Sophia's Ears

I had the priviledge of taking my eldest child to her ENT appointment this morning. It was disappointing result wise, but so much fun experience wise - for me at least. Sophia is getting so big. I mean I know that, but just watching her and her cute little shy smiles and nods today. She was so patient and kind to the audiologist. She was cute when she bashfully raised her hand at every sound she could hear. How excited she was at the little plastic ring she got from the audiologist because she could take it to 'show and tell' tomorrow. How she had warmed up to the doctor by the end of the visit and was taking in the news of tubes like it would be fun. I always love getting to spend one on one time with Sophia. She doesn't get much of it and my time with all three focuses more on Alice, obviously, than the other two. That's only going to get worse in February and I need to be sure and be mindful of the importance to that one on one time for the both of us.

Now the results, I could have lived without. Sophia will have surgery next Friday, the 26th. Let's see if I can do a decent job of explaining the wrongs of her ears. Her left ear has fluid built up behind the drum. Her right ear is worse and ruptured at some point. The front has some scar tissue on it and the back is collapsed inward and there's a hole. Then did a couple kinds of hearing tests and she has hearing loss in both ears, a little in the right and mild to moderate in the left. They are going to put a tube in the left ear so it can drain and fluid will quit building up. They don't have to put one in the right because the hole acts like a tube. It will heal up on it's own and hopefully do fine. They are also taking out her adenoids. The ENT said that since she is older the chances of this happening again are more likely. He said statistics have shown that taking out the adenoids reduce the chances by about 30% that it will reoccur. I didn't think this sounded significant at first really, but I thought the chance is there that it can repeat again and again and they might have to take them out anyway. I am fairly certain that I would rather them go ahead and do it now instead of having to put her under twice. (not to mention two hospital bills.) He said the entire procedure is really quick and she gets to go home about an hour later. She's supposed to recover pretty quickly too, so hopefully she won't miss any school since she'll have the whole weekend. I am not exacty thrilled at the thought of another one of my children having surgery. I do think having gone through this twice at the end of last year is a benefit now though. I know more what to expect when she wakes up and things like that. I am trying to do my best at explaining what is going to happen and talk about it a lot this week. Let her be curious and ask questions. I don't want her to be afraid, but I know she will be and that breaks my heart into a million pieces. It helps that lots of our friends and family have kids that have gone through this same thing. I know it's something kids do every day and that helps too. It's not like Simeon's big ordeal when we didn't have a clue what was going on. I just hope that this truely helps in the long run and when the tube falls out and her hole repairs that her hearing will repair and she won't have any more problems. Not too much to ask right?

Dan sent me an encouraging message on my facebook tonight. Look at Joshua 1:8-9 he says.
Chapter one, verse nine - "Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God will be with you wherever you go."

Always good to be reminded of things you know, but don't always keep at the front of your mind when something happens. I have found and been listening to the Indianapolis KLove radio station on my way to and from school. I was disappointed when they took 93.1 (the christian station) off the air, but glad to recently find this new one. While they are cheesy 89% of the time and it isn't always my style, I would rather listen to Chris Tomlin and Casting Crowns over any shake your booty song any day. I love listening to the words of these songs and being reminded how awesome God truely is. Maybe I should have a better way, but it always gets me thinking. Reminding me to focus on what is really important and to follow Jesus. I get these songs stuck in my head and what's more encouraging than to burst out with "Jesus Messiah, Lord of all" in the middle of moping the kitchen floor. I mean really :) I don't claim to be the best Christian out there. I think anyone who does needs a reality check for themselves, but I do want to be better and if this can be a way to get thinking and get my mind going in the right directions some days, well then I don't find it cheesy at all. Well, I didn't mean to go off on that tangent there, but there you go. I am off to bed now. Goodnight.