have chosen (yes this was a choice we had to make and it is probably one of the hardest choices I had to make) is Advanced Bionics Neptune. Neptune is a fully waterproof device meaning that Chloe will be able to enjoy water activities such as bath time, swimming, rain...while still being able to hear. This was a major factor for us as we considered devices - for me I went against my heart feeling and listened to my mind thinking about how much language learning time there is during bath time. Think of it they are stuck in a tub and can't run from you and you are stuck next to the tub at the same time...so what else is there to do but work on colors, animals, shapes, etc, etc, etc 

Again we are asking for prayers from all of you to keep Miss Chloe Jean healthy so she can have surgery, prayers that God will guide the surgeon carefully during, and prayers that she will recovery quickly and be back safe into our arms.