Sedated hearing test results

Our trip to Kansas City was short and sweet. No complications - just the way I like it.

Our family has been having bad luck (though I don't really believe in luck) with vehicles lately. I thought it would be wise to rent a car for the trip and not take any chances! Ralph, Ruby, Chipper and I left Thursday morning to get there in time for his physical and pre-admission testing at 12:45pm.

Ruby was a good girl on the drive up but Ralph had a hard time. He kept signing for a drink and then screeching when he couldn't have another one. Three hours of this.

Funny thing, when the pre-admission testing nurse was trying to pull up his record for the sedated hearing test there seemed to be a duplicate record...dated 6/26/08 and not 2009. Then I remembered. We WERE here exactly one year ago for Ralph's ASD repair! Wow!

We had to be at the same-day surgery department at 7am. I was not feeling well the whole night before. Even when we checked in I was a little shaky. As the receptionist asked me some questions I let out a little sigh and had to hold on to the desk. She gave me a funny look and then I realized that she thought I was aggravated with HER! I quickly apologized and told her that I was just feeling a bit ill.

Chipper came with me this time to help out with the two little ones. It is so good to have an extra pair of hands when you are spending so much time in waiting rooms. He even sang Sunday School and Signing Time songs to try to keep Ralph occupied. The waiting truly is the hardest part.

Ralph is so funny with the docs and nurses. He likes to swipe their stethoscopes, hang them around his own neck and pretend to listen to himself! When the nurses finally arrived to take him to the procedure room he proceeded to swipe the paper head covering off of one of them...three times! We said our so-longs in the hallway and went downstairs to the waiting room.

I nursed Ruby and Chipper got some snacks while we waited. The waiting room was pretty packed. Not too long after we sat down a code-blue was announced over the P.A. You could just feel all the air being sucked out of the room. The code was for another area so I was certain it was not Ralph. All the same, I was forced to consider what I would do if it were him. The code announcement was repeated a minute later and then an announcement for a certain family to return to their child's room.

Then I saw them through the window. Walking very quickly down the hall. Dad in front with mom in tears and trying to catch up with him. My heart sank.

Ralph's procedure took too long. I was starting to worry. We waited for two hours before the audiologist came to speak to us. We had the opportunity to review all the results right away. How nice! Here is the deal...Ralph most likely has a mild permanent hearing loss. He definitely had a conductive hearing loss on the day of the test.

A conductive hearing loss can be caused by fluid in the ears. He has never had an ear infection so this surprised me. Also, the fluid in the ears can throw off the results of the whole test. So...we are really back to square one.

Tomorrow Ralph goes to his new family doc. I hope that he can get a good look at his ears and see if there is any infection. We will go back to Kansas City next month to see and ENT and the audiologist. Perhaps he needs tubes in his ears? I opted to go back to KC because the ENT and speech and hearing clinic work together. It is worth it to have some continuity and familiarity.

A side note...Ralph came out of the procedure with a scrape on his forehead from one of the probes that were used. Now, four days later, he has a nasty, dime sized scab on his head. I bet it leaves a scar. Why? Have any of you DS moms experienced this?