Yesterday was our 6mthly CI review appt. It was a tough 5 hours of tests not only for Savannah but for me! I had to bring Ryder as i was feeding & of course the appt was right in the middle of her normal day sleep. So trying to keep her happy & attentive was a job in itself!
I'm starting to really not like going to the implant clinic, i come out of there every time more upset, emotional & really confused as to where we need to be with Savannah.
Everyone seems to have a different opinion as to what we should/shouldn't do. At current her hearing loss has had no change which is a good thing. Here was her Audiogram unaided.
The Audiologist explained to me that he isnt sure whether or not she will be getting all the speech sounds. She is too young to really know. We definitely know that she might get some things from the right aide but generally nothing more than directional. But at present he is not recommending an Implant for the right ear!!??
My question to him was basically, why would she not be recommended for the right ear (profound ear) if you think she isn't getting everything she needs for speech from the left? With today's technology why could my daughter be left behind in another 6mths time if in fact she isn't receiving everything she needs?
I really did feel like i was talking to a recorded voice machine. His response was the same over & over.....
What i couldn't understand (and please shed some light on me if u know anything about this) but they said even if they did implant her right ear she would only hear as well as her left aided????? hmmmmm no please correct me if i am wrong...BUT i have read many a blogs or posts about children with implants that had profound hearing loss that are now hearing at 20db or even less! So why would my daughter be different???
I would honestly think if she had the hearing aide & an implant she would have 2 ears that could hear all speech...is this not better than only having 1 ear to get speech from?
Am i asking too much from this technology? Am i selfish for wanting the absolute BEST for my daughter & if that means an implant to give her 2 ears that give her sound & speech from?
Maybe i am still trying to grasp alot of things about this subject, or maybe i am in la la land thinking that with the latest technology my daughter should have perfect speech, of course i don't expect the aides or implant to give her "perfect hearing" but i do know that we can expect perfect speech.
I have meet many children that you would not even realize that they where deaf or had implants until you saw the processor. that's what i want for my daughter. Is that not realistic?
The Audiologist thinks that Savannah will most likely not have perfect speech & that she will sound somewhat "deaf" if that makes sense. What annoys me the most is that her review letter 6mths ago recommended she be considered for the implant as it would help her gain more sounds & be able to identify where they are coming from & allow her more access to speech.
Little did i know i actually have ZERO input into my daughters well being in this matter. I apparently am not a ENT dr nor do i have a degree to recommend her for the implant. So basically they are playing black jack with my daughters hearing!
Yes she is talking, yes she says quite alot of words & understands alot. But i don't know if she is where a normal hearing child would be.
When we saw the ENT surgeon he was actually no better than the Audiologist! He actually said she isn't a candidate for the implant at all! And that her hearing loss isn't clean cut? lol i really don't know how much more "Clean cut" you can get when the results are sitting in front of you! My daughter is profound in her right ear...that's pretty deaf if u ask me! And her mod/sev ear isn't a small loss its quite a sev loss!
I'm starting to think that our "free" medical services are starting to pull the reins in on the kids they don't think really need the implant..
They will not implant her untill there is evidence that the hearing aides are not enough for her. And even then they cannot guarantee her the implant! So i now have to wait another long 6mths to see whether Savannah will start talking or whether she will start regressing because she isnt hearing enough. Then if she isnt i have to wait untill some overpaid surgeon decides its necessary! At this point, im not happy where we are at. As i said, maybe i expect too much & maybe im being a tad over the top. But this is my daughter & i want the absolute best for her. That may not be the implant right now but i want it to be open to her in 6mths time.

So only time will tell. The Intervention Co-ordinator believes am Implant will help her dramatically so what do u do? They dont have much say unfortunately when it comes to this. I was really positive about her future & knew she would be ok, but now i am not so sure. I am seriously worried that she wont get what she needs & that she wont hear everything nor talk normally. Feels like im back at day 1 again. Not a fun thing :(