GREAT NEWS!!!

I just got back from the hospital and guess what? Jacob Micah Gurr can now hear. He is 10 years old and has never heard a sound in his life. It was the best case the doctor has ever seen. It worked so good that he was astonished. Carolyn and I were not so astonished because we had given him a priesthood blessing last night that all would go very well so our Jacob would accept the new technology and that he would learn quickly from it how to talk and hear. This is expected and I'm sure it will be the case. The Lord made a promise through one of his priesthood holders and it is on one of his special children.

We were pretty excited to see him raise his hand for the first time showing that he was hearing.

The doctor told him through an interpreter (from Phoenix Day School for the deaf) to raise his hand if he hears anything. It took about a minute before he raised his hand which caused us and the doctor some concern. The surgeon and audiologist was also there along with Jason his older deaf brother and his mom. It was a tense moment but he was not the least bit concerned. I thought to myself, this has got to work therefore be patient and sure enough he finally raised his hand and from then on he did it with every single sound the computer generated. This is one of the greatest days in my life when my son gets his hearing. We sat and talked with him after the doctors stepped out of the room and he was responding well to our voices. He was even adjusting his new $7,000 device to a comfortable level just like his grandpa does adjusting his hearing aid. It seemed natural to him. He was even repeating the words we were saying such as Mom and Dad and bah bah etc. We have spent hundreds of hours to teach him the most basic Bah sounds and he was picking them up instantly now and boy was that a great thing to see. His speech will improve at least a hundred times faster than before. The doctor spent a lot of time with us and even took us outside for him to experience his first environmental sounds. It was truly noisy outside the large Phoenix Children's Hospital. He was really looking around with a whole new perspective. The doctor asked a car to beep his horn which (being a man, loved to comply) Jacob definitely heard. He will have many firsts for a few weeks. It will be a fun experience. He noticed my voice being very different from Carolyn's.

As you may remember our twins received a blessing from a General Authority that they would hear with the assistance of doctors. This has literally come to pass perfectly. We knew the way would be made available at some point in the future and the future is now (the blessing was given to them about 19 years ago). Joshua will get his Cochlear Implant in a couple of weeks and Jason will get his in several months. Already they have announced a new advance in technology for Joshua so it looks like it will pay off big time for Joshua waiting a month or two. He was scheduled for his operation in February but due to a mix-up in communication he will now get his in April with this substantially upgraded technology. I think the Lord knew of this and worked it out for the best for our good sons Joshua and Jason. Jacob will be fine because we held out for a new technology for children and he got one of the first just approved HIFocus Clarion Implants in children. (Best device available for children, according to the doctor) They said that these boys will get the new BTE (Behind the ear) units free of charge and boy did that make me happy. I was really wanting that small unit but knew we couldn't afford it when they could easily cost $7,000 or more. Now I don't have to worry about that.

I appreciate all of your prayers and well wishes in his behalf.

It is truly a great day.

Update April 4, 2001

Jacob was just taken to the audiologist and he has a remarkable audiogram. Best the doctor has seen for a CI recipient (We know who to thank for that don't we).

Looks like his prospects to understand speech and talk are pretty good. Time will tell but we are very optimistic.

Jerry