Rylan's Hearing

I just wanted to let everyone know at once about his hearing evaluation yesterday. they did three different tests and I will list the results of all. Rylan did an excellent job! He let Ms. Jan put all sorts of things into his ears and never threw a fit. It was cute because he requested the "light" after everything was inserted into his ear so she could keep looking into his ear. I can't believe how well he did following all the directions and allowing Ms. Jan to poke his ears numerous times to keep retesting to verify the results. We did the tympanometry test probably 6 times to make sure the results were valid.

Audiometry in sound field. Ry's best ear response is 35 dB. Normal range is below 0 to 15. He sat on my lap in the sound box and responded to the noises and voices. It was cute because everytime he turned the correct way a box would light up with a musical animal and he would grab my hands and dance around. The worst part was hearing the noise and watching him wait for the next sound because he couldn't hear the noise. It brought tears to my eyes.

Tympanometry produces a tympanogram that should begin at 0 and peak like a mountain between 4-10. His never peaked. His results stayed as a straight line for the left ear and made a slight arc to 1 in his right ear. This test blew air into his ear and recorded the movement of the middle ear.

The last test was Otoacoustic Emissions in which he passed with his right ear but failed with his left. This test clicks and sends a sound to the inner ear and then the sound needs to bounce back in order to pass.

The day before his hearing test we were in the doctor's office to make sure their coughs were not serious*. The doctor checked his ears carefully to make sure their was no fluid or extra ear wax, as either of those items would have made his testing unreliable. Plus, we had his ears checked on the 16th of April to check for fluid as his language was slurring again. On the 16th our doctor said he had no fluid but his ear was a tad red, like he was just getting over an ear infection. He has an appointment with the ENT Monday and at that time we will find out more. No matter the results of all of this I am very thankful that he can hear, even if it isn't as well as most.

*Susan and Rylan still have the slight cough from Easter, both have sinusitis and could be on amoxicillin and breathing treatments. I declined both initially, called yesterday after panicking about the failed hearing tests, to have them both treated but the doctor and ENT would rather we wait on Rylan rather than treat him unnecessarily. I got a RX for Susan but haven't filled it yet. Saline seems to be working.