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.

Audio Adrenaline - Kings & Queens/For The Least Of These

http://www.handsandfeetproject.org/

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!

I know it's been quite a long time since we wrote anything. So let me give you an update on Luke.

We met with the team of doctors at University Rainbow and Babies Children Hospital to discuss Luke's options and cochlear implant.  Once the doctors were able to determine which type of cochlear implant Luke had, they contacted the manufacture to see if we could get an outside processor for it so we would know if it works and if he can hear.

A representative from the manufacture was very helpful and glad tocome to visit us at the office with the software. Once they hooked up the processor they were able to program it in order to give him sound. Now every month we visit the audiologist in order for her to program the implant. This is called mapping. We want to reach a level that is comfortable for Luke.

The only problem we discovered with his implant is that only 5 of the 12 electrodes are working. Now we have to determine if  that will be enough for him to hear and discern speech sounds.

In December Luke received a hearing aid. The hearing aid is on loan from the manufacture. Just like the implant we need to decide if he is receiving enough sound in order for him to discern speech sounds in order to talk. Also, our insurance company requires a trial period of hearing aids before allowing implant surgery.

We have the hearing aid on loan to us until April 30. Then the doctors will need to make a decision if they should put an implant in the other ear. From what I have read about people who are profoundly deaf (which is Luke), they can not hear enough with a hearing aid in order to learn language. We're quite certain that we will need to put a cochlear implant in the other ear.

Luke is doing very well with bonding and attaching to us and the other children. It seems like he has always been part of our family. He fits right in with all the kids. He loves to play outside even when it's cold or gloomy. He is very good at letting us know what he wants.

He is also very smart and is learning his colors, shapes, and numbers. He is also learning how to write and recognize his name. We are teaching him new signs, but he sees a speech therapist who specializes in cochlear implant patients. We all want him to start learning to rely on his hearing and training his brain to recognize sounds.

1+ Month Home

Sorry it's been so long since I have posted. We have been crazy busy!

So I guess I'll just start where we end last. 

We started school on September 4th.

Adam is a freshmen in college. Ethan is a Junior and going to a Christian school. Sarah is a freshmen and is my oldest I'm homeschooling. Hannah is in 5th, Bekah in 2nd, Nathan is in 1st, and Luke is in pre-school.

So, I have my hands full homeschooling 5 kids.

Luke is adjusting so well to this family.

He loves the beach! It's so nice to live 10 minutes away from Lake Erie.

For Labor Day weekend we decided to go to the fair. Luke sure loved seeing all the animals. The firemen even let him sit in the fire truck while we talked to them about Luke's adoption. It was fun seeing friends there too.

Hannah is learning about Ohio History in school.  Since we live close to the beautiful Cuyahoga Valley National Park, we decided to take a field trip to visit the Ohio Erie Canal. We often bike ride on the tow path on weekends, however our younger kids haven't had the opportunity to visit the the history of the area.

It has been really cold and rainy here in Northeast Ohio, so the first time it was slightly warm and sunny we decided to take advantage of it and go to the zoo.
It was Luke's first time going to the zoo. He was amazed at seeing all the different animals. He especially loved the elephants. I don't think he has ever seen anything so enormous.

He has had several doctor appointments. When we first got him, we noticed there was a scar behind his right ear. The orphanage said the scar was already there when he came to them. They thought that maybe his parents tried to open up his hearing. We took him to the audiologist and the ENT. We discovered that he has a cochlear implant behind  his right ear. They took an x-ray of the implant to determine which company it came from. They are bringing in a representative from the company with the outside apparatus equipment to test the implant to see if it really works. He also has severe to profound hearing loss in his left ear. We are going to try a hearing aid first. If that doesn't work than we will go with a cochlear implant.

God is in the details of our lives.
A year ago after we accepted our referral of Luke, we went to Steak n Shake one night. At first I didn't even notice, but our wonderful young waitress had cochlear implants. She spoke beautifully. David was the first to notice and said it must be wonderful to have the miracle of hearing everyday. Now, that we have Luke home we had to make a decision about which hospital and team of doctors we should visit for Luke. We have two wonderful top-rated hospitals in our area. We decided on the one our son Nathan has seen for his cleft lip/palate, especially since I love his ENT. He is wonderful with children. Well, when we went to his appointment with the ENT, he started to tell us about a wonderful young lady he treated with cochlear implants and was a waitress at Steak n Shake. We were so excited and he couldn't believe that we had already met her.
God is in the details of our lives.
God has been encouraging us with this adoption every step of the way. I have never met anyone with cochlear implants in my entire life. There have been many moments of God encouraging us by putting someone in our path that was either deaf, had deaf parents, was a sign language teacher or had connections with the hearing and speech center. Also, for the first time, our Christian Home Educators Conference had vendors from Signing Time there. I've been going to the convention for 15 years and have never seen them there. That is not a coincidence. I don't believe in coincidences. When God calls us to do something He is going to equip us, encourage us and walk that road with us.
Praise to Our Awesome God!

He loves our dogs.

From the Heart

I want to share with all of you what God has put on my heart since I became a Christian. When I was in college I learned of the abortion video "The Silent Scream", the truth about abortion, and the lies of the abortion industry (please be courteous, open minded and continue reading.) Once David and I knew the truth, we would stand for life by going on pro-life walks, life chains and standing outside abortion clinics. We experienced their abuse first hand from being cursed at to having things thrown at us.

Have you ever met someone who had an abortion? I have a friend who did when she was very young and I don't think it is something one ever completely gets over,
except by the healing power of Jesus. In her testimony she cried that she killed her baby. Now do you really believe the lies of the enemy, that  having an abortion is a women's right to choose and it won't have any lasting effects on anyone? Anti-life people say "it's not a baby, it's a fetus". Well did you know that the word fetus is Latin for little person? Did you know that a baby's heart begins to beat at 3 weeks old? The Bible calls Satan a murder,a liar and the father of lies, John 8:43-45.If you had an abortion please know that Jesus loves you and forgives you. He does not condemn you and either do we. We live in a fallen world and we all make mistakes, sometimes without even knowing or understanding the truth. But, Jesus gives you real freedom and truth, you will know the truth and the truth will set you free, John 8:31-33.

Anyone can see that our family is very pro-life. God is the Creator of all life and all things under heaven. He has made everything beautiful in it's time. He has also set eternity in the human heart; yet no one can fathom what God has done from beginning to end, Ecclesiastes 3: 10-12. Just look at the world around you. Life is His and His only to give and take away. He is Sovereign and Holy. We cannot create life.  Now I'm not saying there is anything wrong with invetro, etc. I think it is wonderful that God has given doctors the ability to help struggling couples conceive, but what I am saying is that He still is the Giver of Life. All life is beautiful, who are we to judge the quality of life? The child with down's syndrome to the child who is deaf is precious to God. Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. James 1:17.

This brings me to the point I want to say. When you vote this November, I would appreciate it if you would remember my adopted children. Their birth mothers had the courage to give them life and not end their lives in an abortion. It took enormous courage and strength to go through giving birth to them and then abandoning them in a place where they could be found. I know their hearts still ache with the pain of having to let go of their precious treasures. Please don't judge them! That is why I say they had the courage and the love to give them life and do what they know is right. So, when you look in the faces of Hannah Min, Rebekah Lu, Nathan Gouchang and Luke Feng Zheng remember that they would not be here if their birth mother chose to abort them.

Remember them when you vote in November. Stand for ALL LIFE, all over the world.

All Christians, no matter what your denomination, need to stand with the Catholic Church in this fight for Life.

Mother Theresa said that "there is never too many children" and "give the children to me, I'll take them". I feel the same way. There are many childless couples who so desperately want children. Give a child life.

A book I would highly recommend is "Message From An Unknown Chinese Mother: Stories of Love and Loss" by Xinran. I pray after reading this book you will understand.

Another book I would highly recommend is "Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy: by Eric Metaxas. He had the courage to stand for truth.  Will we do the same today?

Update From Luke

I want to tell you all about how much fun my life here in America is.

I've been home for one week now.

I love my mom, dad, and all my siblings. 

This is the picture of when I saw my room for the first time. It's blurring because my family couldn't get a good picture of me. I couldn't stay still because I was so excited. 

I love playing dress up!

 

Ice cream and Popsicle's are my favorite! 

Baseball is fun! 

I love taking baths! In this picture I don't look too happy, but every time I look at this picture now, I laugh. 

We took a quick trip to grandma's and grandpa's house. I tried some spaghetti and a cupcake. They were both really good!

The other morning, I got my first ride on the lawn mower. It was so much fun! My brother even let me drive it.

The swings and sandbox are so much fun.

 Best of all, I even had my first squirt gun water fight with my brother and sisters.   

That's all I have for now! Thank you all so much for praying for me. I love my new life with my family.