The home front has been quite busy recently, with getting IEP services into place, preparing for Nolan's first day of preschool this Tuesday, and a marathon (Dennis, not me).
Very rare: a picture of the entire familyThings are ticking along as expected: we have secured a Teacher of the Deaf (TOD) for Nolan, and she is wonderful (we know her through various events with the local Jr. Deaf Club). We'll start his monthly monitoring services soon, and she'll be instrumental in helping us set up his FM system.
We have an appointment with the ENT tomorrow. As far as I can tell, Nolan's ear doesn't look great. Mr. Otoscope says there is still a lot of whitish gunk* in his ear canal, though the tube is visible and clear. I'm not sure if the gunk is simply leftover material from an infection that has been killed off, or if it is a sign of active infection. I guess we'll find out tomorrow- I certainly hope the infection is gone.
We also have to ask the ENT for her opinion on the bone conduction testing from the John Tracy Clinic. We had Nolan's bone conduction scores run again in Buffalo two weeks ago, but we have not received the report in the mail. This is rather unusual, since we usually have the report within a week or so- because of this, we won't have the results to show our ENT. In the long run, I suppose it doesn't matter. I might request a referral to the Cleveland Clinic to obtain an audiology and ENT consult- we aren't making any headway with the confusing results in Buffalo, so perhaps another site can sort things out for us. In any case, we have to get a handle on Nolan's general hearing levels and type.
The lowest priority issue will be discussing the sleep study results- we've chosen the "watch and wait" method of treating it, even though we know it is unlikely to simply disappear over time. The ENT also handles sleep apnea, so I'm sure she'll discuss these results with us again. We've already gone over them with the neurologist, so I expect there won't be very much time spent on this particular area of concern.
Tomorrow will be a busy day, but hopefully we'll walk out of the office with a few more answers than questions!
*I'm pretty sure gunk is the technical term.
4 comments:
Isn't it crazy that at this relatively late stage in the game there can sill be questions about general hearing levels? You feel like your son has been tested a million times for everything, then suddenly it may not be how you thought it was. It's a full time job trying to keep up Keeping our fingers crossed that the infection is gone!
Yes, "gunk" is a standard medical term; I've heard many medical professionals use it.
You could call BHSC and ask for them to fax the report to PENTA. But in any event I think the referral would be a good idea -- even though car trip to Cleveland might be a bit much to squeeze in now that school is starting. Good luck with that on Tuesday!
I was concerned about his ear as you haven't been posting.You are such a regular otherwise. I really hope NOW this infection is far far away.It is frustrating to get different results and I hope you have a report which tells you facts.I too am trying to get all her aided unaided done here and hope to see her aids are helping her enough.If not then we need to change.
Why does it seem that everybodys children but mine have a TOD? Should I have asked for that? The only thing we have for help is an SLP and a county audiologist.
Nolan looks so big in that first picture! He's really growing up fast!
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