When Maddox was in the NICU, he didn't pass the newborn hearing screen. We weren't too worried. Lots of babies don't pass because they still have fluid in their ears or weren't asleep enough for an accurate test. Anyways, since he didn't pass we got a referral to an audiologist to have his hearing rechecked.
When Maddox was about 2 months old, I took him to his appointment. After being there for over 3 hours, the Dr said that the ABR test wasn't looking too good and Maddox had severe to profound hearing loss in both ears. The doctor referred us to the Infant and Toddler program, and Ear Nose and Throat doctor, and back to our pediatrician for some more testing. We were shocked that she was basically telling us that our baby was deaf. She immediately recommended hearing aids for him and got some ordered.
Fast forward a couple weeks and I took Maddox to the ENT. He looking in Maddox's ears and was hesitant to agree with the audiologist's diagnoses until she did a tympanogram, a test that measures how much fluid is in the ear.
A couple weeks later and I am finally back at the audiologist having the tympanogram done as well as getting Maddox's hearing aids fitted.
Come to find out, the tympanogram showed a significant amount of fluid in his ears and that the tympanogram machine had been broken on our previous visits. So we got referred back to the ENT who recommended having tubes placed. Luckily, the ENT got us on his surgery schedule for the upcoming Monday. I was pretty annoyed with the audiologist at this point because it had now been 7 weeks since his initial diagnosis.
We got the tubes placed on June 24 and the ENT told us to wait 2 weeks to let all of the fluid drain and then we could have his hearing retested. He said that when he placed the tubes, he suctioned out a lot of thick mucous fluid from inside his ears and that the fluid probably accounted for some degree of hearing loss.
Maddox did so good getting the tubes and was so happy while we were waiting. He hadn't eaten since 9:00 the night before.
He was by far the youngest patient for surgery but he was also the cutest!
It was a really short procedure and we were able to meet him in the recovery room. After I fed him, we were able to take him home. He was so happy to snuggle with his blanket.
Two LONG weeks of waiting later, I go back to the audiologists office where they then proceeded to tell me that their ABR equipment had broken and that they wouldn't be able to do the test that day. They told me that it would take 2-3 days to get it fixed and they would call me.
Well, after waiting 3 days I called the office and they told me that their equipment was still down and they couldn't do the test. By this point, I was beyond frustrated with this office and all of their broken equipment. To make a long story short, I went to the other audiologist in town and got the ABR test done. I also drove 3.5 hours each way to another town to have another test done by another audiologist to confirm the results....
So, 3 months after Maddox was initially diagnosed with severe hearing loss, and after getting tubes placed, we got the diagnosis of mild hearing loss. While, they are still recommending the use of hearing aids, we feel so relieved that it is not a severe loss. It was overwhelming to think about learning sign language and everything that severe hearing loss would mean for Maddox's future. With mild hearing loss and with the use of hearing aids, Maddox should be able to hear everything he needs to and learn to speak without too many problems.
So the pictures are kind of blurry, but you can see Maddox with his little hearing aids in. I had to buy some toupee tape to tape them to his head so that they would stay in place :)
