Thanks for thinking of us everyone. All in all I’m glad we got it done at this point, though I probably should have asking more questions before hand. I just heard the words “flat audiogram” and “mild to moderate hearing loss” and I freaked out and signed the consent. No one mentioned ear plugs and I didn’t think to ask many questions before hand except if she would hear better.
The good news is that her hearing got better right away, it seems, and she even started talking more when we got home. She was talking quite a bit already, but the words sounded wierd, the audiologist said that she’s probably talking the way she hears. When she woke up at home, she started repeating everything I said, and even putting two words together. I said “I’m coming” and she said it back to me with the same intonation. She basically hasn’t stopped talking since she came home and yesterday even said “let me see” and started singing to the wiggles CD in the car. I couldn’t believe it.
Unfortunately, it hasn’t helped her sleeping or eating any, and reflux is still an issue, but hoping that those went away were just wishful thinking, I know.
Thais, I’m so glad to hear about Matthew. I know what a big relief that must be with the sleeping, and the eating is such a great bonus! I know how hard you worked to get there and I’m SO happy for you. (I might email you for tips).
Heather, when we were in the waiting room, there was a girl there (she looked about 12 years old) and she had a fair-sized skin tag on her lip. You could see she was self conscious about it because she held her mouth funny so you couldn’t see it as much. I overheard her mother saying that she didn’t have it removed earlier because she didn’t want her to need surgery. I know it’s not an easy decision. Getting Hailey’s removed was actually an afterthought- I only thought about it a week before, and thankfully for us the ENT agreed to do it. He said that hers was really simple and that it likely wouldn’t need more than a stitch or two, but surprisingly he said that it was even simpler than that because it didn’t bleed at all after it was removed. He said that they kept her in there for an extra 10 minutes or so, and waited for some blood to come out, and in the end only a tiny drop came out, so they didn’t need to stitch it or even cover it. She has no idea it was ever removed.
Jill- There seems to be two schools of thought on needing the tubes, from what I’ve read (but that’s only internet reading). It seems that old school they used to suggest ear plugs after all ear tube procedures. More recently, they’ve done research that shows they’re not needed for swimming or for routine hair rinsing, but yes for deep water diving and soapy water.
Here’s one link:
http://www.drgreene.org/blank.cfm?id=21&action=detail&am p;ref=497
Our ENT’s office sells the putty buddies, the soft silicone ones, so I assume that’s what he recommends. You just squish them into the outer ear, but they’re small and I worry about choking. Hailey doesn’t like them in there and tries to pick them out.
We got the kind of tubes that fall out on their own within 2 years we were told.
Karen, nice to hear from you. How’s Marisa doing? I’d love to hear from you guys, so feel free to email me anytime (I think you have my address).
Sarah, nice to see you around, too.
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Bryce also has a possible mild hearing loss, but I’m going to have it re-checked next month. They thought his results might have been to do with his cleft palate, so I’m hoping to see an improvement now that it’s repaired. I wish I would have asked about having his skin tag removed when he had his palate surgery – the plastic surgeon would have been the perfect person to do it. I just doubt our insurance would have paid for anything “cosmetic”, and we just can’t handle anything like that financially right now.
Hooray for Hailey!! I’m so happy to hear that her hearing improved so rapidly. She’ll be a little chatterbox now!
