Luke's First Cochlear Implant Surgery

                                                        Monday, May 13, 2013

Today begins the start of a brand new life for Luke. Today is the day of his cochlear implant surgery.

We had to be at the University Hospital's Surgical Center at 6:45 am. Luke was the first surgery of the day which I was very thankful for since he was not allowed to eat or drink anything. How do you explain to a deaf child that he is not allowed to eat or drink? Thankfully he was very good the entire drive there.

We knew Luke might become upset when they started to prepare him for surgery because of the way he reacted to the sedation he received for the CAT scan. Well, as soon as they put the ID tag on his wrist and I started dressing him in his gown, he started to throw a temper tantrum. I don't know if he remembers something from his past surgery or if he was just scared. Either way we understand that this is a very natural reaction.So, the anesthesiologist had me carry him up to the restricted area and than he carried him to the operating area kicking and screaming. 

After only two hours the surgery was completed and is a success! They had two representative from the manufacture at the surgery also. They also turned on the implant to make sure it was working properly. It does work and Luke will be hearing as soon as his incision heals and the audiologist turns it on again on June 13, 2013. This will be a special day for Luke because he will really hear well for the first time.

The surgeon also said that he could see from the CAT scan that his nerves are alive and his cochlear is not deformed. His deafness could be genetic or could have been caused by a drug used to fight infection but can cause deafness. It was once used in the US in the 1940's and 50's.

On a previous post I mentioned the way God had ordained our meeting a young waitress who had cochlear implants at a Steak and Shake restaurant while we were praying about adopting Luke. When we came home from China we had our first visit with the ENT. He told us about his first cochlear implant patient and how she was going to college and is even a waitress at a restaurant. When we told him that we met her he couldn't believe it. We told him that this was God.  We believe that God encourages us by bringing people into our lives. In every step of Luke's adoption we have seen God's hand bringing us through and being with us.

Well, we were telling this story to the post-op nurse after Luke's surgery and some how it quickly was communicated to Luke's surgeon who happened to be preparing for the next surgery. He quickly came out of preparing for surgery to tell us that the young waitress we met was his patient too. He put in her second implant on the other ear. Everyone is so amazed at Luke's story and is in awe of God's hand upon this little boy.

Just to let you know that Luke is doing very well in his recovery. The next day after his surgery he was playing and back to his normal self. You wouldn't even know that he had major surgery the previous day.We are so thankful that God has given our nation such wonderful technology and the best healthcare in the world. We are also thankful that God has led us to use our resources to help a deaf orphan to have the miracle of hearing.

A New Life For Luke

We have exciting news about Luke concerning his cochlear implants.

 In March, we had a appointment with the head surgeon of the audiology department at University's Rainbow Babies and Children's Hospital. The team of doctors have been wonderful to us since we brought Luke home. They have been meeting together every month to discuss his case and to decide the best care for him. Unknowing to us, the head surgeon had been discussing Luke's case with the manufacture of the his implant. As I already mentioned in an earlier post, only 5 of the 12 electrodes in the implant are working. We don't think he can hear enough. So, the doctor has asked the manufacture to replace the implant that he already had from China. They have agreed to replace it for free.

On May 13 he will get a new cochlear implant in his left ear. The doctor has decided it would be best to implant the left ear first (the one without an implant) because they cannot turn it on and put on the speech processor until the incision heals. If we started with the right ear than he would be without any hearing (even the little that he has) for awhile and he may become very upset that we took away his hearing. They will replace the right ear 6 months after the first surgery.

The surgery is outpatient surgery. No stay in the hospital is needed. Amazing!

We are in awe of how God has lovingly directed our paths and is taking care of all the details for Luke. The doctor also said we have very good health insurance which covers cochlear implants. He also said he will be our advocate for Luke.

After much discussion about the surgery, he asked me if I knew any family history about Luke. I explained that with all of my children from China, I don't know any of their history. They are all abandoned. He said," What do you mean by abandoned?" I explained where and why children are abandoned in China while being respectful to their culture. (America is not perfect, we have legalized abortion) (An abortion doctor is being tried right now for killing babies who were born alive).

So our wonderful doctor said, "It's like he's getting a new life."  I said, "Yes, you are right he is getting a new life."

Luke is getting a fresh start on life. How wonderful it will be for him to be able to hear. We don't know if it is the first time or if he was born with hearing, but he will be given the gift of hearing. We are so grateful for our wonderful Lord who love us and has led us to a wonderful team of doctors at Rainbow Babies and Children Hospital. To the wonderful team of doctors : We thank you from the bottom of our hearts for all of your love care and concern for Luke.

Our hope and prayer for Luke is that he will one day know and love our wonderful Savior, Jesus Christ, who deserves all of the glory. That will be A Brand New Life for all of eternity!

Special Post

Please refer to our special post (which is on our sidebar) which explains how the Lord led us to adopt this special little deaf boy, whom we are naming Luke Feng Zheng. The name of the post is Adoption Ministry Letter. We are still in need of funds for our adoption.

Live For Christ

  Jesus turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are a stumbling block to me; you do not have in mind the things of God, but the things of men."
  Then Jesus said to his disciples, "If anyone would come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me will find it. What good will it be for a man if he gains the whole world, yet forfeits his soul? Or what can a man give in exchange for his soul? For the Son of Man is going to come in his Father's glory with his angels, and then he will reward each person according to what he has done. I tell you the truth, some who are standing here will not taste death before they see the Son of Man coming in his kingdom."  Matthew 16: 23 - 28

I was reminded of this verse today while my daughter, Hannah, was diligently memorizing it. Many people say to us when they hear that we are adopting again, "You are saints." Well, actually we are only saints because that is what the Bible calls the believers. Anyone who is a believer in Jesus Christ is a saint. It has nothing to do with the number of good works that you do. You cannot earn or work your way into heaven. I am really a sinner with a sinful nature just like anyone else. The difference is that I have been saved through the grace of Jesus Christ. I read and study my Bible everyday so that I may know and hear from God through his word. That is why we are able to love "the least of these" and bring them into our family. We take up our cross daily and follow Him.

Yes, we have to sacrifice. But it's worth it. I can't turn my back on the orphans of this world and live my nice suburbia, American Dream life. To turn my back on them is to turn my back on Christ. We will all have to stand in front of Jesus one day and give an account of our lives. I wouldn't want to hear him say something like, "You're an American! I've given you everything! What have you done with your life?"

Last year, David and I celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary. How did we celebrate it? We went bike riding in the Cuyahoga National Park near our home. We had a wonderful time. I love bike riding and the park is so beautiful. No trip to Hawaii, Cancun or a cruise. One cannot afford these things of the world when adopting an orphan.

Is it worth it? Absolutely!!  Someday, when I look back on my life I will have no regrets. I am surrounded by  lots of hugs and kisses and I am never lonely (literally). I once heard a story of a woman who only had two children because she was living during the Great Depression. Now that she is old, she said that she regrets not having more children. She didn't have more children because of fear of providing for them during the depression. To live in fear is to say that we don't trust God. No one ever looks back on their life and says, "I wish I had spent more time making more money." I am investing in the kingdom of heaven and the lives that one day will be with Christ and me forever in heaven. I am seeking the eternal not the temporal things of this world.

The Care Package Is Off

Here is our care package we sent to Luke!
It's so exciting.
We sent him a blanket, stuffed dog, coloring books with crayons and markers, a teddy bear holding a heart that says I Love You (but since he is deaf, I don't think he'll understand), camera's so the orphanage will take more pictures of him, and a photo album of our family with him in it (and the dogs). And we can't forget about the 250 suckers for the orphanage :) 

A Christmas Blessing

We want to thank everyone for their loving and generous donations for our adoption. We can't thank you enough! The outpouring of love, support and prayers has shown us the love and care of our Heavenly Father. There have been  so many times people from our  church family would suggest resources for us to use for Luke;  fundraising ideas, adoption funding websites, sign language teachers, speech and hearing centers, etc. All of this shows us God's care for Luke and that we don't need to walk this road alone. So many times, even now, I still ask the Lord if he is sure that he wants us to do adopt this little boy. It is going to be so different and difficult at times. But the Lord always answers me with his reassurance of his deep love and care for the orphans, the least of these. If you want to see the kingdom of God, visit an orphanage, see the despair on their faces, and you will see God.

Recently, there has been a many robberies in the county where we live. It has been so numerous that our sheriff's department called everyone to make them aware of the problem. Now I started thinking about the mission trip that our church recently went on to Ethiopia to bring eyeglasses and shoes to the people in the Amhara region.
 They were so grateful, you would have thought they brought them a new flat screen TV. Many of them needed eyeglasses badly and the others had never worn a pair of shoes before. To put things in perspective, I started thinking about the robberies. No one would ever steal my shoes nor my eyeglasses. They would steal the things that we bought because we desired them and not because we needed them.
For the people in Ethiopia, for the orphan, for the people around the world without clean drinking water, etc. their needs are great.  We have so much in this country. We can live with less and give more!