Audiology etc.

Sorry about the tardiness in the update. We have had quite a week and I just haven't had it in me to talk about it.

The ABR test and dental work were all completed with no problems. Sofie recovered fantastically and is doing well. The ABR showed moderate hearing loss in the RT ear and mild hearing loss in the LT ear. She will wear hearing aids for the rest of her life. She has both conductive hearing loss and sensory neural hearing loss. The good news is that she has more hearing than she has hearing loss. That is awesome news. I was so afraid it would be the other way around.

The dental work was a little more involved than what we thought it would be. She had her teeth sealed and he smoothed out all the rough surfaces. He also filled four teeth and tried to save her two, upper front teeth. It was not to be. One had an abscess and had to be removed and the one beside it just fell apart and he had nothing left to even attempt a crown. She will have no front teeth until she is 7 or 8 and her permanent teeth come in. It hasn't slowed her down at all. She had nacho chips and guacamole for dinner that night. She does have hard time biting into food and tearing into it so we have to cut up most food for her.

Sofie did amazing at her Audiology appointment where she was fitted for her hearing aids. What was supposed to be a 90 min appointment ended up lasting almost 2 1/2 hours. She played, she read books, she had her ear tubes checked ( they are open and working ), she had foam molds made of her ear canals, she ate snacks and then she found a package of wipes in my purse and proceeded to clean the office :) She was awesome and amazing as always and she does far better than we do. It was an overwhelming appointment. The amount of information that we were provided was just WOW!!! It is kinda weird. When we started the process to adopt from China we researched all kinds of medical conditions. I knew a lot about cleft lip and palate. It just feels like there is so much I don't know about hearing loss. They walk you through the whole process but you still just feel WOW! I know we will work our way through it and so will Sofie and we will all be fine.....we just have to get there and it is a process.

I have tried to explain to people why we are sort of in shock. I cannot explain it at all. I think you have to have gone through this to understand fully. It is a strange experience to have someone come and talk to you about how much your child hears and what you are going to have to do to improve it. I know without a doubt that Sofie will be fine and Sofie will do great. She ALWAYS does. It just hard as the parent because you are supposed to nurture and cocoon your child. It is so hard to explain. My heart just aches for this beautiful, wonderful, adorable little girl who has been through so much, yet, continues to give so much. She is amazing!

We also found out through this whole process that Sofie will need to go for more testing. She needs a CT Scan and we need to go to a Genetics Clinic for some testing. The CT will be done to not only rule out any abnormality which could be surgically corrected, but also, to rule out an abnormality that could at any moment result in permanent and total hearing loss. The Genetic testing will be done to rule out any type of "syndrome." There are about 8 of them.

I hate labels. I hate labeling children. Syndromes label kids. What do you think of when you hear that word. She may indeed have a syndrome but is doesn't change who she is. She is wonderful and smart and funny. I owe it to her to get as much information for her as I can, for the day when she decides to have children. So we will proceed. It doesn't and will not change anything. Sofie is Sofie and she is wonderful!

So, having someone tell you that your child can't hear very well is hard. You should try someone telling you that you need to take your child to a Genetics Clinic. My heart hit the floor. I hadn't even considered that..........one day at a time :)

Thank you so much for reading this and for listening to me. I NEEDED to get this out. It was probably the most difficult post I have ever written. My heart is in every word........one day at a time :)