Marcos was able to make his appointment with the ENT (Ear, Nose, Throat) doctor last Friday and I was not thrilled with the outcome. One of the tubes seems to be clogged with either fluid or ear wax, while the other one is not in place. We've been dealing with hearing issues since the beginning. He did not pass his newborn hearing screening when he was discharged from the NICU. He has been retested several times with very little change. I have been told that the hearing loss is in the middle part of the ear, therefore not permanent, also known as conductive hearing loss. Up until now, the doctors have assured me it was fluid in the ears. In June of 2012, Marcos had his ear tubes put in to see if they would help. The test (tympanometry) afterwards did not show much difference. The doctor was a little bit puzzled and decided to wait and retest. I've lost count of how many times we have visited the audiologist. In December, he was tested again with no significant change. So now, the doctor would like to put him under general anesthesia again so he can see what is going on and insert new tubes if necessary. We were also given another explanation as to what could be going on. He may have an abnormality in one of his ear bones resulting in hearing loss due to lack of contact between the conduction bones in the middle ear. This type of hearing loss is easily fixed with a hearing aid.
This will be the fifth time that Marcos undergoes general anesthesia. Though I am glad it is not permanent hearing loss, I was a little bit shocked because this has not been mentioned before.
But here are the positives. The bone abnormality will only be explored if the 2nd set of tubes have no significant impact on the next hearing test. He is scheduled to have a speech evaluation that will hopefully give the doctor valuable information to help solve this puzzle. Lastly, I know he hears me. He loves "Old McDonald had a Farm..." and tries to say E-I-E-I-O at the right time! He also says bye, ball, wa-wa for water, ca ker for cracker, car and a few other words/sounds.
And so this journey continues....Please pray for us and our doctors to help figure this out.
I'll share a couple of pictures taken during the doctors visit. Look how big he is!!
With my assistant Isabella
I can't believe my tiny little boy who weighed 1 lb and 4.8 oz and measured ONLY 11 1/2 inches (the length of a barbie doll) is a full blown walking toddler!!!
Oh my goodness...he's getting so big.
ReplyDeleteI hope this next time they get you some answers and make a plan so he can hear you really well!