Audiology - Post operation check up

It's about 3 months since Elis had grommets put in to rectify his glue ear. We have noticed a huge improvement in his speech development since having the operation. He also had his tonsils and adenoids removed (you can read more about the hospital stay and recovery HERE) and the combination has meant he's taken leaps forward on the speech side. I imagine he's managing to explore more sounds with his tongue now they have been dealt with the tonsils and adenoids and the grommets allow him to hear better all the time.

We had a bit of a palaver getting there as Elis threw up in the car. Thankfully I was prepared for him being car sick so I had a change of clothes and had allowed time for a clean up we made it with zero seconds to spare.

Our last audiology appointment was in the summer so I was looking forward to this one as we enjoy working with his team but I was also sure we'd get a good report back and hopefully not have to be back too soon. Elis has always been so patient with the hearing tests - they are all play based and he genuinely cheered when we arrived as he has so much fun at these appointments. I have more info about audiology appointments available on the dedicated "dwarfism awareness" page. 

Elis did great on his games and I noticed a huge difference in his respons and the sounds he was picking up when he didn't have the head phones on. The test was re done with head phones which allows them to send sounds to only one ear at a time. For a while he flew through but all of a sudden there were long pauses and i grew concerned.

Last night he had slipped and banged his ear/head side onto a bed with a metal frame and been in agony. After I had noticed discharge in his ear - they've been really clear since his op whenever I've looked so I was worried it might have dislodged the grommet - this of course played on my mind when I saw the responses slowing. I had brought the injury up at the beginning of the appointment but his audiologist said it was unlikely that the fall had done anything to the grommet as usually it involves far more pressure for that to happen. I would've doubted him but he's seen Elis since he was a baby and always been very reliable and correct in his theories.

The test drew to a close in any case and he showed me the results which showed a huge improvement in Elis' right ear, but it also showed that his left ear's hearing was unchanged since our last appointment. He felt this suggested that the grommet had indeed fallen out so he checked both ears and while he couldn't get a clear visual of the right grommet he was pretty certain that it was still there behind some ear wax. The left grommet was nowhere to be seen though and as there wasn't a sign of a hole or fresh wound as he'd expect if it had fallen out recently he felt it must've been out at least 3 weeks but an exact time is anybody's guess.

I won't lie it was pretty disheartening as Elis has been doing so well since the op. Of course we have to hope that he continues to progress with just the one good ear but we're back to square one with the bad ear. If we're lucky the right grommet will stay for as long as possible and fingers crossed the glue ear won't reappear. But I feel like it's more likely it will. 

I had brought his old hearing aids with me so audiologist double checked the left one was still set to his needs and that's now Elis back to (partially) using a hearing aid. We'd started the appointment hoping we'd not need a follow up for another 6-12 months but this will now need monitoring every three months in case he loses more hearing again. We could opt for another set of grommets down the line but I'd like to avoid it if possible so I'm hoping we will continue to make good progress on the speech and language side of things so he gets to a point where it feels like the hearing aids will help him enough to be his best. Not ideal but I'm glad we found out now when we can do something about it and i now know I need to keep an eye on him.

As he'd done so well despite throwing up his breakfast on the way there we stopped at McDonald's on the way home as it's a rare treat. He ended up being sick on the way home as well - bloody car sickness - but he was so delighted with his play and the flags he got when we got food so he was still happy with his day at bedtime.