Lauren's second surgery



Lauren just before her surgery



Lauren had her second surgery on August 7. It went so well! The actual surgery took about two hours. We stayed at the hospital until about 9 hours after the surgery. We wanted to let the effects of the anesthesia wear off and make sure she wasn't nauseous and could keep pain medication down. All went well. That night, she ate a regular dinner and played around, walking and crawling normally. One of the possible side effects is to have balance issues for a few days after the surgery, but we didn't witness any problems with balance at all. I know we are so fortunate that we have had 3 surgeries now, between Taylor and Lauren, all without incident. Considering that when I found out about Taylor's deafness and made the decision to do CI's, the surgery was one of my biggest concerns, I now feel such a relief and want to share that this really was a blink in their life. And the benefits are so boundless.




Lauren trying to do "gymnastics" the night of her surgery



We continue to see great progress with Lauren. For the first 6-7 weeks after activation, we used the Hanna Anderson pilot caps to keep her hands from the CI and headband. Since then, she has really been leaving it alone (other than the car seat where the coil gets knocked off anyway). We actually have more trouble keeping Taylor's ears on than Lauren, because Taylor is continuously doing cartwheels and handstands. We are going to harness that energy and have enrolled Taylor in both gymnastics and tumbling this fall.

Lauren's activation on the right side is tomorrow. We can't wait to see how excited she is when she can hear with both ears!!



Taylor starts in a new preschool next week. It will be 5 days per week for 2.5 hours in the afternoon. Derek started kindergarten last week. Taylor is really as bored as can be without her big brother, aka side kick since birth... So preschool cannot get here fast enough. Every time I turn my child over to someone new, it's an education process. What is a CI? Can she really not hear without it but still speak normally? Can she hear me from a distance? And wow, how does she talk so well? You really can't tell she is deaf ... That's kind of how it goes. I try to continually educate and promote the benefits and absolute success of the technology in helping these kids to hear. You never know who it might help or impact along the way. I am so proud of Taylor and where she is at today. We are hoping for a great year!



Derek and Taylor swimming with Grandpa