Our Inspired Journey

The TEST...
We woke up this morning alert (at 5:30!) and ready to discover more about our sweet little Coley through the eyes, ears and skilled hands of the doctors God had lead us to. We arrived at the hospital at 6:15, completed paperwork, met the operating room nurses, changed him into a little gown (the same one Ryder wore several weeks ago!) and watched as the nurses held him close and took him away to the operating room. This is the 2nd time I've gone through this in the past 2 months, first with Ryder for his appendix and now for Cole's ears. The nature of this operating room visit was much different since it promised to give us more answers that would lead to communicating with our son..something we desire so much. In the nature God has given him, he went right to the nurse and under general anesthesia without a peep. The doctor in charge of the ECHO program came in 50 minutes later to tell us of their findings...no fluid or blockages of any kind. It appears Cole was born with profound hearing loss in both ears. Hearing loss is categorized as mild, moderate, severe or profound and he is in that highest range of hearing loss in both of his ears. This is equivalent to being able to hear sounds at 95 decibels or higher...like the sound we would hear standing next to a jet plane.

Where do we go from here...
Next Friday, we will meet with the speech and language pathologists and our audiologist again who will give us hearing aids for him to try for a few months. You may be wondering why we would put hearing aids on Cole since he's been pronounced profoundly deaf? Good question...we wondered the same thing! Because he does have some hearing (at high volumes) they will adjust his hearing aids to pick up any sound at all for him to start learning how to process sound. He'll be much like a newborn in this way, processing sound for the first time. After a few months of seeing how much language he develops, if any, from the hearing aids, we'll meet again with the team, (Dr. Novak, audiologist and speech pathologist) to discuss what giving him cochlear implants looks like...a major commitment with wonderful possibilities in communication for him in listening and speaking.

We've always called Cole our little "bright eyes." Ever since he opened them it seemed he was wide-eyed for the world taking it all in and never getting enough. Others have commented on his eyes as well...nursery workers at church, check-out clerks at the grocery store and the latest being the nurses in the hospital this morning as they admitted him to the operating room for his hearing test and ear examination. "What beautiful eyes you have!" one nurse told him with a beautiful smile of her own as she wrapped his name around his ankle, preparing him to be taken. The way he looks at people and focuses on whatever is going on around him is intentional and a beautiful example of the undistracted way I believe God has called us to community.

Last night I went to Bible Study at my church and was reminded through Zephaniah 3:9 that we are called to community. The verse says "Then will I purify the lips of the peoples, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD and serve him shoulder to shoulder." In this age of incredible opportunities to communicate and be in "community" through networking sites on the Internet and blogs like this one, we gain the ability to be connected to so many but at a depth that pails in comparison to the kind of love God calls us to have with one another when in Hebrews he says we are to "love deeply." Cole has already begun to teach us all how to love deeply. Without saying a word, he has stolen the hearts of his brother and parents by the way he comes at us with open arms and a smile for a hug and then lovingly pats our back...he has taught us to look into each other's eyes when we talk instead of yelling information from room to room...he has taught us that more can be communicated through a loving gaze than than all the text messages or e-mails in the world. He has become our teacher and we love every minute as we learn to love the way God has created him to.

Thank you for joining us on this journey...we love that you want to know how he's doing, we're thankful you are praying and grateful beyond words for the community we have with you that through phone calls and cards and prayer, does go deeper than a "friend" on Facebook. Thank you Jesus for answers and guide us as we make decisions that will determine how our boy hears your created ones...