“This has been an exciting and extremely scary time, with our little boy under-going major surgery.”
These are the words of Nicoleen van der Merwe, whose son Jordan (GCN, August 28) had his first cochlear implant on September 29.
Nicoleen and her husband Dwyne went through several emotions; excitement, fear and self-doubt, in the days leading up to the operation.
“Jordan only came out of the recovery room at 1pm, having been in since 7am,” Nicoleen explained.
“He struggled to wake up and once he had woken up, you could see the pain on his little face.
“We held him and we were in tears for most of the day wondering if we had done the right thing.”
Adding to Jordan’s parents anxiety was the fact that he was placed on oxygen as he was struggling to breathe on his own.
“We prayed and hoped for the best,” said Nicoleen.
Jordan slept a lot, which worried his parents as they were unsure if he should be sleeping so much.
“Whenever he woke up, he was in such pain that we had no alternative but to let him sleep,” Nicoleen said sadly.
Within a few days of being home, this little fighter had forgotten all about the pain and slowly returned to the smiley baby the GCN had met in August.
“He had no swelling and was recovering well, and was beginning to become very impatient with his bandages,” Nicoleen said.
After a check-up at the doctor’s office, Jordan’s bandages were removed and the “switch-on” is planned for October 20.
“We can’t wait for this beautiful moment, as our little boy has never heard our voices in his life and will hear us for the first time.
“If things couldn’t get any better Jordan reached a milestone by taking a few steps this week,” Nicoleen gushed.
Nicoleen and Dwyne thank everyone who helped in making this first operation possible.
“As of today, with help, we have raised enough money for the first operation which includes two internal devices and one external device,” Nicoleen.
Their focus has now shifted to raising funds to cover the hospital bills and the purchase of the second external device, which will give Jordan bilateral hearing.
The family has several fund-raisers planned including:
- A golf day, which will be held at the Germiston Golf Club on November 10.
Entries for the event close on October 10. For more information call Nicoleen on 072 176 8759 or 011 436-0354 or Tanya Smit on 060 975 4514 or email tanya.smit@investecmail.com.
- A show at the Barnyard Theatre at Emperors Palace on October 23.
The show is titled Rock Royalty. For bookings contact Yvette Govender on YGovender@econetwireless.com.
“Thank you for opening your hearts to us,” Nicoleen said.
