I have not given any updates on the children and their hearing issues in a while, so here we go. The week of July 21, Keisha had her follow up visit to her ear, nose and throat (ENT) doctor. We were concerned about whether or not she was also going to need tubes like William. Although the hearing test results could have been better, Keisha’s ENT determined that it was not bad enough to require tubes. He then asked for us to come back in six months with a follow up appointment. We were at one out of two then… William had his surgery on July 25.

Unlike the previous two surgeries William had for his ears (August 2006 - partial adenoidectomy, myringotomy and tubes, June 2007 - adenoidectomy, tonsillectomy and tubes) this surgery solely involved tubes.Thank goodness because I did not have much leave to take off from work although I will always do whatever it takes to care for my son, i.e. arrangements with work, share days off with JT, help from family, etc. The surgery was outpatient care and only lasted about ten minutes after preparation (general anesthesia). William was able to return to school on the following Monday.

Although William’s medical charts go wherever he is treated, I always make sure that the staff is aware that William has sickle cell disease. William is very healthy, but I want absolutely no surprises at the hospital if anything comes up. The entire staff was friendly, understood my concern and was impressed with how I was able to quickly recall dates and events of William’s health history. I know my son’s medical history better than my own.

The procedure was smooth as anticipated and prayers were fulfilled. The nurse called us into the recovery room and I immediately grabbed William and held him tightly in my arms. I love the feeling of my children in my arms… the endless love, nothing compares to that. William was a little groggy after the surgery but we expected that. Then JT got in on the hugs for the father-son love. I took a couple of pictures of the Kodak moments for the family archives. We stayed about twenty more minutes or so then we headed to McDonald’s to get breakfast to go, Schnucks to get medicine for JT then home. William’s follow up visit is on September 11.

Three weeks later, I see a drastic improvement in William’s hearing. I have even noticed that both William and Keisha are stuttering less. JT and I are still looking and asking around for programs with speech therapy assistance for our children. I heard about a program that therapists can come to your child’s school and assist them during school hours. I hope that we qualify for this because that would work well with our schedule.

Since March things have been very hectic in the household for my family’s health but all in all, things have gradually got better and I know we made the right decisions.

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