Finn had an appointment with the ENT this morning for that cyst on the back of his ear. Yep, it's going to have to come off, and it's going to have to be done under general anesthesia at the outpatient surgery center :( A relatively minor procedure, but still . . . my baby.
I had also resigned myself to consenting to a sedated ABR since I knew this procedure would require that Finn be put under anyway. However, after my conversation with the ENT today, I'm again nixing the sedated ABR. I told him how Finn had "failed" the last booth hearing test he underwent and how, based on that, the audiologist recommended doing a sedated ABR. Dr. C, the ENT, however, said exactly what I've thought all along - that the booth test is BS. Okay, he didn't say "BS," but he did say that they are notoriously unreliable and not at all a good guage for any baby Finn's age. He also confirmed what I already knew, and that is that any hearing loss associated with Ds results from fluid buildup in the inner ears (due to especially small ear canals and inner ear anatomy), but that since Finn has tubes in his ears, there is no reason to think that this is an issue for him. He even checked both of Finn's ears and confirmed that they're both dry. He said that the best guage of Finn's hearing at this point is us, his family, who live with him and see how he responds to sounds of every range every day - and we have no reason to believe, based on what we see with Finn, that he has any hearing loss. In fact, I've noticed a huge improvement in his response to sounds since he got the tubes placed in June.
So, no sedated ABR, and that's final. And really, I'm thinking of just foregoing the stupid hearing tests from here on out unless something changes and we have reason to think he needs a hearing test. I'd rather just follow up with the ENT periodically to check the status of his tubes.
And speaking of tubes, I swear that has been such a good thing for Finn. Not only has there been noticeable improvement in his response to sounds, but he hasn't had a single ear infection since he had his tubes placed. He's actually in the midst of his third cold since getting his tubes, but he seems to be able to fight it off so much better now.
4 comments:
Great photo- not sure Finn'd agree though! And so glad to hear someone with commonsense regarding those stupid tests. Luke 'failed' his last one too, and we have another coming up later this month. He can hear the rustling of a lolly packet at 100 paces, so I'm certain his hearing is ok too! Here's hoping Finn's cold passes soon :)
I'm glad the tubes are working out for him. I've begun to question the need for Goldie to have another hearing test. She always passes them and doesn't miss a thing at home. So far, her ears have been healthy. I keep thinking that I wouldn't be testing my other kids hearing without any symptoms, why her's?
This picture makes me want to SMOTHER him in kisses!!!
Awesome! We're finally going to see an ENT for Ellie since they haven't been able to get a clean OHA or timpanogram before they even try the booth test. Luckily the audiologist tries to see if sound is actually getting somewhere first.
I'm hoping they'll do tubes. She hasn't had ear infections, but there is always fluid (which, Hello! still causing hearing loss).
Luckily, we did a BAER after she was born (failed her newborn screen). Since she was only 4 - 8 weeks (took a couple tries because of fluid in her ears to get a clean read), she didn't have to be sedated, just fell asleep while I nursed her. So, we know her hearing was normal then and any loss that she may have is due to fluid, which given that she's always congested, is probably all the time.
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