Hearing Appointment

Last night I capped her while she was sleeping.  She did terrible.  She clearly had difficulty breathing - and sometimes just stopped for a few seconds.  And it sounds like she was snoring really badly.  That's the sound of her upper airway occlusion - the base of her tongue.  So, I am seriously considering just skipping the whole sleep study thing.  Because if that's what she's going to do - it would be a big, fat waste of time and effort.

I'll deal with my disappointment later.  I don't have time right now.  And if I wait long enough my hope will somehow be restored.  I have no idea how that happens.  I just know it does.

Today we had an appointment with Harlie's audiologist.  This was our first time seeing her in months (since before her spinal fusion surgery).  We tried the bucket game for the first time.  Harlie wore headphones (with no hearing aid) and every time she heard a sound she had to drop a toy in a bucket.

Ann teaching her how to play.

On her own with headphones.

I was a little worried when her audiologist had to go and get some help.  Ann stayed in the sound booth (the quietest place on earth) with her while her co-worker worked the sounds and microphone.  I guess Harlie didn't feel like playing any of their games today.  It's difficult to tell if she couldn't hear, or just wasn't motivated.  The thought went through my mind that maybe her hearing is getting worse.  I'm afraid that is not news I could handle very well right now.  But Ann said that she didn't think it was any worse than before.  Whew!

They adjusted the volume in her hearing aid, making it louder for her.  I really hope that's not a bad sign.  Ann said that we had to adjust it slowly in the beginning because she wasn't used to hearing that well.  But now she's gotten used to it, so it's normal to have to increase the volume.

We talked about a bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) for her left ear (the one that's absent).  She tried to test her with one, but by then Harlie was over the whole thing and said she was "all done" and that was that.  So we'll go back soon and start with that test.  Here's a picture of a BAHA (which has to be worn as a band until she gets old enough to have the device implanted in her skull):

The band would totally mess up her whole bow thing she's got going on.  But, I guess if she hears better, we need to consider it.  So, we'll see what happens there.

After that appointment, we had speech therapy.  I've been wanting to tell you about that, but can't finish that post right now.  So check back soon for that post!  It's pretty exciting!

Thanks!
~Christy