Caden's ears

As some of you know, caden's hearing test came back "abnormal". He has a mild to moderate hearing loss. Monday I took him to the ENT at Loma Linda. (luckily the insurance allowed us to go out of network to the pediatric specialist, due to the fact the boys also go there).

Caden's ear drums are slightly retracted (sucken in), but no visible fluid. SO he is getting some negative pressure when they test the inner ear. As my pediatrician warned me, the ENT's first suggestion was going to be, "put tubes in his ears". I asked if this was a guarantee that he would hear better, and she said no. Right away I then asked what the second option was and then the third. Second option is get his ears retested at Loma linda, then third option was hearing aids.

At this point, we are waiting for approval to get his hearing re tested at Loma Linda, with the same audiologist that his brothers have. (i really like him). Once we have those results we can make a more informed decision. As of right now, we are not going to do any surgeries. His loss is a mixed conductive/senori neural. This means that the conductive part (inner ear "issues") could be fixed, but then that would still leave him with a nerve hearing loss (thanks to genetics). Hearing aids are probably in his future as well.

If you know caden, you know a boy who talks a lot, and seems to have a wide range of vocabulary. He carries on conversations, and is a quick learner. After the results came back, however, I now see letter sounds that are missing, and notice him wanting the radio, tv, computer turned up, he speaks VERY loudly, and misunderstands me at times. To compensate, I have been using strategies you'd use on anyone with a hearing loss. One, being, look right at him and speak clearly.

Just like his momma...one on one situations and small group settings, you would never know he had an issue with hearing. The audiologist in LA said that you will start to notice the loss when he gets in school... so to prevent that we are taking action now.

Maybe loma linda will re-test him and prove the first test to be completely off. We'll see...
Hoping the referral comes back soon, and we can have this appt this month.