double whammy

It has been nice to be on a break from any medical worries or issues. We lasted a whole 4 months. No dr. appointments. No threats of surgeries. Just go with the flow, usual every day kind of days. And then I had to go and schedule appointments and you know what hits the fan. Oh and school started and kids started getting sick.

So to start with an easy one. Olivia has had a terrible cough for 2+ weeks that makes her sound like she smokes 2 packs of cigarettes a day. Luckily that is not the case and after a quick trip to the doctor she was diagnosed with another ear infection. Since I had an already scheduled ENT appointment for Owen, we also snuck her in to be seen and it is time for tubes for her. Surgery scheduled later this month. The hope was over the summer her ears had gotten bigger and we were out of that phase. That hope is now gone.

Owen's sleep study results yielded the same conclusion as the test he had a year ago. Mild sleep issues. Not better. Not worse. So since he is not worse, that is good news. Next steps are to just pay attention to how he is sleeping and if we notice a change for the worse we will do another study.

Our ENT appointment was a scheduled follow up for the sleep study results and to do another hearing test. We go just about every 6 months. We have done countless tests and the results never get above a 30 (they were even at a 60 at one point...). The thinking on the results was that maybe since it was a behavioral test he wasn't understanding what to do for the test. I guess we always just thought and hoped that is what it was. They've also done ABR tests (that is where he is sleeping and they test the ear responses) but those have also shown mild hearing loss.
I never really understood how bad "mild hearing loss" was until today.
Owen did fantastic in the hearing test. He actually wore the headphones for the first time and followed the directions perfectly. He grasped the concept. So I knew this time the results were an accurate representation of how he was doing. Still showing mild loss.
I watched the test, I watched as they cheered each time he "got one right". But I was also watching as they tried to lower the number and try and then have to keep moving it up. He just couldn't her the lower numbers. And then they brought us to a room that demonstrated a simulation of what his hearing capability was. That is when it really hit home. The sound was muffled. It was hard to hear. It became real at that moment. Everyone agrees Owen can hear. But he doesn't hear everything. He hears things muffled so he will have trouble hearing articulations. So if he is already behind because of development delays, the last thing we want to do is worsen that by not allowing him to hear everything. It is time for hearing aids.
Hard news to take. I never thought it was actually this bad. Reality check today.
Whatever it takes to help Owen succeed is what we will do. A new chapter has begun, wish us luck!