Hearing Test

[Anonymous]

We just got back from Hailey’s hearing test, and they found that she has a lot of fluid in both ears, and also has a hearing loss (I’m hoping, mild, she didn’t specify). We’re now going to have to wait to see an ENT, and see what he wants to do.

I’m actually really mad about the whole thing b/c I’ve told every doc I’ve ever seen that I think she has fluid in her ears. I’ve said this for almost a year, b/c she pulls at her ears and puts her finger inside and cries. Sometimes she wakes up with bloody scratches inside. Her sleep is also atrocious. Everyone said that her “ears were clear”.

She’s had 4 ear infections since April/May, all cleared up nicely, which I didn’t think was a lot, but the audiologist seemed to think the number was high.

The worst part is now she’s at the age where she should be talking, which she is, but everything sounds a little wierd and garbled. I told this to the ped at her year visit, and that’s why we got the hearing test. Now I’m worried that her speech will be compromised while we have to wait (I’m sure 6 months or more) to get her in to see an ENT and get anything done. Not sure what he’ll suggest… tubes or antihistamines?

Did anyone’s child have standing fluid in their ears, but not have their hearing compromised? They said that they had to up the volume on the sounds so that she could hear them and respond.

[Anonymous]

Yes! also, sometimes they would say Carter’s ears were clear and there was fluid also. The Ped described it to me like if the ears were full of fluid, sometimes it is like looking through glass, so they can’t see it is there.

Once we got the tubes and drained the fluid, Carter passed with flying colors. His hearing test prior was significant hearing loss…….

[Anonymous]

Yes again! Seth constantly had fluid in his ears that would keep getting infected until we got the tubes at age 1. His hearing though checked out fine and he does not have any speech problems as a result from it. Hailey’s hearing may just be muffled by the fluid and may improve if/when it is drained. I’d be upset too though about the whole situation. Keep us posted what the ENT says.

[Anonymous]

Dear God! Six months to see the ENT!! I feel so bad for you.

I hope and pray that she will not have any permanent hearing damage or any speech delays.

I wonder if an anitihistamine or something like Banadryl would help to dry out some of the fluid in the meantime. I really don’t know….but there must be something you can do for her. How can they let her walk around with fluid in her ears for six months? Can her ped prescribe something for her while she waits to see the ENT?

[Anonymous]

I called the ped and he’s going to try and get her in quickly, so hopefully we won’t have to wait so long. Otherwise I’m going to see if I have any connections through work. The thing is that she’s been on an antihistamine all week. Every night I’ve been giving her either Benadryl or tylenol cold because she’s been teething and vomitting, so I thought that maybe she had some post nasal drip and it would help her to sleep.

[Anonymous]

I am glad they are finally taking it seriously! We are in the no referral to an ENT but have had alot of ear infections in the last year (the ped stopped counting at 6). Isaac is on zyrtec which seems to lengthen the time between the infections.

[Anonymous]

Lori, Aidan had mild hearing loss when he went to the audioligist with fluid in his ears, then he passed with flying colors when his ears were clear sometime later, He’s getting tubes the 13th of Dec. because of the standing fluid issue. He’s only had 3 infections, but his ears have only been clear 2 times in 6 months (meds are useless on him). Be VERY proactive on this one, even if it doesn’t affect their hearing it can cause speech issues (which generally go away once the problem is fixed). Good luck, I hope you guys get in sooner, 6 months is ridiculous, poor Hailey ear pain is awful especially when the kid also has reflux!!!!

[Anonymous]

I hope the ped can get her in quickly. Keep us posted.

[Anonymous]

James didn’t have a ton of infections, but he was late talking and had persistent fluid, so we did the tubes, and he immediately started sleeping through the night… the speech was slower to come, but all my kids have been late talkers, so not sure how that fits. He passed his hearing tests (barely), but I was told that they can pass but still have everything be sort of muffled, which doesn’t encourage clear speech. I hope they can get her in quickly!

[Anonymous]

Good news… My ped somehow managed to get us in to see an ENT next week (which is UNBELIEVABLE by Canadian Health Care standards!!!!)! I can’t believe it! Not sure if there was a cancellation, or if her results were so bad that they needed to see her ASAP, or I guess that this guy is really inexperienced or crappy and has no patients. I’m hoping for the first. I’ll keep you posted.

[Anonymous]

Good news (I hope)! Good luck and let us know how it goes.

[Anonymous]

Sorry for the late update (we’ve been busy with virus hell around here for the past week) but here goes:

Hailey saw the ENT last Tuesday and we’re going to be getting tubes on the 21st. They squeezed her in before the holidays.

They tested her ears again and found that her typanogram was entirely flat across all sound levels tested. I didn’t know exactly what this meant, but the ENT said that coupled with her hearing test from last week, that she has an obvious hearing loss that is somewhere from mild to moderate. He felt that coupled with the fact that she’s had 4 ear infections since May and that her speech is a bit off, that she needs the tubes.

I’m so glad that we got this checked out. No one wanted to refer us, but I had a hunch… mommy’s instinct.

[Anonymous]

Poor Hailey. I feel so bad that nobody listened to you sooner. Good news about the suregery date though. That’s great that it will be done before the holidays. Will she need any speech therapy, or do they think she’ll just catch up once she has the surgery?

We’ve been in virus hell around here for a week now too. I’m so sick of it.

I hope Hailey’s feeling better soon. Is Sarah sick too?

[Anonymous]

Christine, we don’t know yet if she’ll need speech therapy. Her hearing will be restored once she gets the tubes, but we don’t really know if her poor articulation is from the hearing deficits, or related to her feeding problems. I guess time will tell.

Right now Hailey is the one who’s sick (knock on wood) and me. She has an ear infection, and a cold virus, had fever for most of the week, and then picked up another cold type virus. She’s been on antibiotics. I seemed to have caught the cold which has been fun. And then yesterday night she just started retching and puking up everything. She hasn’t kept anything down (and hasn’t much wanted anything either- no solids, a few sips of formula) except a few ounces of water. She had another fever and is miserable- just lying around moaning and crying and not playing or laughing or talking at all.

It’s so sweet though- we told Sarah not to get too close to Hailey because her “tummy is sick” and we don’t want her to get sick too. So she’s been listening to us somewhat. But then we went into the kitchen and I saw her go over and start to rub Hailey’s back and she was saying softly “it’s okay, it’s okay. you’ll feel better soon”. And my heart just melted.

Who’s sick at your house?

[Anonymous]

Aww…what a sweet sister Sarah is. Nothing makes me happier than seeing my children love each other and take care of one another. It’s so sweet.

We all had rotavirus this week. We’ve all improved except poor Myles. He’s had it since Wednesday. He’s so sick. Not keeping anything down. Pooping pure liquid all day long. I’m keeping him hydrated but only barely. I’m praying he doesn’t end up in a hospital on an IV. I wish people would understand how dangerous these viruses are for babies and would just stay home when they are sick. I’m sure we all got it at church because it’s the only place we go in winter besides an ocassional trip to the grocery store or walmart. People think they are being stoic by going to church when they are sick. What they don’t realize is that the same virus that puts an adult out of commission for a day or two could put a baby in a hospital.

Sorry…I know I’m getting of the subject here. Oh, I hope Hailey doesn’t have rotavirus. That’s how it started with all of us….puking. Then then the diarrhea. Hopefully her’s is just a milder intestinal bug and she’ll be over it in a day or two.

I hope Hailey’s surgery is all it takes to get her speech on track. Please keep us posted. Hope you feel better too. Colds are so lousy.

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