I Don't Think I Heard You Right

Brooke and Brecklyn had their five year well check on February 19th, after it had to be rescheduled due to a snow we had early in the month of February. I've never gone into any of my kids' well visits with any major concerns, and I've never received news I wasn't expecting. I try very hard to not take my kids' good health for granted. I know that many people deal with all kinds of issues with their kids that I can't even begin to understand, and I'm often grateful for my ignorance. 

I was expecting the twins' five year well visit to go just like all the other well visits we had experienced. I wasn't expecting anything crazy, out of the ordinary, or surprising. Well, as you can probably guess, what I was expecting was not what we got. 

The first hiccup was that Brecklyn failed her hearing test in her right ear. Our pediatrician's nurse was giving the test, and he even changed up some of the equipment to see if he would get different results as we had no reason to think that Brecklyn was struggling with her hearing. Then, he gave Brooke the test, and she also failed in her right ear. After the hearing tests, our pediatrician came in to talk to me about the results. He asked me some questions about each girl, and I had to laugh when he asked if either of them tended to be louder than most children. I mean, Brooke is definitely a loud girl, but that's more of personality thing and not a hearing thing, lol. Everything kind of happened really quickly, and I felt like I couldn't really even process what was going on when our pediatrician referred both girls to an audiologist for further testing. I was kind of baffled, but also felt like there must be some kind of mistake.

As if all that wasn't enough, both girls also had to have shots right after our pediatrician left the room. And they both FREAKED out . . . totally lost their minds. Our poor pediatrician's nurse had to step away for a minute because Brooke was kicking him so much. I would have never guessed they would act that way, and again, I was baffled. I didn't even know what to do! It took both the nurse and me to hold them down, and even then it was a battle. Once we finally got out to the van to leave, I had to sit and compose myself before I could even drive. 

That afternoon, I called the audiologists office and was able to get the girls an appointment just two days later on February 21st at 10:30am. I was pleasantly surprised that they could be seen so soon, but Chris couldn't get off work in such short notice. Mom agreed to go with me to the appointment, and I was so thankful to have another adult there. The reason for this is because they gave both girls their hearing tests at the same time. Obviously, I can't be in two places at once, so I was very grateful G-Jo could go with Brooke while I went with Brecklyn. 

Also, the girls were pretty nervous for this appointment. I didn't realize it until they started to get really quiet in the van. The closer we got to the audiologists' office, the more quiet they became. They were perfectly calm and quiet in the waiting room, too. 

Brecklyn paid very close attention during her hearing test, and I could tell she was trying to do her best. The technician that administered the test shared with us that she has a daughter named Brecklyn, too! That made Brecklyn's day since we rarely meet anyone that shares her name :-).

The test lasted about 30 minutes, and after we left the little testing room we met up with Brooke and G-Jo. The technician that tested Brooke and the technician that tested Brecklyn both quickly shared the results of the testing with me while G-Jo took the girls to go play in the waiting room. I was pretty much in shock when they said that both girls did, indeed, have hearing loss in their right ear. In fact, their test results were so similar that even the techs were surprised! I truly thought we would go in for the tests and discover there had been an error at our pediatrician's office. I really didn't even entertain the thought that maybe there really was an issue with their hearing. 

I also didn't realize that we wouldn't be seeing a doctor during that visit. I had to schedule another appointment to meet with the doctor and formulate a plan of action. 

Our follow-up appointment with the doctor was on Friday, March 5th at 2:30 in the afternoon. The girls and I stopped for lunch at Cane's before meeting Daddy at the audiologists' office. 

The doctor did an exam on both girls and concluded that they are both struggling with fluid in the right ear that is affecting their ability to hear. Typically, if a child has fluid trapped in their ear, they will get an ear infection, but neither girl has that. He felt like the problem hadn't been going on for too long and was hopeful that we could eliminate the issue with medication and a steroid. We left the appointment SO thankful and relieved. We felt like that was the best case scenario! I had had two weeks to get a little too nervous and worried about what this appointment might mean, and I was just so thankful that we weren't immediately looking at surgery or any kind of permanent hearing loss. 

The game plan right now is take the meds prescribed, then basically wait and see. The girls started the meds yesterday and already the steroid is making them crazy. I just keep reminding myself that it will be worth it if it works. The girls have an appointment to have their hearing tested again on April 28th, and we hope and pray everything will be normal at that time!