Total Pumpkin

November 05, 2007

Total Pumpkin

Today was an incredibly long day for the kids & I. We spent almost 6 hours at the audiologist's office for hearing tests and hearing aid evaluations. No change to any of their hearing tests - YEAH!! Their hearing has stayed stable, which (hopefully) means their loss is not progressive. Some good news for us!! Our doctors were great today and they are going to give Oliver an MRI and do some blood tests, similar to Waverly's. I am so thankful that they are being proactive. Let the waiting begin.....again.....and continue on.

Comments

Ellen said…

Shannon, I don't know how you do it. You are in my prayers.

November 5, 2007 at 9:11 PM

Unknown said…

Hi matt
I don't think i have introduced my self to shannon
Hi shannon, this is matt's friend Paul in DC. i don't think we met...
i was matt's listening board for his conversations in Telugu...
Matt told me a few things of how proud a father he is of Oliver and Waverly!!
Great to hear that its not progressive loss of hearing. Thats good news!!
Have a good weekend
pl, Washington DC

November 8, 2007 at 2:43 PM

Welcome to Holland

By Emily Perl Kingsley

I am often asked to describe the experience of raising a child with a disability - to try to help people who have not shared that unique experience to understand it, to imagine how it would feel. It's like this......When you're going to have a baby, it's like planning a fabulous vacation trip - to Italy. You buy a bunch of guide books and make your wonderful plans. The Coliseum. The Michelangelo David. The gondolas in Venice. You may learn some handy phrases in Italian. It's all very exciting.After months of eager anticipation, the day finally arrives. You pack your bags and off you go. Several hours later, the plane lands. The stewardess comes in and says, "Welcome to Holland.""Holland?!?" you say. "What do you mean Holland?? I signed up for Italy! I'm supposed to be in Italy. All my life I've dreamed of going to Italy."But there's been a change in the flight plan. They've landed in Holland and there you must stay.The important thing is that they haven't taken you to a horrible, disgusting, filthy place, full of pestilence, famine and disease. It's just a different place.So you must go out and buy new guide books. And you must learn a whole new language. And you will meet a whole new group of people you would never have met.It's just a different place. It's slower-paced than Italy, less flashy than Italy. But after you've been there for a while and you catch your breath, you look around.... and you begin to notice that Holland has windmills....and Holland has tulips. Holland even has Rembrandts.But everyone you know is busy coming and going from Italy... and they're all bragging about what a wonderful time they had there. And for the rest of your life, you will say "Yes, that's where I was supposed to go. That's what I had planned."And the pain of that will never, ever, ever, ever go away... because the loss of that dream is a very very significant loss.But... if you spend your life mourning the fact that you didn't get to Italy, you may never be free to enjoy the very special, the very lovely things ... about Holland.