These were standard 6-month checks for both boys, and while the results weren't earth-shattering, they were slightly inconvenient. Kaelen was first, and he's been quite sick during this last week - very high temperatures last week, lots of sinus movement, and a lingering cough. Before they actually do any testing they check the movement of the eardrum, just in case there's anything in the middle ear which might be affecting the child's hearing. Which there was. To be expected, i guess, but Kaelen's eardrums didn't move at all. Pest! That means (and could mean) several things:
1. Today's air-conduction tests were basically useless, returning about 20dB worse than usual, so they were aborted early
2. We had to make him suffer through bone-conduction tests, which are most uncomfortable for anybody, let alone little kids
3. We have to go back and repeat this test once his middle ears have (hopefully) cleared. This means usually 6-8weeks, but with the way things are at Aus Hearing at the moment, it's more like 12wks
4. If they're still blocked in 12wks time, we'll have to go re-visit our trusty ENT :-(
So the good news is that there doesn't appear to be any change to Kaelen's permanent hearing (as indicated by consistent bone-conduction results today), just a mild temporary loss on top of it. The bad news is several-fold:
1. We have to go back to Aus Hearing and do this all again
2. We may have to go to the ENT again
3. J&K's Aus Hearing appointments are now out of sync again. Perfectly. Exactly 3months apart. Rats.
Then it was Jarrah's turn. I learned long ago not to place bets on Jarrah's results, you never really can tell what's going to happen with him. I had a slight suspicion that his higher frequencies weren't performing as well as they could, based on some activities we do at speech, but wasn't going to make any predictions. Since our last check-up, J's right grommet has come out of his ear so it was also going to be interesting to see how his middle ear was holding up. He has also had a mild cold recently, but has been well for about a week. It turns out they could tell from the Tympanometry (checking the eardrum movement) that his middle ear was clear on the right side but his Eustachian tube (which joins middle ear to your throat, responsible for keep the middle ear aerated) was blocked. Also, to be expected, but something else to check again later to make sure it clears on its own. At least when we return with Kaelen in 3 months they'll be able to check J's Eustachian tube again, and if it's blocked? You guessed it - back to the ENT!!
Anyway, Jarrah did pretty well with his listening task, returned very similar results to last check-up (hooray!), only affected in ways that were expected by the Audio's because of the blocked Eustachian tube. Surprisingly to me, his high frequencies were within margin of error (+/-10dB) of last times results, so not enough change to warrant a major change to his hearing aids. That said, because he is now grommet-less on one side that ear now handles sound differently, so there were some adjustments to be made to account for that!
I love the parking sign in the Aus Hearing carpark - "Maximum 2 hours. Tow away zone." I had to laugh when we arrived, i figured there was no way we'd be out of there in 2hours, and i was right...i think it was actually 3hours from arrival to exit of carpark :-) My boys are so good, they played (mostly) well the whole time we were there, they're very co-operative with all the tests and prodding and poking that happens at these things, including taking new impressions of their ears to make new moulds (cos they've grown)...that green stuff is cold and gooey and must feel nasty going so far into your ear, but they handle it well.
For those who haven't caught up with our news, we are having another baby in October 2010, which is very exciting but also has me wondering if we'll end up with 3 sets of appointments, 3 little drying beakers on the dining room table, 3 FM systems once they're all at school...i know that nobody on earth can see the future, and we'll find out soon enough, but i just wonder. I did enter this pregnancy content to have another hearing-impaired child, so i won't be completely devastated if we do; in fact, i'm pretty much living with the expectation that this baby will be deaf to some degree. It's my little defence or coping mechanism in advance...that way if they are hearing impaired, i will be ready for it and it won't be a disappointment, I'll be able to celebrate their little life just for them being them. But, if they do happen to have normal hearing, it'll be more relief than celebration...so many fewer appointments!!
Whatever happens, God's got it figured out, He's not panicking - i just have to trust Him to guide us along the way, and remember that he has *my* best interests at heart too...
Next appt: Tues 3rd Aug, Kaelen's return Aus Hearing checkup
