So, for Jack, he has just come so far... I just had to attach this video clip of him singing, "Jingle Bells." He and Jaden are sitting amongst the Christmas mess doing a puzzle and in his joy he started belting out his power-version of "Jingle Bells." It is really hard for me to believe this brave little boy, just a year earlier, had not heard clearly - much less heard English!
We were blessed this past year with some amazing speech and language therapists who came to our house and Jack's pre-school weekly. They worked with us and with him and we will be forever grateful for their impact on all of our lives. I dedicate the "Jingle Bells" to them!
Upon turning 3, Jack moved on to a new speech pre-school. This pre-school is the only one of its kind in the school district and, amazingly, is only about a mile from our home! Jack has made even more progress since attending this class 3 times a week for two hours in the morning. He then rides the school bus, like a BIG MAN ON CAMPUS, to his Montessori school. Here are a few pics of him with his GINORMOUS backpack and getting off the school bus. He is just beyond proud of himself!
So, we are now moving on to a new chapter this week. Jack is having surgery on Friday. We have carefully weighed our options for Jack and his hearing is our highest priority. When Jack was just a little boy that lived in China in a picture in a file, it was easy to research his condition and say we could just have surgery and help him. Now, he is our son. He has taught us so much about bravery, love and joy. He has given much more than he has taken and the decision to have him undergo surgery weighs heavily on us. It can possibly provide him with nearly normal hearing and an amazing looking ear that will help him to have good self esteem as he matures. We hope and pray for a successful surgery!
We are also embarking on some new territory. The two surgeons that we have been consulting are widely known for their incredible work.
Dr. Roberson at the California Ear Institute in Palo Alto performs canalplasty. Jack's cochleas are believed to be functioning normally, but he has no ear canal. Dr. Roberson can make an ear canal and ear drum for him. In Jack's case, he has a good chance of having near normal hearing.
Dr. Reinisch is a plastic surgeon in Los Angeles. He is known for his work with the Medpor procedure. Using a polyethylene implant for ear framework, he will construct an outer ear for Jack.
These two surgeons will be performing these procedures in one surgery for the first time on Friday. Dr. Reinisch will be coming to Palo Alto to operate with Dr. Roberson for Jack. This will reduce our surgeries by one at least. Hopefully, if things go as planned, we can do the other ear the same way, possibly turning 5 surgeries into 3. We are grateful for these surgeons taking the time to help us in this way, and hope that it can help many other people with microtia and atresia follow the same path.
I will be posting more over the next few weeks to keep people updated with Jack's progress.
Please keep us in your thoughts and prayers!
1 comment:
We will be thinking about you!
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