Watch a live Cochlear Implant Surgery...

I saw this off another CI blog and thought it looked interesting.

On Tuesday, the 24th, you can watch a Sequential Bilateral Cochlear Implant surgery performed from University Hospitals Case Medical Center Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital. The surgeon will even be taking questions from viewers, via email.

Click here for more details!

Ready to get back to life!

Logan is recovering nicely. Kids are so much more than resilient than we are! He was eager to remove the bandages and even got up in the middle of the night, on day two, to throw the ace wrap in the garbage. When I asked him why he took it off he told me that Dad said he could take it off when he woke up. Dad was right, only we expected his wake up time to be about 8 am, not 2 am!
He stopped needing his medication earlier than expected and has been begging to go back to school. He will continue on the antibiotics to keep him infection free (from the mucous issue).
His activation day is on January 5th. We are eager to see the results once we get this second one up and running. Thanks again for all your well wishes. I look forward to one day, Logan understanding how loved he really is.

We were slightly shocked that the incision went up into his hairline, we were told it would be completly behind his ear, like his first one. Hopefully his hair will cover it better when it grows out.

Logan's incision began opening up, so "Dr. Dad" shaved his head a bit so he could apply some butterfly closures...

I also thought I'd attach these fun pictures of our visit with Santa this weekend...

Phew!

"God didn't promise days without pain, laughter without sorrow, sun without rain, but He did promise strength for the day, comfort for the tears, and light for the way." --Unknown

Logan was wonderful today. He is such an example of courage and strength. As soon as we entered the pre-op room I think he became slightly aware that something was up. I could tell he was a bit nervous but he was very cooperative with all of the procedures that needed to be done before surgery. I was doing fairly well until Logan called my name as he was walking away and signed "I love you". Jake was able to take him back to the surgical room this time, which was nice. He did as we practiced and took ahold of the "sleeping mask" himself and went right to sleep without a fight.

During surgery, the doctor found mucous in his inner ear which was cause for concern. He warned us that if we continue with the surgery, there would be a greater risk of infection and meningitis. We decided to continue with the surgery and feel good about our decision.

After surgery, Logan woke up a little groggy and irritable but calmed down pretty quickly. We went home only 2 hours after surgery.

Thank you so much for all your well wishes, we are grateful for all of you! Also, a big "thank you" to Grandma Cragun for flying in to take care of the other brothers today while we were at the hospital.

Making sure we get the correct ear...

Dad and Logan ready for surgery in their hospital PJ's...

Gator and Logan reading their new Christmas book...

Being silly with their caps...



AFTER SURGERY--

Playing with his new Star Wars toy...


At home watching Polar Express...

Obviously, feeling much better...

Good Night...

I think we're ready!

Last week we went to Build-A Bear to let Logan build a "surgery buddy" for the big day tomorrow. He chose a green alligator and dressed him in a Batman shirt. He named him, Batman-Gator! We also purchased a set of scrubs for the Gator to help in preparation for Gator to "go to the doctor and get a second ear."

We practicing prepping Gator for surgery by taking his blood pressure, listening to his heart and taking his temperature. The Gator would put on the oxygen mask and take a nap. We would then wrap his head in a bandage and when he woke up he would receive some juice and a small surprise. We have been practicing all week in hopes that Logan will be as calm and prepared as he was last year. It's almost midnight, we go in a 6 am...I better try to get some shut eye!

Quick Note: Logan has been sick for the last 5 days, so we are crossing our fingers that the surgery can still go forward.


Bringing the Gator to life...


Giving him his first bath...


All dressed up...
In his "doctor clothes"...

Prepping him for surgery...

Practicing wearing the mask,taking a nap and wrapping his head with a bandage on...

Good night...

So, I needed an extra day to come to a decision. Jake has always felt good about doing a second implant, but I wanted to be sure for myself before we went ahead with the surgery. So many things have been going through my head. Right now when you look at Logan you see "Logan", I was afraid that with two implants you'd look at him and see the implants instead of him. I didn't want to take that away from him, but I would hate myself if I didn't give him the chance to be his best self. I also didn't want him to have to sit in the front of the class room just to do well in school. I wanted him to have the chance to be as "normal" as possible. I actually told a friend of mine that I felt like a bad mother because I couldn't come to a decision on something that should be so obvious. Thursday night Jake and I knelt down and asked for a feeling of peace with going through with the second surgery. Friday morning was "Sibling Day" at Logan's school so Tanner was able to miss school and come with us. Jake also had his patient cancel, so he came along too. Tanner attended a class for siblings of deaf children. They taught them a lot about the disability and things to do to help their brothers/sisters learn to speak. After the class, Tanner asked me if Logan had two implants would it help him talk better and if so, he really wanted him to have two. . .and that's when the peace came. I knew then that the right decision was to have the surgery done. We are going to try to rush the process, so hopefully we can get a surgery date soon. I’m still a little nervous, the last surgery is still too fresh on my mind, but he’s such a brave little boy, I have no doubt he’ll do great.

Another surgery?

This question has been eating at me for the past 3 months. Do we get another implant for Logan in his left ear? The question seems obvious, since he's deaf in both ears, wouldn't you have implants in both ears? I wish the answer was that simple. There are pros and cons to both situations. The research out there on a child with one implant verses a child with two really isn't that different. It seems that the main advantage he would have would be localization, being able to distinguish where sounds are coming from. I have been losing A LOT of sleep over this (hence the 1:00 am post) and can't seem to know what is best. We have seen more progress than we ever expected in this short amount of time with just the one implant, so part of me wonders if he needs two. I asked Logan tonight if he wanted another "ear" on his other ear. His face lit up and he shook his head. If only he fully comprehended all that that would entail...or maybe he does. The ideal situation would be to see how he's progressing in 5 years and decide then, but that isn't practical. If we are going to do it, we'd like to do it before we move in June. I really want to make the right decision for him. Part of me remembers his surgery day and the horror of it all. I can't bear to see him go through that again, although I realize that is a small price to pay for the reward in the end. Jake and I have decided to make a decision by Thursday night and take that decision to the Lord.

The Morning of Surgery...

The Morning of Surgery...

(sorry they're sideways)

We made it through the day!

Well, It is now almost 11:00 and we think Logan is out for the night and since so many of you have called inquiring about our day (thanks so much), I thought I'd give a brief summary of today's events before getting some much needed sleep myself. He was awesome at the hospital before the surgery. All of the preparing, that we thought wouldn't do much good, was a big help. We have been using "Donkey" as the patient and Logan as the doctor to show Logan what would happen the day of surgery--don't worry, we left out the details of the actual surgery! :) The nurses said that when it was time to put on the oxygen mask, to put him to sleep, he knew just what to do and wasn't scared. The surgery went great but when he woke up, he was quite upset with everyone who came within 5 feet of him! He proceeded to rip off anything that was attached to his body including his IV in his hand, which left Dad in a shirt covered in blood! I had a weak moment as a mother and couldn't take the sight of my brave little boy in so much pain and had to leave. I felt like I had just done this with Chase and wasn't ready to do it again. I had a quick meltdown in the elevator, got my composure back and went back to be with Jake and Logan. He came home around 3:00 and it has been a rough night, but he is doing well. I have been thinking about the end result of all of this and can hardly tame my excitement. He will be hooked up on December 4th--that is when the hearing will begin. I have made a list of all the things I want my baby boy to hear; the voices of his family, me telling him I love him, an airplane, a train, the beach, music, Disneyland rides, making his baby brother laugh...the list goes on and on. I know I'll need to take it slow and not expose him to all those things at once, how frightening, don't you think? :) Anyway, sorry for the long post tonight and for all of the photos. We are very proud and excited of our strong little boy. Thanks for sharing our excitement.

This is Logan and his WONDERFUL speech therapist, Jessica, practicing for the surgery.

This is "Dr. Logan" and his "patient", Donkey. He has his head bandaged and the oxygen mask on!

...checking his heartbeat.

Logan and Donkey ready for surgery.
The aftermath...


Donkey got to go into surgery with Logan and the nurses dressed him up like the doctors.


Finally at home.

After having two doses of his medication, he laid like this for about 30 minutes determined to not let any more medicine get in!

He gets very dizzy when he walks around, so he crawls around instead!

Good Night...finally!

We finally have a surgery date for Logan...
November 7th!
YEAH!!