Audiology: Round 3
2:42 PM Posted In audiology , gabby 7 Comments »
This morning we had our third visit with the audiologist. It is not uncommon for children with Down syndrome to have problems with their hearing or with reoccurring ear infections. This is why we have been trying to get an accurate reading on Gabby to see whether or not she is hearing properly. So far, the last two audiology appointments have given us inconclusive results.
She passed her newborn screening with flying colors although I sometimes wonder if that was really the case since we weren't aware that she had Ds until she was already a few days old. Did they conduct the test after they knew? It shouldn't make a difference but it seems like they might try to be extra sure they were getting the correct results if they already knew she had a predisposition to such problems. Doesn't matter now I suppose, but still I wonder.
Anyway, last July she had a follow up with the audiologist. They took Gabby and I into a sound-proof room and I sat her on my lap. The audiologist cued different sounds at different decibels on either side of the room. If Gabby looked towards the sounds, that was good but honestly, she was bored with that whole situation and it didn't matter how loud those sounds were...she wasn't about to turn her head in any direction, no matter what!
Obviously I know she can hear. It seems she can hear a pin drop which is why I am constantly tiptoeing around during nap time and getting on Cameron's case every time he makes a sound. Unfortunately, these audiology reports don't agree with me. At that same appointment last year, they stuck tiny little probes in Gabby's ear that were supposed to tell him something (don't ask me what) and that something told him that Gabby may have some fluid in her teeny tiny ears. I kind of brushed that whole appointment off and we decided to reschedule another appointment at a later time. That follow up appointment was last week and guess what? He got the same pesky results. Gabby is responding at about 50 decibels. Optimum response should be around 20 decibels. So, she's not far off but we really need to figure this out.
I still feel pretty strongly that Gabby can hear well but now I am starting to really wonder if I'm wrong. The audiologist told me last week that the next plan of action would be something I would have to think about... We could have an ear specialist have a look at her to see if he/she could see anything in those tiny ears (since not a single soul has been able to thus far) and/or we could have Gabby put under general anesthesia in order to conduct a test in which small devices are placed behind her ears that measure her response to certain sounds (They read her brainwaves, I guess?) I obviously wanted to avoid that so we met with the ear specialist today. She actually was able to see in Gabby's ear which I was just overjoyed with. The bad news is that Gabby does, indeed have some fluid in there. Whether or not it is preventing her from hearing well, we can't really tell.
So...The ear doctor today felt that we could take the "wait and see" approach. We're going to try for another couple of appointments with the audiologist to see if he is getting the same reading. (Keep in mind that when he sticks those little probes in her ears, she has to be restrained and thus, throws a SCREAMING fit which could, in turn, skew her results) This is why we're going to try again a couple of more times. If the results come back the same, we will proceed with tubes. It's really not a big deal, but at this point, I just feel bad for her...anyone is a white coat is a BAD, BAD person. We've really had enough pokes, prods, and hospital visits to last a lifetime, if you ask me! (Did I mention she landed her tiny butt in the ER on Easter so she could get an IV?) So yeah...people in white coats = no bueno.
So those are the current happenings with Miss Gabalicious. It would actually be nice if we do end up having to go the tube route and she does, indeed hear better...That could mean so much in the way if verbalization. Not that she isn't verbal, it's just that she really doesn't have any solid words other than "uh uh" as she shakes her head, or "nuh nuh" (no no). This could lead us down a path of verbal explosiveness. Hmm...maybe I should think this out a little further! :)
She passed her newborn screening with flying colors although I sometimes wonder if that was really the case since we weren't aware that she had Ds until she was already a few days old. Did they conduct the test after they knew? It shouldn't make a difference but it seems like they might try to be extra sure they were getting the correct results if they already knew she had a predisposition to such problems. Doesn't matter now I suppose, but still I wonder.
Anyway, last July she had a follow up with the audiologist. They took Gabby and I into a sound-proof room and I sat her on my lap. The audiologist cued different sounds at different decibels on either side of the room. If Gabby looked towards the sounds, that was good but honestly, she was bored with that whole situation and it didn't matter how loud those sounds were...she wasn't about to turn her head in any direction, no matter what!
Obviously I know she can hear. It seems she can hear a pin drop which is why I am constantly tiptoeing around during nap time and getting on Cameron's case every time he makes a sound. Unfortunately, these audiology reports don't agree with me. At that same appointment last year, they stuck tiny little probes in Gabby's ear that were supposed to tell him something (don't ask me what) and that something told him that Gabby may have some fluid in her teeny tiny ears. I kind of brushed that whole appointment off and we decided to reschedule another appointment at a later time. That follow up appointment was last week and guess what? He got the same pesky results. Gabby is responding at about 50 decibels. Optimum response should be around 20 decibels. So, she's not far off but we really need to figure this out.
I still feel pretty strongly that Gabby can hear well but now I am starting to really wonder if I'm wrong. The audiologist told me last week that the next plan of action would be something I would have to think about... We could have an ear specialist have a look at her to see if he/she could see anything in those tiny ears (since not a single soul has been able to thus far) and/or we could have Gabby put under general anesthesia in order to conduct a test in which small devices are placed behind her ears that measure her response to certain sounds (They read her brainwaves, I guess?) I obviously wanted to avoid that so we met with the ear specialist today. She actually was able to see in Gabby's ear which I was just overjoyed with. The bad news is that Gabby does, indeed have some fluid in there. Whether or not it is preventing her from hearing well, we can't really tell.
So...The ear doctor today felt that we could take the "wait and see" approach. We're going to try for another couple of appointments with the audiologist to see if he is getting the same reading. (Keep in mind that when he sticks those little probes in her ears, she has to be restrained and thus, throws a SCREAMING fit which could, in turn, skew her results) This is why we're going to try again a couple of more times. If the results come back the same, we will proceed with tubes. It's really not a big deal, but at this point, I just feel bad for her...anyone is a white coat is a BAD, BAD person. We've really had enough pokes, prods, and hospital visits to last a lifetime, if you ask me! (Did I mention she landed her tiny butt in the ER on Easter so she could get an IV?) So yeah...people in white coats = no bueno.
So those are the current happenings with Miss Gabalicious. It would actually be nice if we do end up having to go the tube route and she does, indeed hear better...That could mean so much in the way if verbalization. Not that she isn't verbal, it's just that she really doesn't have any solid words other than "uh uh" as she shakes her head, or "nuh nuh" (no no). This could lead us down a path of verbal explosiveness. Hmm...maybe I should think this out a little further! :)
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7 comments:
hahahaha... you have no idea what will come out of her mouth next after uh uh and nuh nuh :) Yeah, the whole sound-proof room thing was a joke - Sheridan was TOTALLY uninterested, but kept trying to play pattycake with the tech sitting in front of him. Glad you have more info on her little ears... by the way, did they suck out the fluid or anything? I mean, did they just leave it there? just curious.
The test we have done to check for fluid in Kamryn's ears is the tempanogram (sp?). We have never had nor have I heard of the sound proof room test for a baby/toddler?! The tempanogram is easy, they just set something in her ear while I hold and distract her. It takes 10 seconds. However, since reading your post I am wondering if that test checks hearing or just fulid?....wow, I better look into that :) Ps, Kamryn and I want to join your music class!
If there is fluid in Gabby's ears, you may want to talk more about getting her ear tubes.
I know that you feel she hears well, but if she doesn't have sufficient drainage it can affect her hearing and consequently have some impact on speech.
I only say this because Gabe had continual fluid in his ears with NO ear infections to tell us. However every ENT appointment scope showed fluid in his ears. We believed that he heard just fine but the difference when he actually had tubes put in was astounding.
I'm not sure if this will help but Evan is on his 3rd set of tubes. He had constant fluid in his ears from age 6mo until the tubes started working. He was speech delayed then because he was hearing but what he was hearing was muffled. So when we started speech therapy I figured out that he was not hearing consonents so the words he was saying were consonentless - he is now catching up and enunciating better and this last set of tubes have been lucky tubes :) The first two sets clogged up from ear drainage and had to be replaced. At any rate, the tubes surgery seemed to be painless for him. The adenoids surgery was painless but we had to deal with the IV - man IV's are torture for little kids (well they are for me too :) So I'm not sure if all this blabbering helped but that's what I know on the subject! We've had good hearing tests and some that I wondered how they were able to conclude anything. It depends greatly on his mood. I was wondering if they could do her hearing test and tubes in the same procedure to avoid anesthesia twice?
Lisa, she swabbed what she could so I guess she got it out?
Lianna- I think you are probably right...Even though I think she hears fine, she probably doesn't hear as crystal clear as she should.
Julie- Yes, that will be the plan. If the next couple of audiology appointments get the same results, we'll schedule her for surgery where they will check for fluid and if there is, they'll just go ahead and put the tubes in right then :)
I would get the ABR...we always thought KayTAr could hear fine, but she was deaf in one ear. I wish we would have had her fully tested sooner, so she wasn't so far behind when we figured it out. It really isn't such a big deal and at least at our audiologist, it isn't general anesthesia, just light sedation, give by mouth. No IV or anything.
We had to do the booth for Luke too. Wild man in the booth. Oh so fun.
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