Amber had  her cochlear implant turned on November 20th.  She can hear noises but is unable to hear actual words yet.  The audiologist says she should be hearing better in about a month.  Her brain should remember sounds but it will take some time. We are practicing with books on audio to try to help her along.  They say that's the best thing to do.  She did hear the clock ticking on the wall, the keypad on her cell & the turn signal in the car.  At first she was just hearing a static like sound but that only lasted one day.  Now she hears "echo" sounds.  Hopefully things will be better by Christmas.  We plan to return to Pittsburgh in Jan. for an office visit & again in March for a lung biopsy.  I will update again soon.  Thanks for all the prayers & well wishes!

Darrell & Tracy

Amber had the cochlear implant surgery on Friday, Oct. 31st.  Everything went very well.  The surgery was only about 1 1/2 hours long.  The surgeon checked the implant in the OR prior to Amber awakening & said the nerves responded excellent.  She is still having a lot of pain but that is to be expected.  The implant will be turned on in 3 weeks.  The incision needs to heal first because the outer part of the implant rests over the incision.  We are all excited at the prospect of Amber hearing again after over 5 years.  We will be seeing the surgeon again this week for a follow-up just to make sure everything is OK.  I will update again as things progress.  Thanks again for all the prayers & support.

Darrell

Amber had a wonderful time at homecoming.  I have posted a few of the pictures in her photo album.  Also the cochlear implant surgery is scheduled for Oct. 31st.  Amber will be spending one night at the hospital following the surgery.  Because the incision needs to heal they do not turn on the device for 2-3 weeks following the surgery.  After that we will need to see audiology frequently to adjust the implant.  Amber should be hearing well by Christmas.  We are all very excited about the prospect of Amber finally being able to hear again.  As far as Amber's lung's & kidney, everything seems to be going well.  Her last biopsy at the end of August showed minimal rejection.  Pittsburgh says it's nothing to worry about.  They do not treat mild rejection.  Thank you for all your continued prayers.  I will update everyone when new info. is available.

We just heard from the lung transplant cooridnator a few days ago.  She said Amber's lung biopsy from the end of August shows minimal rejection.  The transplant team says this is nothing to worry about at this point.  They increased the anti-rejection medication & will be keeping a closer eye on Amber.  We will be required to return to Pittsburgh again in Dec./Jan.  We are still planning on moving forward with the cochlear implant & we should have a surgery date soon. Also, Amber's kidney function is doing a little better than her past few labs showed.  They are also keeping a close eye on her kidneys to make sure the anti-rejection meds. are not affecting the function of her donated kidney.  I will update again as soon as I have a surgery date for the cochlear implant surgery.

We traveled to Pittsburgh this past week for another lung biopsy to check for rejection & infection.  Everything went very well & there were no obvious signs of rejection/infection but we still need to wait for the final results on the biopsies.  Dr.'s Kurland & Spahr said we can move forward with the cochlear implant which will hopefully be done by the end of October.  If all looks good with the biopsy we will not have to return to Pittsburgh again until March 2009.  Amber started school which is going very well.  She has an interpreter who follows her from class to class.  She is looking forward to the homecoming dance in October. Once again, thanks to everyone for all your prayers!!

Today is Amber's 17th birthday.  We are going to dinner tonight at Olive Garden to celebrate.  We would have never made it this far without everyone's love, prayers & support & our great transplant teams in Pittsburgh.  Also we would like to thank the donor family once more for their gift of life to Amber.  Without them we would not be celebrating Amber's 17th birthday today.  Anyone who would like to wish Amber a happy birthday may do so by signing her guestbook.

We had our evaluation with Dr. Choo for the cochlear implant evaluation last week.  Dr. Choo said Amber would be a great candidate for the surgery because she does not have any nerve damage (compared to someone who is born deaf with nerve damage).  We go for a CAT scan of the ears this week to determine which side the implant should be done on.  The surgery will take about an hour & she will be admitted overnight for observation.  Our next appointment with the rest of the cochlear implant team is on Sept. 3rd. then we can schedule the surgery after that.  We are hoping to have the surgery done by the end of Sept. or beginning of Oct.  They do not hook the implant up until 3-4 weeks after surgery to allow the incision to heal.  Our goal is for Amber to be able to hear for her homecoming dance which is Oct. 11th.  None of this would have been possible without the transplants.  We think of the donor family often & we are still hoping to hear from them at some point so we can thank them personally for their gift of life for Amber.  Thank you everyone for your support.  Please feel free to leave Amber a message in her guestbook.  Thank you.

Tracy

Amber is doing great.  We just got back from a family vacation in Gatlinburg.  We had a great time.  We even went rafting in the smoky mountains!!  It was a blast.  Something we would have never been able to do without Amber having both transplants.  We return to Pittsburgh the end of August for another lung biopsy to check for rejection and infection but things seem to be going well.  Amber has been doing home instruction for school this summer & has almost completed that.  She will be entering her senior year this coming school year.  She has decided to attend school, taking several classes each day.  This will be the first time in over 3 years that she has been able to attend school.  We have decided to move forward with the cochlear implant & should be able to schedule the surgery sometime in October or November.  Amber's 17th birthday is coming up (Aug. 17th) something we are very much looking forward to celebrating.  I will update again after our visit to Pittsburgh.  Check out the rafting picture and pictures of our Gatlinburg trip in Amber's photo album.

Tracy

It's hard to believe it has been one year since Amber's mom donated a kidney to her.  To celebrate we went out to dinner with family & had a wonderful time.  Amber is doing great.  We have been extremely blessed. Her lungs & kidney are functioning just as they should.  Amber is able to do so much more than before the transplants.  We are planning a trip to Cedar Point the end of this month.  Amber is working on school this summer through home instruction to make up for all the missed work from being absent due to the transplants.  She will be a senior next year and plans to attend classes which is something she has not done in years.  Amber attended prom this past May & looked beautiful.  I will post some of those pics in her photo journal.  Our summer schedule has been full with trips to Kings Island (amusement park), putt putt golf & plans to attend deaf day at the Cincinnati Zoo. We are now considering a cochlear implant for Amber & we are going through the evaluation period and trial period with hearing aids . Thanks to everyone for your ongoing support.  Remember, dreams come true if you BELIEVE!

Amber's anniversary party went great.  We all had a terrific time.  Thank you to all our family & friends who came out to the celebration.  Pictures have been added in the photo album.  Check them out!

We are leaving for Pittsburgh today for another follow-up lung biopsy scheduled on Friday.  I will update everyone with the results.