Activation Video

Well you can imagine my SURPRISE when I come to the blog and notice that my dearest HUBBY has updated it! What a wonderful man! I'm so lucky!

Well, it's offically been 1 week and 2 hours of hearing for our baby boy. It's going good, but honestly the last week has been stressful!!

Last year, while I was still pregnant, my husband and I found a WONDERFUL daycare lady to watch over Troy once he was born and I went back to work. She has watched him since my 9 weeks of maternity leave were up. Well...when Troy's processor was activated, I was nervous with the other kids at her house, it would be a lot for her. However, we moved forward knowing that God would take care of any situation. After giving her a run-down of how everything worked on Tuesday afternoon, I went back to work on Wednesday. Everything seemed to be going okay, until she called me on Thrusday afternoon to tell me that it was just too much for her. How my heart was broken, but I couldn't be mad. Honestly, Troy does need one on one attention right now. THANKFULLY and by the GRACE OF GOD, my sister does not have a job and is now Troy's full time nanny! She is also there to get Dean off to school in the morning and waiting for him when he gets off the bus in the afternoon. God is so good!!

Anyhow, as my dearest hubby's post told you, Troy's activation went great! He is a trooper and I will get some pictures of him with his processor up as soon as possible!

The video my mom took is about 8 1/2 minutes and is much to big to be linked to here, so I am letting you know that if you click HERE, it will take you to the video on YouTube!

Thank you all for your prayers and we are excited to move forward from here!!

4 days until ACTIVATION!!

That's right...Monday, November 16th at 1:00 TROY GETS ACTIVATED!!!


I AM THRILLED!!!!!!!!!

24 Days until activation!

I just scheduled Troy's activation with the hospital:

Monday, November 16th at 1:00 pm!!!!

I can't WAIT!!!

~*~*~24 days and counting~*~*~

Surgery is OVER - Picture Update

The cochlear implant (left side) surgery is OVER!!! Sorry I did not update earlier, but I was a MESS. Here are the pictures of how it went. We go to get the stiches out in about 1 hour.

6:00 am on Tuesday, October 13. Troy was all smiles as he got to play with some bubbles. His mom, dad, Nana, Papa, Pummy and Grandma Kelley were all there.

Right after surgery. It may look like he's smiling, but he's just waking up and crying pretty hard. I was crying pretty hard too...

After 16 hours of not eating, he finally got some glucose water in the recovery room. And then the meds made him pass back out.

Waking up a few hours later in the hospital room, he got his first bites of good food. Some vanilla pudding and crackers (his favorite) were yummy. Too bad he threw it up all over mommy an hour later.

Aunt Coco came over from her job at the other part of the hospital. Troy really was happy to see her, but too tired to deal with company at this point.

Look at the doll Nana brought him. She even put a bandage around it's head so it could be like Troy! I love this picture - so innocent!

Even big brother Dean came up to visit that night. Troy was tired and getting sick of company, but was VERY happy to see his big brother.

He's always happy when his Nana holds him.

Much better now that I threw up again. Notice mommy's change of clothes?

It was night time and I decided I didn't want to go to sleep. I would much rather play in my metal hospital crib.

At 3:00 am I still didn't want to sleep, so nice Nurse Kim decided to take me out to the nurses' station so mommy and daddy could sleep for a while. If you notice the clock in the background (on the wall) says 3:00 am!!

Just as the doctor predicted, the next morning Troy was feeling MUCH better. He would wave out the window inbetween taking bites of Mommy's breakfast.

2 days after surgery mom and dad get to remove my "helmet". I am happy here because Mommy cut my chin strap off.

Showing off my new do. 18 stiches that daddy says "looks like a worm". The incision was much bigger than mommy and daddy thought it would be. They also shaved off more hair than they thought...I didn't have much to begin with!

Troy is 1!!

Troy turned 1 at 8:07am this morning! Here are his 1 year old pictures! Enjoy!!!!

Lousy News!

Well, I got a call from the audiologist at the E.N.T.'s office today...

Troy's information has been submitted to the insurance company, but only for 1 cochlear implant (left ear) instead of bilaterials. This is because the state of Michigan can only implant babies a 1 year if they are profoundly deaf.

Troy is severe-profoundly deaf in his right ear. This means he cannot hear anything unless it is 90 db or higher (standing right next to a jackhammer). Apparently he can get the cochlear implant on his right ear when he is 2.

Yes, this means he can still have bilateral implants, but at 2 different times. Two different surgeries, 2 recovery periods, twice as must anxiety for us...

Frusteration

Back to the hospital for more tests!

You thought we were done with our tests? SO DID WE!!

When we went in for our hearing aid test, the audiologist only tested with hearing aids. She never did a test without because she thought she had seen something in our file about having a test without. Well, we had so many tests in the beginning, I couldn't remember one from another, so I couldn't verify or deny.

So, while I think we are in the insurance process, we are actually still in the evaluation process.

SO MAD!!

On top of being deaf he has allergies - but not normal allegies...

On Wednesday we decided to get Troy allergy tested. That's right...any allergy test on a 10 month old! I couldn't stand it when Dean got his allergy test done at 6 years old, let alone a baby! However, the results of these tests turned out much different than I expected!

I am allergic to: dust, pollen, grass, leaves, trees, cat, dog, horse, bunny, hay, and mold. Let's just say that I am an environmental mess.

Dean (age 7) is allergic to: hay, corn husks, bunny, trees and dust

This means, I was CONVINCED that Troy would test positive for environmental factors. Whenever I wake up with dry, itchy eyes, his eyes are swollen. We got rid of our dog because whenever Troy would lay on the ground he would sneeze = allergic to dog, RIGHT?!?!

NOPE!!

TROY IS ALLERGIC TO:
MOLD, TOMATOES, PEAS, BANANAS, APPLES, & PEACHES!!

WHAT THE HECK!?!?!

That's right, my 10 month old son is very allergic to Mold & Tomatoes!! Who would have thunk? Apparently the peas, bananas, apples, & peaches are mild allergies that are causing his eczema and will more than likely go away with time. But it seems that mold and tomatoes will be around for a long time/lifetime.

Since Troy tested positive to Peas, this means that his is susceptible to anything in the "legume" family. Yup, we can not feed him any beans!

On top of all of this...the allergist informed me that he is susceptible to developing VERY severe food allergies to nuts and eggs! NUT ALLERGIES ARE INSANE!! So, to keep this from happening, he cannot eat eggs until the age of 2 and any nuts, shellfish or fish until the age of 3!

So, on top of our lives changing because he was deaf, we now have to deal with TOMATO allergies! No ketchup, pizza sauce, salsa, some bbq sauces, and spaghetti sauce (see the blog about the spaghetti I made him last week - OOPS! No wonder he ended up with a rash!)

That boy is a constant wonder!

Last of the evaluations, now the waiting game...

Yesterday, Thom, Troy and I were BACK at the hospital for Troy's hearing aid evaluation.

Everything went well, minus the part when I snapped at the audiologist (oops!). I really didn't mean to, but it's hard as hell to get that little boy to wear his hearing aids! I know she wants what's best for him, but I also know she has not had to sit by a screaming 10 month old in his highchair for hours on end just so he won't pull out the hearing aids he hates so much. So when she told me 5 hours a week wasn't enough my response was "Well, it might not be a lot to you, but it's tons to us!" My husband then gave me that look that said you're being a jerk again. Oops! It's just so frusterating!

Anyways...Troy tested with his hearing aids on. I don't think that the test was very conclusive considering we set in a sound-proof triangluar room and she talked into the speakers and looked to see if he would turn to them. Well...YES he will turn to them if everytime you talk in the speakers they light up and have a Spongebob toy spin!! So I'm frusterated as hell, but I know we are done with the evaluations now.

At this point our ENT collects all the paperwork and sends it over to the insurance for approval. It's a long and frusterating waiting game, but it has to be done!! If you could send some prayers our way...I would greatly appreciate it!

Sometimes you have to be resourceful...

Troy's dinner the night of Thursday, July 23...

As Troy munched on an appetizer of veggies...
(side note: I found frozen cut up veggies at Save A Lot, just thaw out for 5-10 minutes and they are a perfect healthy snack for kids!)

I looked in my fridge to decide what to make him for dinner. I realized we didn't have much...

I decided to make some baby food from scratch. I boiled some water and added some spaghetti. Once I cooked it until it was super soft, I strained it, and put it in the food processor with some sauce and corn...

Instant Baby Food!!!!

End result...a kid who loves spaghetti!!!

Moving forward toward IMPLANTS!

I just got off a pretty extensive phone call with the audiologist from the E.N.T. office. Now that we have confirmation that Troy has cochlea and they seem to be implantable, we can take these next few steps.

1) An evaluation with Troy's hearing aids with the audiologist at the hospital

2) A speech and language evaluation with the audiologist at the hospital (yes, I know this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. These audiologists with be meeting with Troy once a month after his implant to work on speech, so they need a starting point).

3) Audiologists fax the ENT's office their results

4) ENT submits and gets approval from our insurance for BILATERAL implants. The audiologist said she has not had any problems getting approval for bilaterals from Priority Health (our insurance co).
~For those of you who don't know: bilateral implants are a HUGE deal. This is GREAT news and insurance companies in our area have just started to approve bilaterals in the last year! Troy will be the 2nd kid at his deaf school with bilaterals! This is a HUGE deal!~

5) If all of this can be done by late September we will have surgery OCTOBER 14, 2009!!!!

Please say your prayers that all of this goes as planned. These next few steps should go off without a problem. My biggest fear is the insurance company, but the audiologist saying that she's not had any problems reassures me.

Cochlear Implant Process (update)...

As many of you know, two weeks ago Thom, Troy and I spent the day in the hospital for Troy's MRI and other tests. Yesterday we got GREAT NEWS...Troy's cochlea are normal and ready for implant in early October! YEAH SOUND!!

Here are some pictures from his testing:

The nurse getting Troy ready

Trying to get Troy's oxygen reading

Troy's hospital bracelet and some cream on his hand to numb it so they can look for veins.

Cut little toes trying to get a reading.

After 2 hours of trying to find veins on his hands and feet, the only one they could use was one in his head. It was VERY traumatic for both Troy and Mommy.

After the MRI, Troy sleeping in his hospital crib

Hospital audiologists running the BAER test.

Sensors on his head for the BAER test

Troy's Test Day

Thank you all for your many thoughts and prayers during Troy's tests yesterday. We are doing much better today. Yesterday was rough for both Troy and I, Thom was able to handle it like a champ!

We arrived at the hospital at 9:00 am and went into the children's radiology unit. At this point Troy had not eaten for 10 1/2 hours and was a little fussy, but he's a very happy baby, so was able to do well. The nurse got us back right away and started putting numbing cream on the back of Troy's hands and inside his elbows for an IV. At about 10:00 am it was Troy's nap time and he started to fall asleep in my arms. The nurse told us she didn’t want him to sleep yet because he had to swallow some medicine to make him go to sleep (ironic?...just a little bit). We woke him back up and he was PISSED!!! At that point the nurses started trying to get the IV in. Yes, I said TRYING. It ended up taking 3 nurses 1 1/2 hours, and many, MANY pokes in the back of his arms and inside his elbows. Most of the time they were unable to find veins, and the few times they were able to his veins were so dehydrated (it had been 12+ hours without eating/drinking) his veins would collapse. Troy was SCREAMING this whole time and at some point during this I started to become very upset, especially when they noticed a good vein in his head and mentioned an IV would work there. I had to step out of the room and go watch "Finding Nemo" in the waiting room. After about 20 minutes they were able to get and IV in a vein above his right ear and I was able to return and rock Troy to sleep.

They rolled Troy away to his MRI and Thom and I were able to go visit our friend from work, Maria. On Memorial Day her husband and her were riding their motorcycles when an illegal immigrant pulled in front of her husband. He t-boned the car and ended up flying 30 feet in the air. At this point they think he is going to live, however they do not know what kind of mental capacity he will have. We were glad to be able to visit.

Upon returning to Troy's room, they were in the middle of the BAER test. This test measures activity of the brain as different level sounds are placed in his ear - it tells us the extent of his deafness. Yup…Troy's still deaf :). However, we were able to find out some good news. When they first did the test (when he was 4 weeks old) they thought they were able to see a 5th wave in Troy's right ear. We are not sure what exactly a 5th wave is, but it means that there is some level of activity in Troy's right ear when they test at a 90 decibels (we speak at 45 decibels, so 90 is REALLY loud). This is a GOOD thing because if there was no cochlea, then there wouldn't have been able to see a 5th wave at all. So, it seems that we have a "some-what" working cochlea at least on 1 side!!!

Troy eventually woke up and we were able to give him some apple juice which he gobbled right up. He then drank a whole bottle (what a pig!!)

We were able to leave the hospital at about 1:30. The rest of the day Troy slept on and off and was really wobbly. When he was awake he acted stoned.

While at the hospital Thom requested a copy of the MRI. When we got home he was able to look at the scans of Troy's head on the computer. It was really cool!! We were able to see his eyeballs, sinus cavities, top of his spine and other various things. During our 8 months of dealing with deafness, Thom and I have learned what a cochlea looks like and low and behold…we saw 2 beautiful cochlea in his MRI scan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, don't go getting too excited, because (this might surprise you) Thom and I aren't doctors and even though there are 2 cochlea there, they still might not be able to be implanted.

We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers. We should find out no later than 2 weeks if they cochlea are okay to implant!

Thanks again for thinking and praying for us! We will let you know what we find out!

Tarred and Feathered?

Nope!

More like blueberried and rice-krispied

Easter (sorry, it's a little late)

Easter in Indiana

6 Months

6 months of sleepless nights
6 months of poopy diapers
6 months of spit up
6 months of doctor visits
6 months of day care bills
6 months of exhaustion

(his face is so red because he's sick)

6 months of smiles
6 months of giggles
6 months of soft baby skin
6 months of playtime
6 months of learning new things
6 months of loving siblings
6 months of tickles
6 months of pure joy

Mama plays with the camera...

Dinner Time!

Last week I finally broke down and bought Troy a baby seat for the kitchen table. I decided it was time to start baby food and it was just too hard to feed him as he flopped around in his bouncy seat. It was so cute the first time, I left the camera on the table and just kept taking pics all week...

Our first dinner with Troy at the table with us!

Troy's first bite of baby food - applesauce!
Troy's reaction to his first bite of applesauce..."Hmmm, what is this stuff?"

Dean showing Troy how to properly eat carrots
Troy was not a big fan of the carrots. He proceeded to spit them out for the rest of the night. We have two burb rags and 1 baby outfit stained orange.

Troy not paying attention to his mommy as she tries to feed him. Oh no...the dog is WAY more interesting!

This is some GOOD stuff!