Chase Passed His Hearing Re-Test with Flying Colors!

Several weeks ago, a concern about the nerves controlling Chase’s ears was flagged when he failed his hearing test at school. They proceeded to conduct the “long version” of the test and he failed once again. We later learned through his most recent MRI that he had fluid building up in his ears, probably due to a sinus virus which he has since fought off.

They repeated the hearing test once again and this time Chase passed with flying colors! What a relief – although we believed that his symptoms weren’t progressing, it’s always nice to confirm or validate this through various other tests. This is another affirmation that everything is working out perfectly and that his tumor isn’t infiltrating other nerves.

Overall, Chase had a great week at school, having attended every day and probably had his best participation since the start of the school year. Although he’s still a bit reluctant to “go along with the program” and he’s a bit crabbier than he would otherwise be, at least he completed all the exercises he was asked to do this week.

We’re continuing to do everything we can to keep him laughing, despite his situation which is often a huge challenge. Anytime we get through the entire day and he was able to hold down all of his meals, vitamins and “specialty drinks”, we breath a sigh of relief (this was 4 out of the 5 school days this week). On a side note, Barbara had an assignment this week to describe what responsibilities everyone in our household has and for Chase she wrote, “drinking his chocolate milk [filled with who knows what] and swallowing his pills”… for mommy she wrote, “doing the laundry, dishes and my brother’s catheter”… and for me she wrote, “making my brother’s drinks.” I guess that describes in pretty simple terms the focus around our home. When I reacted a bit surprised by her answers (particularly for what I got credited for doing) she said, “give me a pencil – I forgot to write taking out the trash”… Oh well, at least she thinks I’m carrying some of the load. We’re doing our best to keep it light-hearted and easy going, although it’s definitely a challenge.

We always look forward to the weekends and particularly Sundays to get filled back up for the challenges of the following week. All of your prayers go a long way to boost us all as we continue marching up the mountain while lifting Chase back to full health and recovery!

Lots of love and gratitude,

John & Carol Sammut
Chase & Barbara Ann