Getting somewhere

I am still not liking doctors right about now but we at least seem to be getting somewhere and have some hope at the end of the tunnel (no thanks to the ENT).

Yesterday we went to Natalie's ENT follow up appointment for the blockage in her tube. We arrived at 1:30pm on the dot to find out that the appointment was not scheduled until 2:30pm (that's not what they told me when we scheduled!). Needless to say I was not very happy. I woke both kids up from a dead sleep to drive thirty minutes away to find out they could have slept an extra hour. Once again, doctors are not on my happy list right now.

Luckily the kids did really really well. I can't complain. They have lots of toys in their waiting room so that kept them pretty well occupied. They resorted to chasing each other around the waiting room and tackling each other after about 45 minutes but I wasn't about to stop them. They weren't crying and no one else was in there so I didn't feel bad about it at all. Natalie did manage to knock over the table lamp twice though (which she got scolded over both times). She thought it was a game. That girl! Not quite sure how to do time out in a Dr office. We will be tackling that one next time. I'm sure we will be revisiting this scenario again shortly.

To prove a point, they called me back to the room at exactly 2:30pm (no one had gone back for the entire hour I was there). The doctor was in within minutes and took a look at her ear. "You guys did a good job of cleaning it out," he said. He congratulated us on successfully removing the blockage. So, that was it.

I think to feel like he actually deserved the $30 we were forking out for this, he did feel it important to inform me that the ear drum in her left ear was starting to heal so he wouldn't be surprised if the tube gets pushed out soon. Oh lovely. That's what I want to hear. And he again felt it necessary to remind me that he doesn't think there is anything wrong with her hearing. Well I am certainly glad he thinks so because I one hundred percent disagree.

So, with that. We paid our $30 and departed. Really? We wait an hour, are seen for three minutes, and pay him for his services. They must think we are made of money and time. Sheesh!

I think it goes without saying that I was feeling pretty hopeless at this point. I was once again frustrated with doctors, concerned about Natalie, and we weren't getting any answers.

Today was Natalie's second attempt at a hearing test. We were scheduled to do an Otoacoustic emissions (OAE) test and another sound booth session. We needed Natalie asleep for the first one. She will fall asleep in the car without fail if I don't want her to, but when I need her to, no such luck. She struggled to stay awake the entire drive to the doctor. She kept waking herself up or talking to herself so she wouldn't fall asleep. I even called the doctor to let them know we were in the parking lot but were circling around until she fell asleep. I drove the parking lot for ten minutes with no luck. Feeling quite defeated, I finally gave up and went inside with a very much awake and alert Natalie.

The receptionist was kind enough to keep Weston entertained until Roland could make it to the office so that I could sit in the booth with Natalie. Natalie was not happy one bit about being in there. She put up quite a fight. She finally sat still once she started playing peek-a-boo with the doctor. Eventually that was no longer interesting enough and she began fighting again. I brought out the food. Luckily that worked. We were able to get another ten minutes or so out of her but not without quite the decoration of food all over the floor. She had fun picking that up when we were done!

The doctor wasn't very pleased with the results we got. Natalie didn't really respond to anything. She maybe turned her head three or four times. Other than that, she stared blankly ahead. We have no way of knowing whether she just didn't hear anything or she just could care less. She did express concern though over the fact that she did not startle with a loud noise. At one point in the screening she blasted a really loud noise through the speaker, so much so that even I jumped and looked over. Natalie just nonchalantly glanced over at the speaker. She told me that at that age she should have cried or at least startled a little.

She wanted to try to get the OAE done so next became the difficult task of getting her to fall asleep. We turned off the light in the booth and I rocked her, sang to her, and held her. Boy did she fight. She screamed, arched her back, flew her arms around and pretty much did everything she possibly could to stay awake. After ten minutes or so, I let Roland give it a try. He tried for probably twenty minutes. No luck. What a stubborn girl!!!!

The doctor finally told us not to worry about it. She referred us to a place where we could get an Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) test. This would be more inclusive than the one she was going to do anyway so we would still get the information we needed, plus it was done with her sedated. The doctor explained to me that she does feel that Natalie has a slight or mild hearing loss but that she can't get accurate information for us. She wants to make sure we know exactly what is going on. I agree. She told me that once we get this test done we will know for sure exactly what she is and is not hearing. We can then take further steps at that point.

I was frustrated that we still didn't have answers but I was comforted in knowing that she supported me in my concerns and that this next test would actually yield the information we needed. Plus, she would be sedated so there is no screwing it up this time! So, there is some light at the end of the tunnel. The hard part is getting the appointment scheduled. I called the University of Texas Callier Center because I never canceled Natalie's appointment for this Friday and was hoping to just change the appointment to an ABR test. But, their power went out today so the office was closed until tomorrow. Go figure. I did get a hold of a Dr Peters that she suggested in Dallas. The earliest we could get in was September 2. I'm crossing my fingers we can get in sooner at Callier Center.

To top off the evening, Early Childhood Intervention stopped by to do their evaluation on Natalie. They were here for about an hour and a half watching her and working with her to see how she is developmentally. They were asking me lots of questions and Weston was not too thrilled that all of these people were here to play with Natalie and not him. He was quite upset. I had to tend to him several times. I think we may need to re-think the time they come.

The good news is that she qualifies for their services. The bad news is she really is far behind. They scored her in five different categories. This is how she scored (keep in mind she is just shy of 20 months old):
-Cognitive (gaining skills and knowledge): 16 month equivalent
-Communication (expressing and understanding): 10 month equivalent (I wanted to die when I heard she was at the level of ten months old!)
-Social Emotional (interactions): 27 month equivalent
-Physical (use of hands and movement): 18 month equivalent
-Adaptive (self care and independence): 16 month equivalent

I was really sad when I saw how poorly she scored. I knew that we had concerns for her but didn't realize they were that bad. Dumb ENT! Don't tell me she doesn't have a hearing problem. How do you explain the poor communication skills? They told me that everything is linked together so if we do find out she has a hearing problem and can get her hearing aids they are very optimistic that her communication and cognitive skills will soar. I sure hope so. In the meantime, they will be out weekly working with her and also gave me several suggestions of techniques I can use with her as well. I just wish September 2 would get here a little faster. The clock is ticking!