Yesterday my sister and brother-in-law hosted a celebration party for Masen at a local park in Grand Rapids. What a great time to see the kids play and praise the Lord for his goodness! A few weeks post-surgery, and almost a week post-activation, we have much to reflect on:

I LOVE how God answers the prayers and concerns that might seem insignificant to us:
*Masen had hoped someone would bring her a balloon – she had a whole roomful!
*She was very worried and upset that they had to shave some of her hair. After some “tweaking” by the girls at Belladona hair salon, you can’t even tell she had the surgery!

Many other answered prayers and unexpected blessings:
*When her implant first failed, we had expected that it would be late October or November before the surgery could be scheduled, and then expected a 6-8 week healing time after that. The surgery was scheduled for late September and it was turned on this past Tuesday! (Oct. 14th)
*A day or two after surgery, Masen told her neighborhood friend, “It didn’t even hurt!” Even the memory of pain is gone!
*Masen’s friends have been such a blessing – many of the girls have been trying to learn and use sign. I loved watching them sign with her at the park yesterday!
*Last week was a rough one for the Krampe family – activation did not go as smoothly as we expected. Many tears, much frustration, and discouragement. After checking with the audiologist and surgeon, they thought things looked ok. The surgeon determined that it was set on too high of a volume setting. [it was obviously hurting Masen, but she didn't tell them it was too loud - a testimony to how much she wanted to hear!] They turned it down, and she is doing much better! Last night she was playing with a “build a bear” that my mom had taken her to make a few weeks ago – for the first time she seemed to hear and respond to the “giggle” it makes when squeezed. Small (but BIG) blessings!!

I’m sure there are more praises to come. He is good!

Here is the latest news from Tiffany about Masen:

Hello, everyone! WOW, what a crazy 48 hours!! A lot has happened, and ALL of it has been touched by your prayers for us. It has been SO obvious that God’s hand has been in it all, and we give Him all the glory!

We got to the hospital at 11:30 yesterday morning-Masen had not had anything to eat since the night before, and had her last apple juice at 9am. We were supposed to start surgery at 1:30, but an emergency came in ahead of us, so we didn’t start until 4pm. Our first PRAISE was Masen. She did such an amazing job all day…no complaining about food or asking for anything, really. She asked for a mint in the AM, and when I told her she couldn’t have one, she asked if Josh could. Because she thought he would like it. :) Then around 3:30 she started asking when the doctor was going to come, and when we told her that someone else had needed his help, she said: “I bet they are getting hungry and thirsty.” We ask, “are you getting hungry and thirsty, Masen?” “Yes.” So sweet…and so patient. We were so proud of her!! We had lots of friends come and keep us company during the wait for the surgeon, and the time really went by fast. Thank you, friends and family!!

At 4pm, they wheeled her down to OR on a stretcher; she sat up and smiled at everyone and kept checking to make sure Adam and I were behind her, then would wave and smile at us. We couldn’t believe how composed she was!! PRAISE!! Then we met briefly with Dr. Daniels, and I got dressed in scrubs to go back to OR with her until she fell asleep from the anesthesia. She quietly sat on my lap and just drifted off to sleep…I was fighting back tears, but again PRAISE that she didn’t get so scared or panic at going to OR.

We went to the family surgical waiting room, and after 2 hours, we thought someone would come let us know how it was going (1/2 way through); well, the attendant came and told us they were almost FINISHED! It took almost an entire hour LESS time than he had thought it might, which was incredible. Dr. Daniels said the skull usually fuses together under the first implant and makes removal more technical, etc. Masen’s skull had never fused together–the EXACT hole was still there from the first surgery! All the surgeon had to do was remove the old one and drill new suture holes to secure the new implant. He said he had NEVER seen that happen before. We feel sure it was GOD who kept the bone from fusing–because it meant so much less drilling, pain, and time in the OR.

The actual implant slid right into place with no problems, resulting in a much faster operation than was expected. Again, PRAISE!!! The only bad thing about having the surgery so late (besides having a hungry/thirsty little girl) was that the audiologists had gone home and there was no one to test and make sure the unit was working. The surgeon was not concerned, but it’s a peace of mind thing for Adam and I. It would be nice to know it is working, but now we need to wait and trust and not worry for 2 weeks. :) Activation should be the middle of October.

We went back to recovery to see her–she was still sleeping and VERY out of it. She would open her eyes, but obviously wasn’t focusing on anything. This part was much harder on us–she was crying and obviously in pain. They gave her some morphine and that seemed to help. She started to wake up and then was crying that her ear was hurting and wanted us to take off the big white bandage on her head. She finally fell asleep on my lap in a rocking chair for a bit, then I got on the gurney with her and they wheeled us down to outpatient recovery. She got sick from the morphine, but then fell asleep again for about an hour–her pain seemed much less already, and she really wanted to go home. After she woke up, they let us make the call to go home, so we were in our own beds around 12 last night.

Masen slept all night, seemed a little out of it this morning, but by lunchtime she was ready to eat and started perking up. She’s now back to almost herself. :) Still a bit groggy at times, but much more like happy Masen. We can take off the pressure bandage tomorrow, which will be emotional, I think. She’s afraid of taking off all the tape, and also afraid of how much hair they had to shave off, what the owie will look like, etc. So, you can continue to pray for us, and for Masen especially. We have some more hoops to go through before this is all over, but God is good, and we are resting in His promises to care for us. We love you all and are SO THANKFUL for friends like you. You have made us all feel so loved and cared for. Thank you.

Love,
Tiffany (for all!)

Thank you to everyone who has been praying for my niece Masen! Her surgery to replace her failed cochlear implant was yesterday – it was scheduled to begin at 1:30pm, but was delayed until 4:00pm due to an emergency surgery ahead of hers.

Praise the Lord!
*The surgery was faster and less intense than expected – Masen’s skull had not formed over the original plate in her head, so the surgeon could just pull it out and insert the new one rather than having to drill. (he said he had never seen another one like this – praise God!)
*The surgeon was able to re-use the suture lines that he had made the first time, which he thinks will reduce the pain she experiences.
*He also said that when he pulled the old one out of her cochlea and slipped the new one it, it went right in without any trouble at all. He said that he only has about 8 minutes to do that part, because once the old one has been removed, the tissue inside the cochlea rapidly fills the void, making it very difficult to get the new one placed. But it went quickly and easily.
*Masen was able to go home late last night to a room full of balloons. :) My sister said she just said, “Wow, that’s a lot of balloons!” when they went into her room and she promptly fell asleep holding all of the strings in her hand!

Keep praying…
*They are hoping to be able to turn her Cochlear implant on in 2 weeks, assuming there are no problems with swelling. Please pray that it works (they were unable to test it after the surgery because the audiologists had gone home for the evening)! The family is also praying that this implant will allow her to hear even better than her first one.
*Continue to pray for her as she recovers – that her pain would be well controlled and that she has no problems with infection.

I’ll update more in coming days…

Another note from my sister about my niece:

We met with the surgeon yesterday who will do the operation to give Masen her new cochlear implant. He told me that the operation will actually take LONGER than the first one because there is bone growth that he has to work around in her skull. She will also notice the pain more than the 1st time because she is older–babies apparently just roll with the pain, because the first time she was up and playing as soon as they removed the IV with the morphine drip! So those 2 things were much different than the what we heard from the audiologist. Masen also won’t have to spend the night in the hospital, but will come home right after surgery, which seems completely crazy to me! She’ll be on oral pain meds, and it will be rough, he said. Sort-of a throbbing in her skull for several days. Apparently all the people who got implants from the same “batch” as Masen’s will have their implants fail as well due to a moisture problem inside the implant. So you can be praying for those families as well–we’re talking a LOT of people nationwide, about 20 here in GR alone. BUT, the good news is that we might have the chance to join in a research study on a new (computer) program to give Masen even better hearing than before. I’m calling the audiologist today to see if we can be in on that study; Dr. Daniels (our surgeon) asked if we would like to join, and I sure hope we can! We’re still on for the 29th of Sept–thank you for all your prayers! They are GREATLY appreciated!
Love,
Tiffany