Partial Recovery!

So much has happened in the last few days...where to start...

After the adventure that was Wednesday, we got up Thursday morning and got on with the day...Jonica was going to Kindy again, the boys and I were going to meet friends...when I noticed at breakfast, with hearing aids in, that Jonica seemed to be hearing and interacting with Kaelen across the breakfast table, about 3ft! I asked her if she could hear me, and she nodded. I asked her if she could hear Kaelen, and she nodded! She could hear something! To confirm *what* she was hearing I did a quick hack Ling sound test - put my hands in front of my face so she couldn't see my mouth - and she correctly identified 5 out of 7 sounds!

Recovery!

I can't describe the relief that I felt in that moment. Although I knew it could go again as quickly as it returned, I was just thankful that something had returned! I kept an eye on her through the morning and noticed that at about 5m there was still no response, so she clearly didn't have everything back, but she was no longer in her own little world, she was chatting again, and you could have a conversation with her at about 1m. I still gave her the medication as prescribed, but was pleased to be able to tell Kindy that she was doing better that day. 

We kept our Aus Hearing appt as scheduled on Friday, cos I knew she wasn't 100%, I knew she hadn't got everything back, so it was important that we knew exactly what she did have so we knew where to go from here. She was brilliant at the test and listened very well for a long time, they got full air conduction results for both ears...and what they found was somewhat unexpected.

Her right ear, the one with the fluid behind the eardrum, appears to have recovered to the same levels as before the drop on Monday, the only variation being what they would expect from fluid behind the eardrums. But her left ear, the one with no fluid, was 20-40db down across all frequencies. This means that her best frequency in that ear is 80db, which is about as loud as a shopping centre food court. All other frequencies were 100db or worse, akin to a domestic vacuum cleaner. No wonder she wasn't hearing anything on Tuesday & Wednesday if both ears were anything like that! Of course we don't know what her right ear really did on Tues & Wed, but she was so unresponsive that it would be hard to imagine it was much different to the left ear.

So the next step is to confirm these levels in a week or so, and if they seem to be permanent then we have some decisions to make. At those levels in her left ear, a hearing aid is pretty much useless. If those levels don't improve before the next test, we are looking at having to consider a cochlear implant for her left ear. A whole new learning curve for me!

If her left ear recovers fully before the next test, I would be somewhat hesitant to go for an implant. Yes, her hearing fluctuates somewhat, and consistent hearing is important for speech & language development. But if this is all it is, 5 bad days every 2 years which then recover, I'd have to think very carefully about the decision to implant. Implants are fantastic for those who need them, but they do destroy all remaining natural hearing in the ear. That's fine if there is really none to work with anyway, but in Jonica's case, if this was how it kept going with just a few bad days every couple of years, I'd be very hesitant to blow away her residual hearing too soon. 

Not much to do about it now...just wait and see. I'm in Tasmania with Kaelen this week anyway, visiting my sister and her children, so plenty else to do and think about!

Next appt: Mon 28th April 11am - Aus Hearing follow-up for Jonica