Micah had an ENT appointment today. To say that he hates these is a gross understatement. Generally it takes me and two trained nurses to hold him down just to look into his ears. The boy failed the newborn hearing screening, and has been tested roughly twice a year since then in hopes of passing one. He did, once, when he was 4. We were relieved that it was over, but I knew he could hear so the stress wasn't a biggie. What was stressful was enduring the testing. The boy hated those, too. He would wiggle, fight, kick, yell, cry, and in the end he figured out how to sit quietly and purposely fail the test just to show everyone who was really in control.And there are those people who think that kids with Down syndrome are stupid.
Today I couldn't have been more proud of my boy. He lifted his shirt for the doctor to listen to his heart (this has been met with much wailing and gnashing of teeth in the past), he allowed his ears to be looked into, he opened his mouth for a visual of his non-existent tonsils, and he sat quietly for the doctor to peer into his snot-filled nose.
It made this mama 64 different levels of proud.
Because she couldn't see past the waxy build-up in his ears, the Doc sent him for a tympanogram. (A test that measures the sound waves bouncing off the ear drum. See above for a description of how cooperative he is for the procedure.) These involve putting plugs into his ears, much like weird shaped headphones. Non-invasive, and yet enough to send Micah into a tailspin.
The boy sat like a statue and watched Barney on television while the test was conducted. He got a perfect reading for the first time in 6 years of testing.
Skip the 64 levels of proud. We've reached miracle status.
The news is that he's not hearing all that well, which is a surprise to nobody. I have a whole lot of respect for those parents with deaf children. We've been using sign language a lot more recently, which is why I made today's appointment.
And because it's a day for miracles, the doctor had a cancellation for tomorrow. The boy will hear again by tomorrow afternoon after his 6th set of tubes are placed. Thank goodness that no wait is involved. The yelling that we do is getting old.
19 comments:
That's great! I hope tomorrow will bring two days worth of miracles. Good luck you guys.
Oh Yeah for the proud Mama moment! So wonderful. Good luck tomorrow.
What a relief for both you and him that he decided that it was OK for the doctor to check him out.
This reminds me that I need to have my sons hearing checked again. I am better mother just for reading your blog. Thank you.
Wow! That's awesome, Karen. I'm guessing they've suggested cleaning the wax, or would that be traumatic?
Nathaniel had dirty, waxy ears a couple of years ago and the doc flushed them out in the office. Nastiest thing I ever saw - I wanted to throw up. But it worked great.
I'm floored by Micah's cooperation. Do you think it's because he can now "talk" and is feeling heard and more powerful?
AWESOME!
I'll be praying . . . along with praising! Way to go Mr. Micah!
: D
Yeah! Micah is really growing up. Good luck tomorrow - I will be thinking of you two!
Yee-haw!
Wow, awesome job, Micah! 6th set, huh? Oof. Sean gets his third set on Friday. I was hoping there might be an end to those eventually!
Hooray, what a big boy! It's so wonderful when they get "it". Micah is growing up so fast. My sister's little girl has hearing trouble like Micah's. She too is getting tubes put in. A blessing Micah can get it done quickly. And give Micah a huge High 5 from me for being so incredibly good!
May tomorrow be just as big of a miracle as today!!
That is all just fantastic! Wooo hoooo! Way to go, Micah!
That sounds amazing, Karen. Good for Micah. BTW, Bun is exactly the same way when it comes to having her ears and throat checked -- well, the OLD way, not this new, calm way Micah has discovered.
Good luck tomorrrow,
rpm
Hope everything today went just as smooth as that appointment!
Your son never ceases to amaze me. You go, Micah!
Wow - he did awesome! max is generally great for the ENT to look in his ears, even great for Tympanograms and hearing test. But going into THAT room to get his ears cleaned out from all that WAX is a whole nether story! He then turns into how you explained Micah!
Great job Micah! I know there is a very high correlation between DS and HL, so it's good you keep following up.
Oh how very cool -- you've got to love it when they're growing up the right way. It's so cool when they make huge leaps like this. Go, Micah!
It sure is nice when they cooperate isn't it!? Sorry to hear he needed another set of tubes though - how frustrating! Did the ENT put in the T tubes? Those were the kind Kayla got last time and they seem to have done the trick, so far, knock on wood!
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