It was Dec 30 of last year when the surgery was conducted. Recovery was complicated by
an inflammation/infection that ultimately responded to three weeks of IV antibiotic therapy
(possible allergy to a marking dye used during surgery.)
Angela's implant was stimulated Feb 2...Pam and I were both present to see her initial
impression. Her eyes were wide with wonderment, some disbelief, some anxiety and
excitement. (She was soon to be 13yo at the time.)
Over the next ten months, Angela has been continuing the speech therapy and language
acquisition sessions. The main theme is "vocabulary, vocabulary, vocabulary." We
continue to give her experiences all teenagers should enjoy. The level of acceptance by
her peers is improving but is still somewhat affected by her continuing difficulty in
decoding lots of sound at once (as in youth group time, conversation times with lots of
outside noises). [It is difficult to relate to one who doesn't seem to know what is
happening, and the tendency for Angela or for any of us is to observe, stay aloof until
one can figure out what is going on.]
On Christmas morning, our custom is to have my parents join us for breakfast. I had
asked Robert to return thanks, but Angela interrupted, saying she wanted to pray. During
her prayer she said "Thank you, God for the noises of Christmas, how beautiful they
are." Amen and amen!
