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!