October Hayride

Hi. This post follows the theme of events with friends/supporters.
Saturday night we went out to a friends' farm with our Sunday School class from
South Church.We had a fun time roasting hot dogs, and bundling into a haywagon...

This was the first hayride we've been on in years that did not require a PDA check because all the couples were married!










It was fun...



Lisa continues to do well. She is going to ask for an early mapping this week though. Sounds are a bit muddy, and she's hoping that she can get them cleared up a bit...She did hook her processor up to the computer, and was able to skype with Hilary today! Modern hi tech is cool, isn't it?
You can be completely deaf, yet talk via internet with your daughter in Dakar, Senegal.


Thanks for praying. It really means a lot...



Tom & Lisa

A new video...

This is a shot I took of Lisa and our audiologist Rachel. She's the voice you hear in the videos, but do not see much. Rachel has been such a blessing to us. We're so thankful to be working with her...

Lisa is in for a new visit. This happened Wed Oct 15th. This time I videoed the software a bit so you can see how it works. Also Lisa is given a test for her to try out the new settings. Again, this is the first test, and Lisa misses a lot of words. But I found this interesting because it reveals the areas she has trouble hearing right now...

http://www.youtube.com/v/mkhafhJJEKE

This next video is from the first day that Lisa had her cochlear implant activated. She's talking to Tom's parents in Florida. Our audiologist warned that we may be discouraged trying the phone so soon. So our hopes weren't too high... The video is kind of funny, though.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9bfJNUHb1mc

I was encouraged to post these videos because so many people said they enjoyed the other one.

Thanks for praying,
and thanks for stopping by today.
Tom & Lisa Seward

Lisa 2nd audiolist appointment

WOW!! You may be as surprised as I was today!

Up until Wednesday the 8th, Lisa had been tested at 0-4% word recognition (With hearing aids).

There have been no signifigant changes from April until Wedsday the 8th of Oct.

Ok, yesterday they turned on her cochlear implant. To our surprise, she could hear and understand words...

Today we went back. Lisa's hearing improved between yesterday at 9 am and today at 8am.

She improved about 30% or more according to the hearing graph I was shown.

Then the audiologist took her to the same booth to test her hearing.

Lisa was tested using an audio only cd. She was to repeat the words she heard in short sentences. She scored 70% average on word recognition without visual cues.

So face to face talking with you she would do better than that, unless the back ground noise really was interfering...

The audiologist said that many, even most people reach this hearing level with a cochlear implant after 3 - 6 months. So certainly reaching this level has surpassed all our expectations.

God is so good.

The recovery is not yet complete, and Lisa will reach a plateau where it will take her some time and a lot of tweaking to pass. But we've not reached it yet.

Our next appointment is Wed the 15th.

So thanks for praying, and stopping by today.

Tom & Lisa Seward

PS. Her mp3 player hook up is working, and she's trying it out today... :D

Lisa hears today!!

Hi. Lisa did get her ears turned on today!!This link will take you to the video I posted on youtube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=67cvw9McwIg

This video is boring unless you understand that she's heard nothing since April.Her surgery a few weeks ago to install the Cochlear implant went very well, and we've been anxiously been waiting for this day to see the results.Today is not the whole recovery, of course, just the first step in the process she will go throughfor the next year. We were anxious to see what she would have as a starting point.

Todays activation went so well! She understood the audiologist quite well.
She even understood me. I've been able to talk to my wife today! That is cool.

Anyway, the interesting part of the video for me was the number test.The audiologist hid her face behind a folder, and said numbers randomly between1 and 100. So Lisa was to repeat them as she heard them. She gets about 6 out of the 10 right.This is huge, especially considering the device had only been active about 15 min or so... Yesterday for me she would have gotten 2 out of 10. For her mom or Caleb she would have got 4 out of 10.The second run of the test, after a tweaking of the device's settings she got 10 for 10!! (This second test is not on the video.)
Needless to say, we are so excited, and pleased. Lisa is at a great starting point today to recover her hearing. Please do keep praying for her, and praise God for the special care he's shown us through so many of you...

Later today I will post the xray they did today, that actually shows the new bionic part that makes it possible for her to hear.

Some people have asked today how this changes our plans. Well the recovery is not yet complete, of course. It will take most of the school year to get to a high level of hearing.
But we do plan to go back to Mali in June. We'd like to be there at the end of Hilary's school year in Dakar.

Tom & Lisa Seward


PS. Some of you may get this as an email or see this on facebook as well as reading it on our blog.We just want everyone possible to know how well Lisa is doing...

Nice visit with Muggs

As you may know, The Muggs were first colleagues of ours in Cote D'Ivoire, then were colleagues of us in Mali. They served in such a key role as business managers for us and our other colleagues. They served also in several creative ways in evangelistic ministries, in fact our study room model was partly inspired by their success with their marche study room.

Incedentally, they were on a trip from Colorado, all the way to Detroit, and stopped to have coffee with us on the way. They have a good car with a bad starter. So... where 2 or 3 missionaries are gathered, someone has to push their car!! So we pushed their car to get it started so they could get on their way... It really brought back Africa memories... :D

And we were well familiar with how to do a push start!

Anyway, pray for them as they are now in the USA, and seeking Gods' next step for them.

They will be GREATLY missed in Mali... But we know God will use their open and willing hearts wherever he puts them....

Btw- Countdown to Lisa's activation....

Thursday & Friday this week. Be in prayer as we see what we'll have as a starting point towards her hearing journey to regain full hearing again.

Thanks for sticking with us in prayer. Your visit today meant a lot to us... :D
Tom & Lisa

Camel Trip in Senegal

Hi. We're jealous of Hilary this week.
She went on an outing with her dorm to a desert overnight.
They camped out in tents (one night or two? I'm not sure.)
And rode camels, and went dune-sledding.
The kids had a great time, and they got some great pictures.
(Grace of her dorm parents John & Jenny- Thank you!!)

Have a look!

It started with a crazy desert truck ride...

Then a bit of Dune Sledding.... (Don't fall off!)

Hilary's dorm

Riding a camel!

Great silouette shot!!!

Hilary is doing so well at Dakar. We really are glad we made the difficult decision to send her back to Africa without us. She is really happy at school, and continues to grow in so many ways.

We are proud of her in too many ways to count...

Thanks for stopping by,

Tom & Lisa Seward