ALL CLEAR! YIPPEE!!!

Yesterday while being wheeled out of the hospital

I got the final phone call that our last child's MRI was normal.

Child #1 got the all clear a few days before that.

We are relieved to say the least.

So I guess Chad is a genetic mutant.

He is an X man.

I am home and recovering.

 :)

Since I was in the hospital I missed sign language class #4, which

came with about 120 new words which is about twice as many

as the past 3 weeks.

We are getting better thank goodness. I feel like this skill

will be very important. I am so glad we started right away.

We are very grateful to those who are helping us by bringing in meals,

and my mother who has cleaned my house and picked up child #4 from school every day.

We watched "The Hammer" movie last night. I bought it at Walmart.

It was very inspirational and thought provoking.

More about Matt Hammill



1 more day... :(

Wednesday in the AM I am one lucky chick

and I get to have a hysterectomy.

I went to my pre-op appointment last week

and was told my tumor was so big they "might"

have to do a vertical cut.

:( This is my sad face.

I realized today that I am the most concerned about losing control.

But on a good note...

Today is my birthday and I am going to go

eat Pizza and watch a movie.

:) this is my Happy Face!



GOOD NEWS!

Though we were nervous about the appointment

in Seattle yesterday, we learned that the High Definition

MRI that Chad got in Seattle last month

turned out to be VERY important!

It revealed that the large tumor was not yet

 infringing on his Cochlea. This increases greatly his

chance of getting a Cochlear implant.

We won't know for sure until surgery

but the odds increased tremendously!

The doctor is ordering an experimental piece of equipment

from the University of Michigan to test his

nerve during surgery.

A Chochlear implant will change his

life dramatically, it is a huge safety issue to be able

to hear something.

Chochlear implants are not t\\he same

as normal hearing, but it is hearing!

"An implant does not restore normal hearing. Instead,

it can give a deaf person a useful representation of sounds

in the environment and help him or her to understand speech."

Learn more about Chochlear Implants here.

 It turned out to be a very positive visit.  And his date is set.

He won't go back to Seattle till his surgery,

in April.

By the way we have learned about 200 Sign Language

terms! The bad news is, we realize how much we don't know.

We will still need the sign language, he won't get the implant

the day of his surgery if he can get one.

He has to wait till he recovers, but...

The Dr. said it was a 1 hr outpatient proceedure.

Also he won't always be able to use the transmitter. His Dr. said

he couldn't use it when wrestling or swimming.

At this point we are not even at a 50% chance he can get one,

but we are up from what was almost no chance.

Thanks everyone for the thoughts and prayers on our behalf!



3 down 2 to go!

HI all,

I decided to add this post quickly. I am hurriedly doing my

homework trying to get ahead before my surgery next week.

Eric's MRI is clean, he has a normal brain.

Also my MRI came back as Normal.

We are grateful for this news!

Thank you everyone for your prayers on our behalf.

We still have two MRI's to go.

They were ordered today so they should

occur next week! We are feeling pretty confident

that they will also be normal.

But we shall see!

We go back to Dr. Backous tomorrow

to go over the surgery. (Not a fun visit.)

Sign language class #3 Tonight!

Our hands are tired. I never knew you

had to build up muscles in your hand to talk.

I did find a new app for the IPhone that

someone can call a deaf person and the voice recognition

turns their words into text.

I guess Chad's getting an IPhone.

This app is not available yet but will be soon.

It seems like they would have this already but

it is new. As of now you need some sort of

middle man to talk on the phone to a deaf person.

This will be a wonderful thing.

How can you prepare?

I found this movie today.

I am going to buy it as soon as I see it

in a store.

The Hammer Movie Plot

Inspired by the life of deaf UFC fighter, Matt Hamill, The Hammer tells the

 story of what it takes to be a champion, on and off the mat.

My boys LOVE wrestling.

Last night my husband and I were driving home from

child #4's last high school wrestling event of the season.

It was a 1 1/2 hr drive so we decided to practice our "new" sign

language terms on the way home. We had also practiced on the

way there in the morning.

We noticed what a huge difference practicing makes.

When we showed up at our 2nd class. We were

the most prepared. (of course we also are the

two who have the greatest need to learn this language.)

Chad didn't attend because his mouth was still sore and he

looked just like a chipmunk.

We spent this morning looking up sign language words.

Then we were looking at a few different blogs.

One was by a couple where the husband is deaf and the wife is

hearing and the challenges they are facing.

We also came across a VLOG or video blog of what

must be a deaf man. He was signing his blog entries

We tried very hard to read his words but man we couldn't keep up.

I looked at books on deaf culture on Amazon, and websites.

I have come to the realization that we are not prepared.

Sure we have had 2 sign language classes but

besides about 60 words, I realized how many I don't know.

  We really do need a miracle.



What about the other kids? Child #3 is Clear :)

Chelsey had her MRI on Monday.

We got the news that she looks NEGATIVE for NF2.

 YIPPEE!

Eric had his MRI this morning.

So we will have to see what they say maybe tomorrow.

I will have my MRI next week and I'll take a Ultrasound as well!

(Why not? we have nothing better to do!)

 The Urologist wants to check on my kidney's before

my surgery since I had so many issues in Nov/Dec/Jan with

right flank pain.

That will make it 6 Medical appointments for next week.

Child # 1 and Child # 4 go to the doctor next week

just so they can order their MRI's. Each of our doctors

wanted to see us before they order the MRI.

My hope is that we all have the IAC MRI's done and have them

reviewed before February is over. 

Chad goes back to Seattle next week to discuss

the upcoming brain surgery.

Sign Language Class # 2 Tonight. We are doing good,

practicing everyday.

There is just so much going on I feel like I am running as fast as I can!

We are so exhausted.

But VERY grateful to have friends and family

who care about us and support us. THANK YOU!

Last of all ...

How do you recover from the removal of all

your wisdom teeth, 2 fillings and a crown?

Why Xbox of course!

Well this was day 2,

 he slept all of day one.

Good Friends, laughter and more MRI's...

Can you guess what this says?

Well my #2 daughter got her MRI today

she said it was NOT fun.

She was glad her doctor prescribed her something for

Anxiety. She said it definitely calmed her nerves while

the MRI machine clanged and banged.

Chad is going in the AM to get all his wisdom

teeth out. (He is thrilled).

Our good friends decided to take Sign Language

classes with us and came over tonight to

practice. We laughed so hard my stomach hurt,

I was glad I didn't have my hysterectomy yet.

A God of Miracles...

In Luke Chapter 1 vs.  37 For with God nothing shall be ^aimpossible.

Today many of our friends are joining our family and

we are fasting and praying for a Miracle on Chad's behalf.

If you would like to join us we welcome all who want to participate.

Learn with us the Alphabet in Sign Language:

I Found this today: Sign Language Alphabet Poster 

So print it off if you want to start learning the sign language alphabet.

Then to practice, you just finger spell every word you see.

As you are walking along or driving along.

I like to do it when I am driving because I don't have to think

of the words to try to spell they are on the signs everywhere.

I learned the sign for wrestle.

We need it today! Blake is wrestling at the Sub-Regionals.

My family loves wrestling!

Learning a new Language is hard...

There are 10 of us who feel like this tonight.

Finger spelling, trying to talk with our hands.

7 more weeks :)

I actually love it, but it is hard.

Chad remembers all the alphabet as do I.

Amy learned ASL in high school and is picking it up quickly.

First she gave us all sentences and told us we had to convey

the sentence to our partner and we couldn't talk,

 use sign language or write. It was VERY hard.

The lesson was, that is how deaf children feel.

It also taught us to think about the subject of our sentence.

Practice, Practice, Practice.



He chose regular surgery, Wisdom teeth and more MRI's.

After much thought he chose regular surgery.

His surgery won't be till April so I can have my surgery

 and have time to recover and we can go to Utah and get his car and unload his storage unit.

He will get a preview soon though because the roots of one of his

 wisdom teeth is winding around a nerve in his jaw so he will be getting his wisdom teeth out soon!

(Yes he is thrilled).

Also the other kids MRI's start this Monday with Chelsey!

(She's not excited).

Sign Language class starts tomorrow!

Signing-Exact-English- by Gerilee-Gustason (Our teacher).

It's February Hope you all have a Happy Valentines day.