I just got off a pretty extensive phone call with the audiologist from the E.N.T. office. Now that we have confirmation that Troy has cochlea and they seem to be implantable, we can take these next few steps.
1) An evaluation with Troy's hearing aids with the audiologist at the hospital
2) A speech and language evaluation with the audiologist at the hospital (yes, I know this doesn't seem to make a lot of sense. These audiologists with be meeting with Troy once a month after his implant to work on speech, so they need a starting point).
3) Audiologists fax the ENT's office their results
4) ENT submits and gets approval from our insurance for BILATERAL implants. The audiologist said she has not had any problems getting approval for bilaterals from Priority Health (our insurance co).
~For those of you who don't know: bilateral implants are a HUGE deal. This is GREAT news and insurance companies in our area have just started to approve bilaterals in the last year! Troy will be the 2nd kid at his deaf school with bilaterals! This is a HUGE deal!~
5) If all of this can be done by late September we will have surgery OCTOBER 14, 2009!!!!
Please say your prayers that all of this goes as planned. These next few steps should go off without a problem. My biggest fear is the insurance company, but the audiologist saying that she's not had any problems reassures me.
Thursday, June 18, 2009
Wednesday, June 17, 2009
Cochlear Implant Process (update)...
As many of you know, two weeks ago Thom, Troy and I spent the day in the hospital for Troy's MRI and other tests. Yesterday we got GREAT NEWS...Troy's cochlea are normal and ready for implant in early October! YEAH SOUND!!
Here are some pictures from his testing:
The nurse getting Troy ready
Trying to get Troy's oxygen reading
Troy's hospital bracelet and some cream on his hand to numb it so they can look for veins.
Cut little toes trying to get a reading.
After 2 hours of trying to find veins on his hands and feet, the only one they could use was one in his head. It was VERY traumatic for both Troy and Mommy.
After the MRI, Troy sleeping in his hospital crib
Hospital audiologists running the BAER test.
Sensors on his head for the BAER test
Here are some pictures from his testing:
The nurse getting Troy ready
Trying to get Troy's oxygen reading
Troy's hospital bracelet and some cream on his hand to numb it so they can look for veins.
Cut little toes trying to get a reading.
After 2 hours of trying to find veins on his hands and feet, the only one they could use was one in his head. It was VERY traumatic for both Troy and Mommy. 
After the MRI, Troy sleeping in his hospital crib
Hospital audiologists running the BAER test.
Sensors on his head for the BAER testMonday, June 15, 2009
Picture update...
Yes, it's been a while since there has been a picture update.
So...here you go (sorry there are so many!)
So...here you go (sorry there are so many!)
Aunt Holly & Troy watching mom get dinner ready
Troy's first time in his swing!
Eating watermelon rind, his new favorite!!
More swinging!
Hanging out, being goofy!
Troy loves to get into Daddy's Wii controlers. Shhhh...don't tell Daddy!!
Hanging out in his indoor swing.
More watermelon rind
I made the mistake of giving him this big piece of watermelon. I didn't realize how much he could actually eat with 1 tooth! It was quickly taken away.
All the kids on the back deck, bummer Brady's eyes are closed!
Daniella being an awesome big sister!
Two of my boys being manly men!Friday, June 5, 2009
Questions for my friends with deaf children...
The other day I came across a boat-load (yes, a whole boat-load) of blogs of deaf children. Many of them have already had the cochlear implant process.
My question to these parents are: what type of CI (which company) did you choose for your child and why?
My question to these parents are: what type of CI (which company) did you choose for your child and why?
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Troy's Test Day
Thank you all for your many thoughts and prayers during Troy's tests yesterday. We are doing much better today. Yesterday was rough for both Troy and I, Thom was able to handle it like a champ!
We arrived at the hospital at 9:00 am and went into the children's radiology unit. At this point Troy had not eaten for 10 1/2 hours and was a little fussy, but he's a very happy baby, so was able to do well. The nurse got us back right away and started putting numbing cream on the back of Troy's hands and inside his elbows for an IV. At about 10:00 am it was Troy's nap time and he started to fall asleep in my arms. The nurse told us she didn’t want him to sleep yet because he had to swallow some medicine to make him go to sleep (ironic?...just a little bit). We woke him back up and he was PISSED!!! At that point the nurses started trying to get the IV in. Yes, I said TRYING. It ended up taking 3 nurses 1 1/2 hours, and many, MANY pokes in the back of his arms and inside his elbows. Most of the time they were unable to find veins, and the few times they were able to his veins were so dehydrated (it had been 12+ hours without eating/drinking) his veins would collapse. Troy was SCREAMING this whole time and at some point during this I started to become very upset, especially when they noticed a good vein in his head and mentioned an IV would work there. I had to step out of the room and go watch "Finding Nemo" in the waiting room. After about 20 minutes they were able to get and IV in a vein above his right ear and I was able to return and rock Troy to sleep.
They rolled Troy away to his MRI and Thom and I were able to go visit our friend from work, Maria. On Memorial Day her husband and her were riding their motorcycles when an illegal immigrant pulled in front of her husband. He t-boned the car and ended up flying 30 feet in the air. At this point they think he is going to live, however they do not know what kind of mental capacity he will have. We were glad to be able to visit.
Upon returning to Troy's room, they were in the middle of the BAER test. This test measures activity of the brain as different level sounds are placed in his ear - it tells us the extent of his deafness. Yup…Troy's still deaf :). However, we were able to find out some good news. When they first did the test (when he was 4 weeks old) they thought they were able to see a 5th wave in Troy's right ear. We are not sure what exactly a 5th wave is, but it means that there is some level of activity in Troy's right ear when they test at a 90 decibels (we speak at 45 decibels, so 90 is REALLY loud). This is a GOOD thing because if there was no cochlea, then there wouldn't have been able to see a 5th wave at all. So, it seems that we have a "some-what" working cochlea at least on 1 side!!!
Troy eventually woke up and we were able to give him some apple juice which he gobbled right up. He then drank a whole bottle (what a pig!!)
We were able to leave the hospital at about 1:30. The rest of the day Troy slept on and off and was really wobbly. When he was awake he acted stoned.
While at the hospital Thom requested a copy of the MRI. When we got home he was able to look at the scans of Troy's head on the computer. It was really cool!! We were able to see his eyeballs, sinus cavities, top of his spine and other various things. During our 8 months of dealing with deafness, Thom and I have learned what a cochlea looks like and low and behold…we saw 2 beautiful cochlea in his MRI scan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, don't go getting too excited, because (this might surprise you) Thom and I aren't doctors and even though there are 2 cochlea there, they still might not be able to be implanted.
We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers. We should find out no later than 2 weeks if they cochlea are okay to implant!
Thanks again for thinking and praying for us! We will let you know what we find out!
We arrived at the hospital at 9:00 am and went into the children's radiology unit. At this point Troy had not eaten for 10 1/2 hours and was a little fussy, but he's a very happy baby, so was able to do well. The nurse got us back right away and started putting numbing cream on the back of Troy's hands and inside his elbows for an IV. At about 10:00 am it was Troy's nap time and he started to fall asleep in my arms. The nurse told us she didn’t want him to sleep yet because he had to swallow some medicine to make him go to sleep (ironic?...just a little bit). We woke him back up and he was PISSED!!! At that point the nurses started trying to get the IV in. Yes, I said TRYING. It ended up taking 3 nurses 1 1/2 hours, and many, MANY pokes in the back of his arms and inside his elbows. Most of the time they were unable to find veins, and the few times they were able to his veins were so dehydrated (it had been 12+ hours without eating/drinking) his veins would collapse. Troy was SCREAMING this whole time and at some point during this I started to become very upset, especially when they noticed a good vein in his head and mentioned an IV would work there. I had to step out of the room and go watch "Finding Nemo" in the waiting room. After about 20 minutes they were able to get and IV in a vein above his right ear and I was able to return and rock Troy to sleep.
They rolled Troy away to his MRI and Thom and I were able to go visit our friend from work, Maria. On Memorial Day her husband and her were riding their motorcycles when an illegal immigrant pulled in front of her husband. He t-boned the car and ended up flying 30 feet in the air. At this point they think he is going to live, however they do not know what kind of mental capacity he will have. We were glad to be able to visit.
Upon returning to Troy's room, they were in the middle of the BAER test. This test measures activity of the brain as different level sounds are placed in his ear - it tells us the extent of his deafness. Yup…Troy's still deaf :). However, we were able to find out some good news. When they first did the test (when he was 4 weeks old) they thought they were able to see a 5th wave in Troy's right ear. We are not sure what exactly a 5th wave is, but it means that there is some level of activity in Troy's right ear when they test at a 90 decibels (we speak at 45 decibels, so 90 is REALLY loud). This is a GOOD thing because if there was no cochlea, then there wouldn't have been able to see a 5th wave at all. So, it seems that we have a "some-what" working cochlea at least on 1 side!!!
Troy eventually woke up and we were able to give him some apple juice which he gobbled right up. He then drank a whole bottle (what a pig!!)
We were able to leave the hospital at about 1:30. The rest of the day Troy slept on and off and was really wobbly. When he was awake he acted stoned.
While at the hospital Thom requested a copy of the MRI. When we got home he was able to look at the scans of Troy's head on the computer. It was really cool!! We were able to see his eyeballs, sinus cavities, top of his spine and other various things. During our 8 months of dealing with deafness, Thom and I have learned what a cochlea looks like and low and behold…we saw 2 beautiful cochlea in his MRI scan!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Now, don't go getting too excited, because (this might surprise you) Thom and I aren't doctors and even though there are 2 cochlea there, they still might not be able to be implanted.
We are keeping our fingers crossed and saying lots of prayers. We should find out no later than 2 weeks if they cochlea are okay to implant!
Thanks again for thinking and praying for us! We will let you know what we find out!
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