Eli's Ears

by Holly

Thanks for all of your comments and suggestions on our Stealth Baby. The last two nights have actually been doable, last night like old times. Went to sleep easy and stayed in his bed without a peep until I went to get him up for school. I do believe this whole escapade is due to two things combined: 1) He is a toddler and is learning about his environment, and 2) He has horrible fluid and chronic infections in his ears and he doesn't feel well, so he's not himself.

That said, here's the rundown from the ENT appointment yesterday. Eli first had a hearing test by an audiologist, which was a very interesting process. We both went into a booth, where I sat in a chair with Eli on my lap facing a corner. She turned the lights off in the room outside the booth and watched us through a small window. There were two speakers in the booth, one to our left and one to our right. Below each speaker was a glass fronted box with a toy inside. These were darkened. As she would play a sound, if Eli heard it and looked to the correct speaker, she would 'reward' him by lighting up the box under that speaker to allow him to see the toy. This kept him looking at the speakers to let us know what he was hearing. I was urged not to prompt him and I didn't. What was disturbing is the number of sounds Eli didn't hear at all, or some that he heard but wasn't sure where it was coming from.

We were told later by the doctor that Eli's level of hearing right now is like us trying to listen with our hands held tight over our ears. That made me feel horrible, not that I've done anything wrong as his mother, or neglected to do something I should have done, b/c I've been playing by the rules set forth by our pediatrician, and I trust and respect him. Still, I feel bad for Eli. The hearing loss is not permanent and should come back almost instantly once we have his tubes placed, which is scheduled for August 27th. That's how long we have to wait for an early morning appointment, to avoid forcing Eli to fast during daylight hours. Bless them for thinking of that!

The verdict for now is that Eli has a lot of fluid in his ears, but it is not currently infected. The reason he can't hear is b/c that fluid is pushing against his eardrums, prohibiting them from moving as they normally should. Once the tubes are placed and the fluid is drained, he should be back to his normal self for the most part.

Here's something: I have noticed in the last couple of weeks that the adorable animal sounds and words that Eli can say have become more muffled, less clear than they have been as he's learned them. I wondered why he wouldn't care as much about pronunciation as he first did, but here's our answer. He can't hear correctly, so he can't speak correctly.

Thank you for reading and please pray that the tube placement is easy and without complication, that his hearing and wellness return quickly and that we can all get our normal Eli back!