Proud of It!

The Little Girls are Texans and Proud of It!

A couple of weeks ago we had these 2 precious girls over for the day and we were very proud of it!  They have grown up so much and are beyond sweet!  We love being able to see them often!

This past Thursday we went to the Audiologist for Sallie’s cochlear to be turned up and for testing.  We were able to turn up a good bit and below are her hearing results after being turned up.  To say we are proud of it is an understatement!  We have more of these pieces of paper than we can count but we slowly watched the results get worse and were always difficult for me to look at because of the reality of what she was hearing (even aided).  But this is fantastic!  The “banana
is what they refer to as the “speech banana” which means that the speech sounds are inside that “banana”.  The A’s show how she responded at each frequency.  You can see that she responded consistently at 40 db with normal hearing being 20 to 30 db so all of that to say she is not far and has only been activated 2 weeks!  We have turned up 2 times since this at home and she is responding incredibly to sound.  I can’t explain what it has been like to see God’s hand in this all.  I also can’t explain how important it has been for us to see that in such a real way.  This has been a tough year for us in many, many ways and it continues to be in many ways but we know He is working and we take the good with the not so good and we are reminded that no matter what our circumstances He is good all the time.  We also saw Dr. Bauer (ENT) and on August 13th she will have surgery again.  He will be cleaning out the implanted ear which is full of blood and infection and he will also be making an incision behind the left ear and pulling fat from that area to try and build an area inside the left ear to prevent the build up which eventually leads to the tumors.  Obviously we would prefer to not have to do this and have this set back but we do and we just have to push forward and trust God with this.  We greatly appreciate your prayers that the surgery will go smoothly and she will recover quickly.  Also, a major prayer request is that none of the electrodes are affected by him cleaning that ear out.  Any movement of the electrodes could affect the way she is currently hearing.  Also, that what he does to the left ear works in the way he is hoping. 

Ell and Mel made it safely to Kentucky for their Mission Trip and we are proud of it!  They have no cell service where they are so we have to patiently await to hear all about it when they return Saturday.  Maybe I can get Ell still enough to do her own post on her trip!

A few weeks ago Elleigh spent a couple of days in FW with her best friend Sarah who also does photography.  It was hot so they did not do a lengthy photo shoot but this is one she took and I am so proud of it!  I love it! 

Fort Hood Mission Trip

It really seems like forever since our trip to Fort Hood/Killeen.  So much has happened in our lives since then.  However, I did not want to forget this time.  It was a great time shared with our church family of all ages and it was wonderful to watch each one work in their own way. 

The May Family is our precious friends and the very first people we met when we moved to Seminary.  They were our neighbors and originally from AL!  They are Auburn Fans which we still have fun with but we love them still!  The May’s are now missionaries with Cadence International and they are the Directors of the Cadence Soldiers Hospitality House in Killeen and minister in various ways to the soldiers of Fort Hood.  They have to raise their own support so funds for improvements to the house are very limited.  So, our group went to do some of those needed projects.

We accomplished more than we went to do! This post if FULL of pics but I had a lot to share!

Group pic.  This was the morning we left to come back home and Lizzie is sporting her splint that she got the night before.  We had to make an ER visit of course!

All the kids and youth worked really hard in many ways.  Here they are helping in the kitchen following painting as you can see.The last night we were there we went on base and fed the Soldiers and their families before their Bible Study.  We prepared and served the food.Sallie “helping” AKA posing in the kitchen on baseThey “loved” their serving attire!

Quick shot of Sallie and Mrs. Elizabeth

A doing morning devotionEll painting!  Those white walls looked so much better with some color!Concrete!  These are some workin’ men!

Sall liked this spot!  There was lots going on to watch!

These are some of my favorite pics!  If you know Sallie, you know she loves to help and she is helping her Daddy here.  I love that he allows her and is patient with her (most of the time!).  All up in the action!

Elleigh and Elizabeth.  Ell was 7 yrs old when we first met the May’s.  Placing the Texas stone in the concrete.  It looked really good!Sweet Millie working hard!  Game Break!  Yes, Melbie is right in the middle!The May Family!  The twins were 9 months old when we met and the boys toddlers.  One of the things I love most about the relationships we formed in seminary are that they are lifetime relationships and we can pick up right where we left off.  It was great to be able to spend a little time catching up with our friends!

The ride.  I have very few pics of Lizzie.  She really enjoyed being with the twins!Ell is quite the cutter inner painter! 

It was really a great, busy trip and opportunity to do service missions with a part of our church family and as a family!

Indescribable

I will come back and do our Fort Hood post as well as our AL trip but I never want to forget last Thursday, June 28, 2012…  It is really INDESCRIBABLE and my words can not do it justice but I will attempt to record our thoughts/feelings. 

Wed. nt as A and I prayed together the last words he said were “Lord, help us to give you praise and realize your plan is sovereign no matter tomorrow’s outcome”  Those words really sank in as I realized what was about to be revealed to us on Thursday.  The fate of our child’s only hope for hearing at this point was about to be revealed.  Was I ready?  I am not sure either of us slept much that night.  We were excited and anxious and nervous and the list goes on.  I really do not think I have ever been through so many emotions in such a short term.  I was reminded of the first few days of Sallie’s birth and the many emotions it brought.  Would I be able to continue to give God the praise and respect His sovereignty if things did not go “our way” that day?  At 10 am we sat down beside our precious Sallie as the Audiologist tested each electron.  All 7 were working.  Then she tested them all together as we witnessed Sallie’s reaction to the sound.  She laughed, she cried, she was scared, and she was not sure what to do with herself!  I mostly cried and I could feel God’s presence in an indescribable way.  Really, I can’t begin to explain it but it was wonderful!  With all that said, this is only step 1.  There is much to be done from here and we are not sure what God will allow to happen at this point and what His plan is for her with the sound she is and will be receiving BUT I know this, whatever that is He is there and His will is sovereign and I will continue to praise Him.  Not just because that is what I am supposed to say but because He has been there and I can look back over this and there are many ups and downs but in it all it is His way and it is the best way.   He has been her protector, He has been our provider, He has been our strength, He has been our peace, He has been our comforter, He has been our decision maker, He has been our EVERYTHING and He will continue to be, no matter the outcomes!

These are some videos from Thursday.  Some of them are when they were testing the electrons and some are after the device itself was activated.  

On the last video here listen as the rep from the manufacturer tells the little girls what is being done.  Her words get me every time!  Elleigh, Lizzie, and Millie are such a major part of this too and I never want them to be forgotten.  They have a lot of responsibility in this whole picture and they do a wonderful job.  It was a really big day for them as well.  We had of course explained to them what was going to happen but for her to tell them at that moment was really great and I am so thankful it was caught on video.  I would have loved to have had a second camera on them to catch their reaction!

You can not actually see the device in these pics and I intended to take some of it on from the side today to put in this post but I failed to so I will get some soon.  We get 2 devices so that if there is an issue with 1 we have the other to put on her so that she is never without it.  Her primary device is lime green and she loves it!  YES, I did match her on purpose on activation day! 

What now?  It is set at a very low level right now, much lower than what was being tested in the videos.  The goal is for her to be able to tolerate the sound and want to hear it and very gradually move up.  We turn it up at home with a remote and then we go back to the audiologist every 2 weeks for her to re-program and move on to her next “map”.  We had our first turn up on Sat nt and then our second this morning and she tolerated both at 100 %!  We are not seeing much response at home yet because it is still so low.  We are anxious to see more response but we know it will take time and it is better to move slowly and she has to learn to process that sound.  She took it off this afternoon and I had to get pretty harsh with her to get it back on.  I think she was just really tired and was tired of it being on.  It is a magnet in her skull with a magnet on the outside and an ear full of electrons so I am sure until you get used to it, it is not easy to bear. 

THANK YOU so much for the support and prayers!  Keep them up!