Wednesday, February 3, 2010

February 3rd, 2010


My little monkey! Now Kinnick thinks she can stand while swinging. This kid has no fear.





We put Carver in the Sound Booth again today for some testing. The testing is pretty subjective. He is unable to push a button or tell us when he hears something, so we rely on his actions or responses to the noise. For example: If he is bouncing around, what does he do when a noise is presented? Typically, he will calm to listen to the noise. The end result indicated that he was hearing in the 45db to 55db range. This would be equivalent to someone with moderate hearing loss. This is about where we were several months ago, so I'm feeling a little frustrated. I have to keep reminding myself that the test is very subjective. I know that he is doing a lot better then he was several months ago. I also know that he responds to my voice in a whisper or from across the room. So, I'm pretty sure that his hearing is better then the subjective test indicated. The noises that were presented were not normal everyday noises. So, he may not have known how to process the noises. The audiologist has somewhat of a soft voice and Carver tends to respond to a little more excited voice. So, regardless of the written test results, Carver is hearing and responding and things continue to improve. So, these are still good test results. The audiologist also checked his eardrums and found that he has fluid behind his right ear (the same ear with the seroma). I'm not sure if the fluid is related to the seroma or not. It's odd that the fluid isn't going away behind the ear because Carver has been on a pretty strong antibiotic for about 2 weeks for a sinus infection. The audiologist is going to check the right ear again next week. If the fluid is still present, we'll have to see the ENT.

2 comments:

Kristina said...

Kinnick looks like she is having a ball on the swing!

Glad to hear Carver is hearing quite well. Emma is a subtle responder in the booth, too. We get the best results in the beginning as she doesn't have a great attention span. When she hears something she usually smiles and might look around. We now have her AV therapist come in the booth with us so I can hold Emma and she can see Emma's face. That has helped a ton as she knows Emma's cues on when she hears since she sees her all the time for AV vs. the audi who sees Emma every few months. Maybe you can ask your AV therapist to join in the next session and see if you get better info? Also, Emma had been testing at similar levels to Carver before her 2nd CI. We had her program adjusted and she just had a HUGE difference in her responses.

I hope the fluid goes away soon!

Unknown said...

Good luck with everything...I just saw that you left a reply on my blog (That one I don't check much...I usually keep up with my son's blog though) we just came back from seeing Dr.Trese and one of my son's eyes has fluid behind his retina and Dr. Trese said there is nothing that can be done to correct that :( But like you said about the fact that your little guy has light perception and how much that is better then total darkness we are grateful to him for the year he was able to see from that eye and for the fact that he CAN see from his right eye...He does wear glasses and gets around well enough (although Trese said he may still be legally blind) He is 2 and just started walking (with braces but still :) It was the greatest moment ever! His blog is http://daviddrakespot.blogspot.com/

Although you seem like a busy mom so just wanted to wish you luck with your little cuties :)

Shannah