Superman

Before you start to read this particular entry go up to my play list, scroll down to the very bottom and turn on R.E.M. Superman.

OK, got it? You need to wait until the music starts... wait for it, keep waiting...wait...Now read...

Just this past week as we were driving down the road to go somewhere, probably speech therapy, and this song came on the radio. Anders pipes up for the back seat and says

"I love this song!" (he has never heard the song before)

I say, "I love this song too."

He says back, " me too."

This is the end of the whole conversation. I'm blogging about it for the reason of celebration. Last July 3rd (2007) Anders had a surgery to put tubes into his ears because he wasn't hearing. In June(2007) we had had his hearing tested, (because he wasn't speaking) and found that he wasn't hearing anything. Tubes are usually placed because of reoccurring ear infections. As of July 2007 Anders had only had one ear infection, but if you were able to open his head to see his sinus cavity, you would see that his Eustachian tube were bent,(all children's tubes are bent, and will straighten as they grow, but Anders are bent in such a way that prevents them from working correctly.) and his head was completely filled with fluid to the point of deafness. We were very lucky to find an ENT who also felt the urgency to fix the problem, and placed the tubes three days after seeing us for the first time.

Now imagine being deaf, and SUDDENLY being able to hear. Going to sleep, and waking up as a hearing person. Life would be amazing overwhelming! Everything you hear would throw you off, airplanes flying in the sky, a car driving by, birds in the trees, music in the car, everything would be new. Now imagine you have no words to use to express your fears, excitement, etc. What an over-whelming sensation! This is where all of Anders therapies and therapists have come into play, and thank goodness for all of them.

The reason for all of the celebration is just this... our son can hear, can speak, and most importantly can function in a world that is amazingly overwhelming. We still have moments when things are a bit too much, but we also have moments where he can hear and point out the airplanes flying overhead or sit back and enjoy an REM song in the car. We are truly blessed.