Friday, August 14, 2009

He Can Hear??

Many times when I take Isaac to an appointment I feel as though I want to inform the doctor that he is much more aware than ever of his surroundings. Sometimes I get that "yeah right" look and then other times I get a positive response. I was so impressed with the Neurologist last week when he said that we know him best as caregivers. I wanted to hug him and say "thank you, yes we do!"

Friday we saw Isaac's ENT and audiologist. Usually he doesn't pass his hearing exams with flying colors even though he seems to hear us just fine at home. Naturally he decided to take a cat nap as we started entering the room for the exam. His breathing was "too noisy" according to the audiologist to get an accurate test without interference, so she decided to do a behavioral hearing exam. This is where they put us in a room and squeak a duck or say "hi Isaac" to see how well he responds to the noise. When you have a child with special needs who is half asleep, a behavioral exam is not the best plan. She wasn't convinced that he could hear very well after that so I asked Autumn (big sister) to stand across the room and sing him the ABC song. Isaac turned his head and lit up like a Christmas tree for her. That was convincing!

(FYI..even though that was convincing, Isaac will be fitting for hearing aides at our next appointment.)

I talked to the ENT some more about the PMV valve and whether it would be safe to use with the larger trach tube. She said to go ahead and experiment with it periodically and see how he does. Yay! I was bummed out when I thought we couldn't use it anymore.

Please say a prayer for Connor's Mom. She has a sweet boy with a very rare chromosomal disorder and complex medical needs. Sound familiar? Her husband is a soldier and was recently injured in Afghanistan.

-Colleen

6 comments:

Gammy's World said...

Well, duh...we all knew he could hear except, of course the supposedly, professionals. He can hear! Yeah! Now it's official...no satire intended (lol!)His family talks to him all the time and can see he hears and responds in his own way. Yep, little man, you have more goin' on than they all thought. We knew that!

Janis said...

I am curious as to what test they were doing before the behavioral test? Austin does the behavioral test, prior to that they did the -- I'll call it -- the eye glance test. Where they watch his eyes for movement or recognition? If he has not done well prior to this have they gotten him any hearing aids? I am confused as to what they are doing? Or waiting for?

I am glad he was able to showcase what he can do! I agree with you that he can hear sissy singing to him, but is he hearing "everything"? Kwim?

Colleen said...

Hi Janis, even though he seems to hear us fine, our next appointment will probably be for the hearing aids, which they couldn't do at this office yesterday. The test was mainly to see how he was hearing after having his tubes replaced. The tests in the past, including the ABR shows that he hears high frequency sounds better than low frequency sounds.

Alicia said...

Glad to know that he can hear and will be able to wear hearing aids that will make it even better!! Good to hear about the PMV too. I know I get sad when Marissa gets sick and can't tolerate her cap/PMV. I love hearing that little voice. I'll pray it goes well.
I will also keep Connor's mom in my prayers. I can't imagine having a special needs child without the support of the dad being around, let alone him getting injured.

Michelle said...

Colleen, I can so identify with this post and the doctors. It is a shame that these professionals cannot see the "true" children that we are blessed to be parents of.

Rick said...

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It will freshen and cool the cast and review odor and itch.

Rick