Cochlear Implant

We chose the cochlear implant for our son. From his appointment on Dec. 1st to his latest appointment Dec. 10th, our son's hearing has deteriorated. He no longer has a "better" ear. The news was disappointing. His right ear has gone from severely deaf to profound. It is very saddening. I had noticed the last few days that I was unable to get his attention when he had his hearing aids off. Before I could at least yell or clap my hands close to him to get his attention so he could lip read what I was saying to him. (I recently have learned that it is politically correct to call it "speech reading".)
After much thought and research we have decided to go with the cochlear implant. At first we thought that the hearing aids would help get him up to conversational speech level, but now with the latest tests we know that if we want to continue him as an oral deaf that the cochlear implant is the only way to go. So now we have a surgery date of Jan. 2nd, 2009. Two weeks after surgery we will go back to Arkansas Children's Hospital to check his incision and then back the following week to turn on his implant. I am most nervous about the latter because of the reactions children have when it is turned on. Most children cry because the sound is not normal and they are scared by it. It is a digital sound that the ENT says will be similar to a Mickey Mouse voice. All sounds I am told will be high pitched and there will be a several month adjustment period. Please pray for my son.