Bilateral

I would love to begin this post by announcing that MB health has accepted our application for bilateral implants, however this is not case. They have neither accepted nor declined the application, they have simply told us that they are unwilling to make a decision by May 1st. I think this is ridiculous! Can they do that?
I feel exhausted and a little defeated. I hope we can fight for an answer- a positive answer. But tonight I am tired and would throw in the towel if i had any say in the situation. I hope to sleep well and be ready for more political battling tomorrow.
Corrina had her mri today. Have any of your ever had an mri with your child? It is awful. I hated it. Corrina has never cried so hard or long in her life. She was in a state of complete panic while they put her iv in, and for the 20 minutes after while we waited for the mri room to open up so that she could be sedated. She was so upset that even when she was partially calm against my chest, rocking back and forth in a chair, her little body would twitch as her body inhaled and exhaled at high speed. At points she would perk straight up and scream a blood curdling yelp of fear. Once she was situated with electrodes (and all the other crap they had to attach to her before sliding her into the mri machine) they finally administered the sedative and she was alseep instantly. Could they not have done that before pinning her down and poking her entire body. I hate medical stuff. I was not created for the benefit of medicine. I am having such a tough time seeing her go through this. Perhaps God created her deaf to be deaf?
I think this is the exhaustion talking, none the less, mri's suck, and I have great feelings of empathy for families who face this weekly, perhaps daily, with their children when facing life threatening illnesses.
May Peace be with you all.

On a different note, here is a rather boring video of Corrina walking around our house drinking her water. This is the both mundane and thrilling thing we do all day long. Enjoy, if you like!


On a TV show I saw someone talk about what to do when you are feeling a little blue: stick a pen between your teeth (do you know why???? I do!). While coloring later that day I told Dave and Corrina about this. Then we tried it out:

Corrina is such a good copy cat!

Dave thought this might make him feel happy too:


Corrina loves her choo choo train. I love her belly:

Before I start another gruelling day of studying, for my last exam!!!!, I thought I would post a few snap shots of the lovely Corrina doing her stuff...

Sitting to read a book in the morning:



And 'hanging' out with dad:



Thanks for all the thoughts and prayers. We still have not heard from MB health regarding the funding. We have to hear by the end of the week else we won't be able to even book the two surgeries. Either way, she will have one, and this is such a blessing!

Surgery!

First, I apologize for my lack of communication with a lot of people who are important in our life. This has been a very intense semester, and while I have learned SO MUCH I am desperately looking forward to the end (unfortunately summer classes kick off May 4th!). I am in exam week now with one down, two to go (today I am studying!). So, if you have not heard from us, either through email or blogs or phone calls I do apologize and please do know that I am thinking of everyone, family and friends, and appreciate your support in our lives.

Second, SURGERY IS A GO. Our ENT doctor in Winnipeg looked at the CT scans yesterday and made the decision that everything needed for a successful implant and hearing outcome are present. That would be the cochlea itself, and hearing nerves! We will indeed be having surgery in Toronto on May 1st. The only dilemma that we are still facing is receiving notice of funding from Manitoba Health. There is little doubt that we will receive funding for a unilateral (one) implant, however we are waiting to find out if MB health will provide the funds necessary for a bilateral implant (two), which would greatly increase Corrina's ability to hear and communicate. Of course, as we know, two ears are better than one, and we do hope that funding is available to provide Corrina with the opportunity to hear twice as much in life, which in turn would substantially increase her ability to communicate and learn, which will assist with her cognitive and social development. All in all, the benefits would lead to a more normative social existence for Corrina. But hey, what's normal anyway?! Either way, we do hope the funding is provided. Here is the catch, MB health is notorious for taking their precious time in deliberating theses decision, however as the surgery date nears the surgeon needs confirmation BY WEDNESDAY, LATEST THE END OF THE WEEK. Please pray with us as our audiologist advocates and as our Doctor continues to make contact regarding this information. If we do not receive funding for two implants that the surgery will provide Corrina with one implant and I believe we would persist in working towards funding for two.

How are we adjusting at this point? I am not very good with medical procedures. Iv's, blood, needles, cutting flesh all equal a whoozy Janie. However Dave is a master at facing these types of invasive procedures, so I am fine because he will be very supportive. I will be there to love and comfort Corrina and he can take care of the medical stuff (looking after incisions, etc.. or he can teach me and this can be an opportunity for growth). Prior to the surgery we still have a number of doctor appointments (yup, one everyday next week!) so please do pray as appointments can be stressful for Corrina as us as we wait, and wait, and wait, and wait in waiting rooms! Also, these procedures are not much fun for a little person (vaccinations, ct scans, mri's...) but we pray that Corrina would deal well with the stress and find comfort and support from us, friends and daycare. We also hope this does not interfere with her sleeping and she needs to be well for her surgery (ie. no ear infections, colds, and most importantly fevers). In the past stress has affected her ability to nap and sleep at night. Lots to think about...
Dave is feeling very relieved that we have a confirmation of surgery! He was feeling stressed and worried this week but now feels refreshed (from what i can gather!) He could use prayer for accomplishing his many tasks at work while at the same time juggling doctors appointments this week as I study and write exams. He is such a trooper and our family is blessed by his positive, sacrificial attitude for Corrina. He takes her to any appointment I cannot make it to and never complains that he might be falling behind at work. Church has been very supportive and understanding of the situation and the youth and families that he has contact with the most are very empathic of the situation. In other news, DAVE LOVES HIS WII!
I am getting a cold again, most likely from studying late, waking up early and poor nutrition. But, just a few more days.....

Thank you for your prayers! If you have any questions or thoughts please do email us and ask! Oh, ps, I don't know if I had mentioned this before but we will be on a documentary for The Nature of Things. I do not know when it will be released, we haven't even done the interviews yet, however they will be filming Corrina's surgery (something I actually do not want to see). However, I am excited about being on tv, creating awareness for the clinic and people we work with, as well as a the issue of implants and hearing impairment in children!

Birthday 2.0

Celebrating your birthday and getting gifts on the actual date of your birth is so old. The NEW and IMPROVED way of doing things is to order things online after your birthday and have them arrive weeks later! It's Birthday 2.0!

Yesterday was My Birthday 2.0! On the same day we recieved in the mail Both our T-shirts from Threadless.com (which I LOVE by the way!) AND OUR NINTEDO Wii FINALLY ARRIVED! HURRAY! Janie phoned me at work when in arrived and I was at home and pluggin it in within 5 minutes. I've since spent hours playing tennis and golf, practicing my boxing, swinging, hitting and blasting crazy bunnies, and saving the children of Hyrule. Janie said I was so excited that my eyes were visibly larger than normal for the rest of the day! All while wearing my fancy new threads! What a day!

Nintendo Wii Review: First Impressions
-HOLY CRAP IS THIS THING AMAZING!
-This is Hilarious!
-I can't believe the level of control this thing has
-My arm is actually getting sore. Maybe I should be stretching.
-Old, non-motion sensitive games just aren't going to be the same
-Gaming is Fun again!
-Okay fine! You can play too!
-Is it my turn again yet?
-This SO reminds me of real Golf!
-Oh my goodness! Link! LOOK OUT! Behind you!
-When was the last time I laughed out loud while gaming?
-But I don't WANT to pause!
-Huh? Midnight? Since when?

Total Score (out of a Possible 10)
Nintendo Wii: a bazillion.

And Yes, everyone is invited to come over and play. See you soon.
-Dave

A blur

Yes, some of these photos are very blurry, but they are just too cute not to show.

Corrina loves standing on our window sill and waving at the passerbyers. Sometimes she even gets waves back!


I wanted to capture the queen sitting on her royal rocking throne, relaxed to the max, however by the time i returned with the camera I found little miss sprawled out like this, sorta stuck!


Another stuck position:


A few nights ago Corrina discovered the fun of crawling under and through things... chairs, tables, and little tiny stepping stools. I watched her crawl under the stool a number times, attempting to make it in and through from a numerous directions, but never quite succeeding. After crying out in frustration and fear I would untangle her and send her off to play with something else, but she was determined to master the stool. After many hard to maneuver removals (i really thought she was stuck at one point and I was ready to get the butter!) I just took it away. What a silly babe!

Can't resist a resting face! I love deep sleep!

Oh no. I went to post and it was all deleted because firefox shut down. So...

Just a few thoughts from my head:

-Corrina's CT scan went well. She actually was not sedated. They need the babies to be very still, so they swaddle/wrap them up in a warm flannel hospital blanket, and of course Corrina was wrapped with pooh bear. Her head was placed in a little head holder, and little pillows were put on either side so she couldn't moved. Another pillow was strapped to her head, and she was covered in an x-ray lead vest. The she was slid into the big circle ct scanner. Dave stayed in the room with her, as I am not very good with baby crying medical procedures (although i wonder now if I were there is she would have calmed down a little more?). She was able to see dave, but kept her eyes close. She cried a little, and whined alot. But, the procedure took only about 5 minutes. Luckily she didn't try to move around very much; if she has moved alot she would have needed to be sedated. Short and sweet! At the end of the month we have the MRI, for which she will most definitely be sedated as it takes quite a while.

-Corrina and I enjoy drinking peppermint tea together. I put some in her sippy cup, with some water to dilute and cool, and we have tea parties together. The best tea biscuits: mr. christie tea biscuits! Love em'
(my favorite are the tea biscuits, not the social biscuits.. oh, and nila waffers! yum)

-I am working on a paper today while Corrina naps. Due thursday... better get going!


-I just learned on Martha that such a thing as icing drawing pens exist... for tracing on rice paper, or drawing cookies, etc.. many different colors! neat! They were used to draw butterflies on rice paper, which were than colored in with glitter and placed on petit fours as a decoration. Here's the link for a video with the butterflies. Something a more simple would be very fun to do as a craft with children!