Friday, October 10, 2008

Ezekiel's Tube Surgery

The following set of pictures are from Ezekiel's tube surgery at the end of August. I contracted CMV during my pregnancy, a virus that is really only harmful in-utero. So, Ezekiel was also infected with CMV. We were told then that the outcome of his health could vary and I was monitored very closely during my pregnancy. Ezekiel failed his newborn hearing screen test, and since hearing loss was one of the possible side effects of this virus, we went to see and infectious disease specialist and started taking the next steps to have his hearing checked again. Long story short, Ezekiel failed his next three hearing tests, including an auditory brain response test, so he was scheduled for surgery. The ENT doctor suspected fluid could be the cause of his hearing loss so we had tubes put in on August 25th, at which time they did another ABR. He failed again. We found out the day of his surgery that Ezekiel has severe to profound hearing loss and hears none of the "everyday" sounds we are so accustomed to hearing. His level of hearing in both ears is right around 90-95 decibles--and the human voice in normal conversations ranges from 40-60 decibles with varying pitches. So, right now Ezekiel has hearing aids in both ears with the hopes that they can amplify the sound enough to start stimulating the nerves in the inner ear to begin to hear sounds. The road ahead is a long one, filled with lots of new information and decisions for Ezekiel. We are so thankful for this little gift of life. He is happy, content and such an amazing little person. We are excited to see all that God will do in and through all of us as we go through this process. God is Good!

1 comment:

Troy & Sherry said...

wow -
i can't even imagine jacob having a surgery - we will be praying for ezekiel's heaering to improve - poor little tyke - i have a hard enough time with immunization shots - yikes -
love ya friend-
sherry