Well, it's been a heck of a week. I know it's been a long time since I've updated, and I am working to amend that. Suffice it to say Halloween was swell and Thanksgiving was great. We did some stuff, we saw some people, and we ate some food. And we were happy. And we are still happy.
All that said, lots of doors have closed this week. First, Byron's department is being "dissolved". In other words, he's soon to be out of work. It should just in time for the new baby to come. Swell. We are a little bit bummed, but we will press forward. The really amazing news is that our bishop works at a company that probably has a place for Byron. It would be such a blessing to have that happen. We've also learned that a number of people are working to help Byron find a new job and are offering letters of recommendation for him. All of a sudden, we can really see just how many people are impressed with him and respect him enough to recommend him. It's a blessing.
CJ and Liam had their cochlear implants. HUGE blessing for CJ. Liam has a complication. I'm copying this from my other blog because I'm too lazy to type it, but here it is:
His surgery went well and he recovered quickly...too quickly in my opinion. We took him Monday to activate it and that's where the bad news came in. He can hear with it, but he can't control his head or body when it's on. An X-ray was performed followed by a CT scan today and both confirmed what the doctor feared had happened.
Liam's internal anatomy is very unusual. Highly unusual. Extremely unusual. (Are you getting the idea?) There is no bone between the bottom of his cochleas and his auditory canal, and a portion of the implant has landed in the auditory canal. CJ has the same anatomy, but by some miracle, he hasn't had this same problem.
The doctor is going to have to remove the implant and try to re-insert it so that it goes into the cochlea rather than the auditory canal. With the spinal fluid gusher that Liam has (caused because there is no bone to control the fluid), there is no way to see what is happening in there. There is also no way to know for sure that the implant has gone in the intended direction. It's possible that the doctor will have to push it in as far as he knows for sure that he can and leave the rest out. That leads to other issues like not having enough electrodes in the cochlea, but we can work around those issues.
The whole situation is very complicated, and admittedly a little bit scary, but it WILL be resolved. This is a very rare (never really seen) situation, so I guess I can be excited that Liam gets to be some sort of pioneer. I swear I should just call TLC and get my own tv show.
The good news is that we WILL get this worked out, and it doesn't look like it's going to cost us an arm and a leg. And Liam won't even remember it, so that's a HUGE blessing. The other good thing is that I spoke with the surgeon back in Dallas who did CJ's first implant. Since they have basically identical anatomy, I thought maybe there was a shot that he'd have a clue what to do. I was right! He's seen this kind of anatomy before and knows how to work with it. I'll be overnight expressing the CT scans and X-rays first thing in the morning for him to look at and help guide our doctor here.
I drove off with my computer and $500 worth of brand new hearing equipment on my van yesterday. That was a total downer. BUT, the computer was only cosmetically damaged and will be repaired for free with our Best Buy Black Tie coverage and the audiologist felt so sorry for us about Liam's implant that she's just going to replace the equipment I lost. See what I mean about doors slamming shut, but windows cracking everywhere? It's stressful, I'm tired, and we have reason to be concerned. But, we're not afraid. We will prevail just as we always have.
I'm thinking, worst case scenario, we could always call TLC and get our own show. We have kids with random weird disabilities and health issues, we have a lot of kids by today's standards, we're Mormon (and who doesn't love to watch a show about quirky Mormons, right?), and we're way more fun than John and Kate were. Plus we don't fight. We'd be perfect!!
This is the wacky story of our wild and crazy lives with six insane kids. Two are Deaf. Two have had major health issues. At least one is plotting to take over the world. Two are the reigning princesses of the house. Read and laugh about our lives to feel better about your's.
