Tomorrow is another "first" for Nolan, though its one I never anticipated when I was pregnant with him. Tomorrow we get to go into a sound booth and plot his first real audiogram. Up until now, his hearing ability was measured by ABR. While completely objective and fairly accurate, it is a measure of how much sound the brainstem is responding to and is not considered the "gold standard" for measuring hearing level. Behavioral testing is the gold standard, and Nolan is finally old enough to attempt visual reinforcement audiometry (VRA). Basically, they play tones and then a lit-up puppet dances. The baby begins to anticipate the puppet-show, so will look to the display box after a tone is played and before the puppet begins to dance. Let's all hope that Nolan has a deep love of dancing monkeys (or rabbits, or whatever else they use to motivate the little guys).
His last ABR was six months ago, and showed a moderate loss in both ears with a rising slope configuration. He was at 50-60dB at 500Hz and 1000Hz (depending on the ear) and was at 35dB at 4000Hz.
I am surprisingly anxious about the test. I worry that he's lost more hearing and may have a progressive loss. In reality, if he has lost more hearing- its not a big deal. He already has hearing aids and we can just hook them up to the computer program to provide more amplification. Logic doesn't help when it comes to matters of the heart. And my kids are basically my heart walking around outside of my body. I am hoping and praying his hearing level is where it was in November 2007, but trying to prepare myself for the possibility that it has gotten worse. I can't really gauge from his behavior, because he is so young and is rather variable with response to sound- hopefully he'll catch on to the booth testing game quickly!
Now I'm off to bake more cookies (I bake when I'm stressed). I think we'll have about 8 dozen cookies by the time my dear husband comes home!
3 comments:
If you ever have so many cookies you don't know what to do, we can take some off your hands.
We've had four booth tests now. (I think - I keep losing count.) Practice makes perfect. This week was the first time we actually got her to sit still and give us good results.
That is funny! I bake when stressed also :) Best of luck in the soundbooth. I know how nerve wracking it is (((((Hugs)))))
And, enjoy those cookies ;)
I'd totally send along the cookies, but I made a brownie recipe and it came out raw in the middle. So much for dessert tonight! Here's to hoping he'll cooperate tomorrow.
Now I'm going to try some pudding. I'd like to see THAT come out raw in the middle! SHeesh.
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