One More Down

We had our second appointment at NYU today. First, David had a communication assessment. We explained all the sounds David is making and how he responds to environmental sounds and speech. Basically we were told the same thing that all the other professionals tell us...that David is a completely normal baby except for his hearing. At his age, he should be falling within the language development charts in the 6-9 month range. But of course, he isn't, which isn't a surprise, and actually makes our case stronger for getting insurance approval for the cochlear implant surgery before David turns 1 year old.

Then David had another hearing evaluation, this time with his hearing aids on. We were looking forward to this since it's the first aided test David has had. Until today we had no idea what he was hearing with his hearing aids. Unfortunately, he only survived the first half of the test, for his right ear. He IS hearing sounds starting at about 75db in his right ear. Woohoo! I know, this doesn't sound good, but we thought he was hearing NOTHING in his right ear based on his ABR results and his last unaided test. The audiologist said he was probably hearing a combination of the sound and the vibration from the sound since it was so loud. At that point, David was about an hour overdue for his nap, so they didn't get to test his left ear. We'll do that at our next appointment on August 10th. Until then, I think we're going to start playing some rather loud rap music at home so David starts to develop some rhythm!

On other fronts, David is now eating pureed chicken, enjoys driving in his car, and crawling like he's in the army evading enemy fire. He mostly drags his body by his arms, but he's very strong and gets around really quickly! I guess it's time to babyproof the house...

They're Finally Here!

...David's teeth that is.  Yesterday those bottom two teeth finally appeared, after only 3 short months of teething.  But he doesn't seem to care.  Look how crazy happy he is in these pictures!

I should also post here that David is doing really well with his A-V therapy.  This week he was consistently turning to noises, started saying "aaahhhh" for his airplane, and he mimicked me when I said "uh-oh" when he dropped his toy...and he said it with perfect pitch and intonation.  What a little genius.

All Clear!

We finally got the results of the CAT Scan on Thursday from our ENT.  Everything looks normal in David's inner ear which is great news.  The audiologist at NYU had some concern because David's right ear had no response to sound, so now we're relieved that everything structurally is okay.  We also had our first appointment at NYU on Wednesday.  We got to meet some very nice people in the waiting room who just couldn't say enough wonderful things about cochlear implants.  One boy was 21 years old, got the implant when he was about 3 and just finished playing 4 years of college baseball and graduating from college.  Baseball!!  Nevermind college, Steve and I were so excited that he played baseball - our dreams of making David a MLB relief pitcher are still alive!!  We know that David will be able to do anything he sets his mind to, and we'll give him all the opportunities that a hearing child would have, but it's always nice to hear stories like that just to reaffirm your goals.

David did great on his hearing test, despite having a very bad cold.  I guess by "great" I mean that he is hearing bad enough so that it looks like he's a candidate for the implant.  There are still a number of appointments ahead of us for more hearing and communication tests, but these are more of a formality.  

Our audiologist was very nice and knowledgeable, and sent us home with marketing materials from the three manufacturers of cochlear implants.  I don't know how we're going to choose between the three, because success rates seem to be the same for all of them.  Cochlear is releasing a new implant and processor within the next two months (assuming they get FDA approval - cross your fingers!) which may make the decision much easier for us since the implant and processor will both be thinner and lighter.  

On a personal note, I was just told by my boss that I have to go back to work full time or leave the company.  Thank you for making me choose between taking my child to the half-dozen therapy sessions we have each week which concentrate on parent-training so that I can teach my child how to listen and speak, and keeping my health insurance for his surgery.  Thank you very much, I really appreciate your compassion.  I know the answer is that I stay so that David can have the surgery.  But I am writing a whole speech in my head so that when I can leave, I give him a real piece of my mind.  

By the way, David starting eating veggies this week!  Sweet potatoes yummy yummy....

CAT Scan Tomorrow

So I'm finally getting the hang of this blog thing.  I'm still tweaking the appearance of the page and will add some photos soon, but I think I've got it down.  Now I can start updating everyone on what's going on with baby David!

Tomorrow David goes for his CAT scan to make sure everything is intact in his ears for the cochlear implant.  Since his hearing loss is due to connexin-26, we don't expect to find any abnormalities.  I'll let everyone knows how it turns out tomorrow.

We're paying special attention to all new sounds that David is making to see how's he's hitting the milestones of language development.  He's currently behind his hearing peers, but he is starting to make some new sounds, which is exciting.  Last week he started making the "ma" sound and today he starting making the "na" sound.  Not babbling yet, but baby steps.  

Since this is my first post, I want to include a link to a poem by Emily Perl Kingsley that I keep going back to.  It's hard to describe to friends and family what it's like to have a child with a disability, but I think this poem says it beautifully.  Click here http://the-callahans.com/susete/poem3.htm 

Here's another picture of our little star!