Cole and I went to his first speech therapy session yesterday morning at ECHO with one of the speech pathologists there. She is a lively, informative, supportive woman who has answered so many questions for us regarding what the next step of Cole's hearing journey will look like. After watching the videos and articles we were given at his last appointment, (about communication options and technology available to help him hear better), John and I are both very motivated and encouraged that the Lord is paving the way for Cole to receive cochlear implants and learn to listen (to the electronic signals his implants send his brain), and speak! I was so encouraged to see examples of people who just like Cole, were born profoundly deaf, talk about achieving their goals and aspirations to go to college, get their Master's degrees, become CEOs of large corporations, get their pilot's license and my favorite...learn to read at the level expected of a hearing student their age. Miracles...God is still in the business of performing miracles today! Through the use of technology, our Cole will have access to the sound his hearing impairment denies him right now and will have the best chance possible to achieve whatever it is God has created Him to do.
Ryder and I were talking on our walk the other day about all the things God had made around us. He was listing everything he saw, including the sidewalk, cars, houses, etc. I hesitated for a second, not wanting to break the mood of thankfulness we were having to tell him that even though God didn't actually build the sidewalk, he gave people the ideas for some of the "man made" things we see. "God gives people great ideas for making things all the time, so we can thank Him for making those things too!" "Yeah!" Ryder said, "God made everything!" I'm not sure it all come through as clearly as I meant, but planting the seeds of truth are good none-the-less!
This is how we feel about God's healing plan for our Cole. We pray for healing daily. We recognize that without the minds God created to invent the incredibly complex and miraculous device of a cochlear implant, Cole would remain in a silent world. So we continue to pray for healing and as God keeps opening doors in the direction leading to cochlear implants for Cole, we continue to walk through.
A few days ago, I had sent an e-mail to the team at ECHO letting them know of our desire to go forward with cochlear implants for Cole knowing that with his level of hearing loss (bilateral profound sensorineural) he may be able to hear loud sounds with hearing aids, but never distinguish the speech sounds necessary for his development of speech. This morning Mary told me it would be possible for him to recieve his implants (through surgery) in the first week of December and then have the implants activated a few days before Christmas! His head has to heal for 3 weeks from the surgical implantation of the implants before they can apply the magnetic microphone to the outside of his head and turn the device on so that he begins to hear. I'm so encouraged by the motivation of the team to move forward with us as quickly as possible. Research has proven that if children can hear before 18 months, their future use of lauguage is greatly increased. We praise God that if all goes as planned, we'll reach that goal since Cole will be 18 months old on January 4th...my dad's birthday!
Thank you for your continued prayers...please pray for no red tape with insurance, or governmental agencies getting in our way from the road paved out for us. They have been wonderful so far and we are thankful for what they've agreed to cover...there is more road to be traveled though, so thank you for your prayers! Please pray that God give John and I wisdom as we now have to choose between 3 differnt manufacturers of cochlear implants. If you're interested in learning more about these amazing devices, go to
http://agbell.org/ and click on the cochlear implant link under hearing loss resources on the left hand menu. It even gives you links to the 3 manufacturers we are exploring right now. Here is a diagram of the components of a chochlear implant system I found on the Advanced Bionics website (one of the manufacturers).
Thank you again for your prayers...we feel thankful for answers for our Cole....God is good...may HIS plan continue to unfold through us the doctors on our team as we walk in faith each moment with the strength only HE could be giving us!
What great news! I am so excited for Cole and all of you too! Thank you God for providing all the answers, you truly are an amazing Daddy! Whoo hoo team Burdett! Love the Murphys
Hi Danice, John, Ryder and Cole. I just finished catching up on all your family news! I am so excited that Cole will get his implants before Christmas. That is the best present. He is such a sweet boy and I love how Ryder is always watching out for him and loving him. How lucky he was to be born in such a loving family. I think of you all often and all the new things you are facing with Cole. I pray for you daily.
How is the leaf situation going? Are John's parents in town? I know Darcy is so excited about coming out to visit soon. We will be celebrating Thanksgiving in our little reduced family size this year. I've started Spotlight and Jeri is really going to miss John as judge this year. She sends all her best. Love the blog and all the pictures. Thank you for all your sharing and all the terrific pictures. All our love, Aunite Ine and Uncle Marcelo