And so we begin...

“So many fail because they don't get started - they don't go. They don't overcome inertia. They don't begin.”

~W. Clement Stone

Today is the start of Shiloh's Journey. I have never felt such a battling sense of fear and excitement at the same time. I once read an article by a deaf person that said parents who 'forced' their children to have cochlear implants were taking the easy road out. That article weighs so heavily on my heart every day since we agreed to take this journey. I hope that when Shiloh is old enough to understand his hearing loss that he doesn't think we took the easy road. I hope that he sees the love, the support, the effort we put into this decision. I hope that he believes in us as much as we believe in him.

If the surgery is a success and Shiloh's anatomy accepts the implant, there won't be a second that we aren't making every last sound count, in hopes of one day that he can hear Mikayla when she says 'I love you little brother' and that another day he will return those sweet words.

If the surgery is not a success and for whatever reason Shiloh does not acheive enough benefit from the implant to get speech or sound, then there won't be a second that we aren't making every last sight count.

The fear of Shiloh going through this surgery with the possibility of it not succeeding is gut wrenching. Even though by the end of the day my heart will likely explode and my tear ducts will dry, I still have hope. I believe in my son's resilience, his curiosity of every corner he turns and his love of life.

Shiloh's journey, this families journey, begins today. How lucky we are. How beautiful this is.

Flow good thoughts to this little man.