Silas ENT Appointment

Today we went to Cincinnati Children's Hospital for Silas' ENT appointment. It was a really big day. My wonderful mom took the day off from school to come and help me. Thanks Mom! We left around 7:00 am and made it right on time. I loved the doctor we saw - he was wonderful. You can tell he loves his job and made us feel very comfortable. The nurses and the entire staff at the hospital are great. Everyone was so friendly and it is a great place for kids.

Over an hour after our scheduled appointment time we finally saw the doctor. He asked lots of questions about Silas and then had a look in each ear. His ear canals are open but are very narrow. He does have eardrums in both ears but they are really small. Due to the narrowing of the canals, there was a very good chance he had some hearing loss because it would be harder for the sound to travel to the eardrum.

Dr. C sent us for a hearing test and Silas did so well. The audiologists were fantastic. Silas responded well to the talking but did not respond as well to the tones and beeps. They also tested his nerve hearing with a device and it was perfect! That was great news because this type of hearing loss is not able to be corrected. His hearing test was very similar to other people with the same condition Silas has. He can hear, but does have some hearing loss. The doctor wanted to be aggressive (yeah!) during these early years of critical language development. The doctor was very positive about future outcomes. When he gets older (5-7) we can possibly do surgery to correct his hearing loss. For the mean time, our little guy is going to be wearing a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid). His will not be bone anchored, but will be on a soft band. I don't think they actually anchor them until at least age 5. The hospital gave us a loner for 3 weeks and then we will go back for another appointment with the audiologist.

I love my new BAHA

As soon as we put it on Silas I could tell a difference! He responds much more quickly and started to cry when it was put on. Can you imagine how much more clear and loud everything sounded? We will take it off at bed, nap and bath time. Other than that he will probably have it on. Even in the few hours he had it on, I noticed a big difference. I am so excited for him! We knew he could hear, but were unsure of how well. I think now our words will be much more clear to him and maybe this will make him happier!

The little black box is the actual hearing aid. It vibrates when he hears a sound.

We go back in three weeks for another full day at the hospital. We will be seeing a Craniofacial Team (to rule out any possible associated syndromes - we don't think he has any but want to be on the safe side), he will have a CT scan to see if he has internal ear structures and we will meet with the audiologist again and do another hearing test with the BAHA and order his own hearing aid if all goes well. Please pray that Silas continues to do well with his new BAHA and that this will be a great solution for him!

Now to leave you with some blackmail pictures for when Silas brings his girlfriends home!! Hehe : )

He found his sister's Ariel panties and put them on! I managed to snap a few pictures (of course during a tantrum hence the rolling around on the floor!)