Don't Like This

We had another bad hearing test appointment today. James has had a runny nose the past few days, so we were worried that he would have fluid in his ears again. Lo and behold, that's exactly what the eardrum test (tympanography) seemed to show.

But the audiologist was running a little behind today (we were in the waiting room for a half hour or so), so I don't think she realized that we had mentioned the fluid possibility to her assistant, and she also had forgotten that this had been a problem last time. So she did the hearing test for each ear, and the results were bad -- he was hearing less well than the previous tests (to the degree that he would be classified as having severe rather than moderate loss). It was really depressing being in the room and watching him not respond to loud noises. It was also a bit surprising because last time even though the eardrum test showed flat readings (most likely indicating fluid in the ears), his hearing was still about the same as before. So it may be that he had more or thicker fluid this time. (I suppose it's also possible that his hearing has actually changed, but I think that's not typical for auditory neuropathy, so we don't think that's what's going on.)

So, we have an appointment with the ear doctor in a couple weeks, and if he does have fluid, they may recommend that he have the ear tubes put in. With kids without hearing loss, they'd probably wait and see longer, but to have fluid on top of an existing loss really puts kids at a disadvantage with language learning, so they don't like to let it go for long. I'm really sad about this; I hate that he's probably not hearing well right now (since his hearing aids are set based on his previous results), and I hate that he may have to go through another procedure, even though I know it's quick and fairly minor in the grand scheme of things.

My gut feeling is that the fluid or whatever is affected his results today is a fairly recent development. I noticed last night when James didn't have his hearing aids on (after his bath) that he wasn't turning to respond to Mike's voice like he usually does -- I don't think James heard him. But if that had been happening for a while, I think we probably would have noticed it earlier. So, best case scenario would be that the fluid buildup is from this current cold/sinus issue, and it might resolve on its own. I guess we'll see.

My reaction to this news is probably a bit more intense because it comes on top of a lot of other things that have been going on. Among our close friends and family, in the past couple of weeks we've had a cancer diagnosis, a chronic illness diagnosis, a car accident, major plumbing problems, and a mystery illness. (There are silver linings -- the cancer is treatable; the chronic illness is treatable; and no one was hurt in the accident. But the mystery illness is still a mystery.) So, be careful out there, everyone.

On the bright side, James is getting more and more confident with his walking. In the waiting room today, he actually let go of my hand to take a couple steps on his own! And tonight he walked over to me from the couch (instead of vice versa), another first. Definitely getting there!

He's also definitely saying "uh oh" (in fact, he dropped his bottle on purpose today just to have an excuse to say it). He's signing "bath", and I think he's trying to say it, but that one is a bit ambiguous because he says "da" (and "ba") a lot in general. And yesterday he was signing "more" (which he and Mattie have both been doing for a long time), but I think he was also saying "more", which is pretty cool (especially if he does it again!)

[Photo is from the weekend.]