It's hard to post...

I sat here yesterday wondering what to say...

I sit here again wondering what to say....

I realize why I can't think of what to say,

because it's depressing.

Who wants to tell depressing news?

I want to tell you good news. I want to give hope.

I want hope for my son.

I want him to hear after his surgery in two weeks.

Here is my hope for this week:

 He's in Utah, with his friends.

He loved his time there for the short 3 months he lived there.

 He loves his friends. I hope he has a great week!

We had a friend come visit yesterday:

Jessica is the daughter of my friend from my youth.

She came to visit for the day and we went to Marymere falls and Lake Cresent.



Counting down....

 When Chad was on his mission in Michigan and getting

ready to come home, he said

 "Mom don't count down the days, it's too hard for me".

I said I am not a counter! I can't stand waiting!

 I like to be busy times goes by faster.

Well.... I am trying NOT to count how many days till Chad has brain

surgery. It's too hard to think about what comes after the surgery.

Chad is doing ok, he has moments that he can't hear anything at all.

Those are hard for him, they happen at least once a week.

Daily he says we need to speak up because he can't hear

what we are saying. He has ringing in his ear with the small tumor

daily. Sometimes it keeps him awake at night.

The idea that post surgery he could be deaf is something that

he is realizing is a possibility.

I am so grateful for our sign language teacher. She is strict, funny and

pushes us hard. She said as much at class tonight.

She said we were doing great, that we had a great family and

that she was pushing us hard.

I am so grateful to my other children, friends family,

and my husbands staff all for being so supportive.

We couldn't get through this without them.

 I am also so grateful that winter qtr is over! 



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.