Oct 18...

It has been confirmed, little man will have his right "ear" replaced along w/a scar reduction (whatever you would call removing part of a thick keloid scar) on October 18...Here was video of that ear and how well it did when he first got it last year, even after being unaided for over 4 yrs!

Meet Turdy

B's gonna be sad today when I tell her we need to find Turdy a home. He needs to be in his natural environment and not constantly in the hands of a six year old. She says things like, "Awww Turdy, come on girl or boy, come on!" But we will find him a real home later today. B had an unfortunate accident yesterday while climbing on my counter to get her a cup. She forgot the bottom cabinet door was left open so when she jumped down still facing the cabinets, she almost straddled the lower cabinet but she's okay. Mommy fixed her but she does have a major bruise where she landed w/such force, we had to reattach some of the cabinet facing that was pulled off.
We got her FM back and one ear seems to be working fine but she says one is still staticy so I have them in the dry n store (her receivers) but Gage's is still working fine. I hope it doesn't malfunction because he needs his real bad!! One teacher has an extra soft voice so we need his to continue doing it's job! Looks like mid October will be his surgery time, we'll know more tomorrow when the doc comes back to town.
We have several things planned for him before he goes to the O.R. again. Next weekend he gets to go watch some mud bogging and rock crawling vehicles in action. Then in late Sept. we have the weekend beach trip for PEEPs in the park. So excited.
If you want to read my Examiner.com articles, I've made it easy for you to find them on facebook, see my new like button over in the right hand column here on the blog.....easy as pie. More updates on Gagie Poo as they develop.

and this is where we are...

I took this photo at 7:30 this morning while he watched the construction workers build a new Children's Hospital and while I nervously awaited to lay eyes on my Cochlear peeps. We were scheduled in late Sept. to our next round of integrity testing w/them but earlier this week I had emailed our audiologist and informed her we had removed Gage's right cochlear implant processor. The only thing the right one is contributing at this point is chaos. As soon as they hooked him up, the testing results were different than the last time they had done this, yielding a ci as being...consistently inconsistent! No matter the underlying cause, with a child who had rather hear bad w/two than good w/one, we are at a point where, he's been asked to remove his right, unstable ci processor and he will likely receive a new one as early as October...? We will not disturb our favorite ci surgeon while he's out of town, so we will wait to disturb him next week and ask if/when/what we need to do. Gage is great. He's excited about the Nucleus 5 camo processors and not so excited about the surgery but he knows in order to hear w/two, he must do this. It's just another day in the life of Gage....
to be continued

Quick update

So busy! I've been subbing most of the week at school...my Examiner.com writing has haulted due to site upgrades, the kids have been well and are getting used to school by now...so until I get time to do some real posting here, I'm leaving you with a couple of oldies, but goodies, lol
Gage when he was having all the ci removal, reimplant situation a year and a half ago...so he was totally reading lips!


and here Brook was 4, love this one!

I met Riley!!

that's right Riley from Sound Check Mama !!

Both she and her mama are gorgeous and fabulous!

Brook has issues when her feet are not on solid ground (just like I do!!) so I had to come to her rescue, lol

We had a great time in Decatur at the PEEPs event.

 Most of the kids that came already had cochlear implants. We avoided rain at the park but it poured the minute we got home (it was a 2 hr drive). Next we head south to the beach for PEEPs in the Park Daphne, AL.

Brook's FM has been sent for repairs. Hopefully she'll get that back soon!

So far so good

So far so good on the school situations! No check marks for behavior!! Woop woop! I figured out Gage is more comfortable with his sensitivity turned down to 6 instead of at 12 on the right, troubled ear. His Fm is working well and he's not coming home exhausted which is usually his signature for a day of struggle. B's FM isn't working but I'm gonna try it once more in the morning and if it still doesn't work, I'll send an email to notify the Teacher of the Deaf.

In other news my Special Needs page is doing well, sometimes found in the top five read articles of the Huntsville channel of Examiner.com. Yay.
I've now been given my second title which is Etowah Co Stay-at-Home Moms Examiner so go check it out here and subscribe to them if you want to receive them in your inbox. Hoping to get some subbing calls in soon, getting antsy.

Basket Case

I was already emotional when another parent came up to me and explained how upset her son was when he found out he wasn't in Gage's class because "what if they don't know how to take care of Gage?" he asked her! That's all I needed to go straight to down the hall, tears dropping from my cheeks, wetting my t-shirt and I was proud of every tear. The teachers know me, some read this blog, and they know it's hard. I was totally fine w/leaving Brooklyn, didn't even walk to her room. All the kids had to wait in the lunchroom while parents could go back if they needed to. When the bell rang, the kids were directed by staff where to go, without their parents. I met with Brook's teacher at orientation so I know B will be fine.

However, Gage is struggling. He didn't understand ANYTHING I said this morning without repeats and lip reading...he is not fine. I know his teacher is aware and will take care of him, but I'm sad he's lost. This is hard. I emailed his special ed teacher this morning and I hope we can monitor his needs a couple of days and decide what will work. We need for the Hearing Impaired teacher to drop of FM's and I am also alerting his audiologist to let her know how he is and see if she suggests we take the right one off for now. Last night I had him try listening without the right and he understood me better but he still likes being bilateral (habits are hard to break) and he wouldn't go without it this morning so hopefully we will find something that works. I know they will take good care of him (and her)....deep breath (basket case), I'm going to put on my swimsuit and relax on the patio for a while. (Maybe take a nerve pill, lol) I can't wait to pick up my babies.

This was outfit number one but she changed last minute into something cooler!

Depressing news

As if B's last HINT (hearing in noise test) wasn't bad enough, my oldest child who has had four cochlear implant surgeries already, could still face another in his future. His right ear which is holding it's one and only ci (so far) which was inserted just over a year ago, isn't pulling its weight anymore. He has 10 electrodes turned off currently. He loves hearing and has loved being bilateral but this could cause major difficulty for him in the classroom so I will have to check his sounds (many babble sounds) several times a week to note any changes ASAP. Here you'll find where I explained more about electrodes in non tech terms. You know Mama's just concerned. I have no idea how long we have to use what we have before replacing it becomes an option. Put it this way, when she cut him back on after mapping both ears, he said, "Yea, sounds normal" and she had to TELL HIM that he was only hearing from left (good) side. She had not turned rt one on at all and he still said he could not tell he was only using left so I'm guessing he has been really focusing or really using his left ear primarily for the last few weeks, so much so, he didn't notice the right anymore and it seems right is doing him little good. More later...

But on a good note, I did manage to make it to the Top 5 of the Huntsville division of Examiner.com . Be sure to keep a check on it HERE or just subscribe to the articles. I was gonna write one today but I'm gonna mope instead. I'll be more in the mood tomorrow when all this has sunk in.

Got tape?

And once again we pack up our supplies to walk thru those school doors on Monday YIPEE

 Here is our emergency backpack kit that I place w/each child so they are prepared to replace batteries or tape should they need to.

Four and a half glorious days!

And I'm only kidding, sort of we have had fun this summer but this last week has been nothing but fights. They are extremely bored and need the routine of school again!

Tomorrow is B's orientation. Gage goes for mapping on Friday.

I also want to remind you all to sign up for my email alerts on Examiner.com

Click here

Although I'm required to make the content apply to a particular area, the subject matter is still general special needs, from hearing loss to school to accessibility, and more. I've only been 'on the job' 2 weeks and have acquired many subscribers (yay! thank you facebook friends) and can't wait to dig in and write even more articles on many different disabilities! I love doing this and have applied for additional topics and keeping my fingers crossed they'll give me more after I finish the first four week training period.

Wall of Inspiration

Gage's name is 5th one down in blue, click on photo to enlarge it.

We received this framed photo w/a pic of the new hospital behind it.

They got toy 'hard hats' and binoculars and best of all, cupcakes!

I was really touched to be in the same room w/all these amazing kids. I'm even more touched to find out Gage was nominated when I thought his frequent flier miles at the hospital entered him into some kinda random pick, but no...someone thought of him as an inspiration (teary). We got to see our friend Adele who has cochlear implants too as well, her name was up on that wall (and well deserved, she kicked the old feeding tube habit this year and running all over the place!!!)

A few years ago, my phone rang, and on the other end was a desperate mother of a disabled child, she didn't know what to do, where to turn. I assured her, though she didn't believe me at the time, she COULD do it. I gave her the name of an organization that would help her, and I told her God gave her that little boy because He believed in her. That little boy wasn't supposed to make it through his first year but he did. He made it six and a half years before he went back HOME. I had heard of his passing recently and desperately searched for on Facebook but I couldn't remember her married name so it was hopeless. Yesterday, in a crowded hospital lobby, I saw her beautiful face. I asked my mom if it were really her and she said it sure did look like her. When I finally made my way to her, she thanked me for helping her years ago. We talked about our kids, and about the difficult healing process she and her family will continue to work through. I assured her they will find their new normal. She said she's waiting on God to show her what He needs her to do, she wants to give back in some way to the hospital, somehow. In tears as I type, she has no idea that she's an inspiration. Her bravery, her strong belief and her strength is something I completely admire. Her baby's name is up there for a reason, my baby's name is up there for a reason.

No one hopes their child will spend night after in a hospital bed, hooked up to IVs, begging for the pain to go away, waiting on an organ to be donated, treatment after treatment, test after test...

but Children's Hospital makes those long nights which can sometimes turn into days or weeks for some kids, much more pleasant. All of Gage's memories of staying there are full of Santa Claus, Harley Davidson motorcycles, toys, crafts, and free cookies! This is why so many want to give back, even when their children are called Home. Sometimes all it takes is an encouraging smile or a hot cup of coffee, both can be found at Children's, believe me I know. My child is a Child of Children's.

Read more at my Examiner site.