Test Results

  Today E finally had his testing. We headed out before the sun came up this morning for the hospital. E was wonderful as always. He was a crowd favorite with everyone :-) He spent the hour and a half before the procedure flirting with the nurses, signing "Daddy" to impress the doctors, and showing off his standing skills. While the other children fussed and cried, my little E laughed and waved. As word of little Mr. Cutie spread, more and more of the staff came over to play with him while we waited. I was so proud of my       little man!
 
  Thankfully, after our horrible experience the last time, the doctors got together and decided to streamline things for us this trip. While he was asleep, they did an ENT evaluation, an ABR (auditory brainstem response), a CT scan, took blood for genetic testing, and made molds of his ears for hearing aids. We were very grateful to have all of this taken care of in one shot. ENT evaluation confirmed that his eardrums and canals were perfect, so they are not the problem. CT scan looked normal. ABR results showed a response at 85-90 decibels in the right ear and no response in the left ear. This means that in his right ear, sound was registered at about the level of a lawnmower. In the left ear, no sound was registered. Our next step is to have E fitted with very powerful hearing aids. They do not think the hearing aids will help at all in his left ear, but it is still required that he must have a trial period with hearing aids before any other options can be considered. We do not know what the response will be to the hearing aid with his        right ear.
 
  We were relieved that the CT scan was normal. We were a little surprised at the severity of his hearing loss, but not completely shocked. The genetic testing will perhaps shed some light on why he lost his hearing. E passed his newborn hearing screen, so the doctors think the hearing loss developed later rather than being present at birth. In only 50% of cases is the cause of hearing loss ever determined. We have to just accept that we may never have any answers as to how this happened or when exactly the hearing loss occurred. We gained a great deal of information today that will allow us to move forward. E is now listed with the state as a child with hearing loss, so we will be able to start working with people to line up the assistance he will need. Our next challenge will certainly be trying to get a very curious E to keep his hearing aids on  his ears!

  Once we were home, E was back to his happy-go-lucky little self. Speaking of happy-go-lucky, I just have to share this pic of tiny hospital gown cuteness. He was fascinated by playing on the hospital bed and trying to figure out what the heck they put on             his ankle.