Posts tagged with "Doctor Appointments"
Hey everyone! Thank you for your prayers!
Burke had his appointment this morning, and we don't have much more information. Mostly some dates for new tests and appointments. Dr. Miller is worried about Burke's breath-holding spells, so he'll be seeing a pediatric cardiologist in addition to the pediatric neurologist.
His EEG has been moved up to December 23rd (this upcoming Wednesday) at 7:00 a.m. We have to keep him awake the full night before the test. (Let's start praying now...for all of us!)
On top of all of that, Burke is cutting eight teeth at the same time, and he's got pink eye. Lastly, even though is ears were clear (for the first time in six months) at the ER yesterday, they've got fluid in them now. I think he's probably fairly miserable. If you all could pray for his comfort right now, that would be greatly appreciated.
We'll keep you all updated. Thanks again for praying, you guys rock!
Burke's appointment with the audiologist was re-scheduled for today instead of tomorrow, as the doctor will be out of the office tomorrow. On the flip side, his First Steps appointment was cancelled for today, as the intake coordinator is ill.
So...
Burke had a couple of tests run this morning. His first test was a tympanogram, which measures the flexibility of his ear drum, as well as the pressure in his middle ear cavity. Tympanogram results are displayed as a graph, and a normal tympanogram looks like a bell curve. Like this:
Burke's tympanogram was a flat line. Like this:
This result indicates that the ear drum is not moving at all...pointing to the existance of fluid behind the membrane. Because of the inflexibility of his ear drum, Burke would have automatically failed the normal type of test they do: Otoacoustic Emissions test? This is my best guess at the spelling of the very long name she used. :)
Instead, they had Burke do a behavioral hearing test. He sat in a sound-proof booth while the doctor played different sounds from different speakers in the room. There was a window so she could watch his responses. At first, the doctor played loud sounds from the speakers, and she would light up a toy on the speaker to condition Burke to look toward the speaker when he heard the sound. Once he was conditioned with the loud sounds, she began the test. For ten minutes, she played different sounds. Some lound sounds, some soft sounds. Some pleasing sounds, some irritating sounds.
At the end of the test, she determined that Burke is exhibiting a slight hearing deficiency.
A person with normal hearing hears all sound, high and low, in the 0-20 decibal range. 20 decibels is like a whisper. The lowest level that Burke could hear was the 35-40 decibel range. For some of the lower frequencies, he was responding at the 40-45 decibel range.
This is on the very, very slight edge of a moderate hearing loss. HOWEVER, the audiologist feels certain that these results are due to the fluid in Burke's ears. She is recommending ear tubes, and we'll go back for follow-up testing a month after the surgery is performed. She believes that Burke will test at normal levels at that time. She also believes we'll see an explosion of language at that point. :)
I'm super-encouraged by the results and all the doctor had to say. I'll be calling Riley Hospital to schedule Burke's surgeries, and we'll keep you all updated.
Thank you for your prayers!! :)
We visited Dr. Miller this moring, and Ruby was not prepared for what she encountered. They have stripped the waiting rooms and exam rooms of all toys, books, crayons, and other sorts of child-entertainment. Thankfully, I had been previously warned about the H1N1-prepared offices, and I brought some stickers, a book, and a lollipop. :) Ruby was a trooper, and she showed off for Dr. Miller like always.
It wasn't Ruby's appointment, though. :) It was Burke's One-Year Well-Check. We started off by getting his measurements. We found out there's a reason that he fits comfortably into 6-9 month old clothing. He weighs 19 lb., 5 oz., and he's 28 inches long. Below the 5th percentile for a one-year-old, and somewhere between the 10th and 25th percentile for a 10 month old. :) It's all good. He's a full two pounds bigger than Ruby was at this age, and we know he'll catch up eventually. Plus, Mommy doesn't mind having him a little smaller, since he's my last baby. ;)
(Here he is wearing a 12 month shirt and 9-12 month jeans.)
When we finished with the measurements, we moved onto developmental milestones. Burke is currently waving hello and goodbye intermittently. He crawls (the normal way), and he pulls up to standing on his own. He can stand independently, as long as he's got something to hold onto for balance. He's eating table food, and he's drinking from a sippy cup. He has weaned down to 2-3 nursing sessions each day, and he's sleeping a solid 12 hours through the night.
Those are all great signs...right on target!
Burke is a little behind with his speech, though. Even when evaluating him according to his adjusted age, he's quite behind in this area. He doesn't have any words, and he very (very) rarely babbles.
Dr. Miller noticed how quiet he was during the exam, and she asked me if that was normal. I told her that it was extremely normal, and she decided to try to illicit some responses from Burke. After a few minutes of making silly faces, talking with Burke, and trying to initiate some "conversation", Burke still hadn't uttered a sound.
She turned him around and started to say his name. He didn't acknowledge her at all. She asked me if he normally responds to his name, and I told her that (after thinking about it), I realized that he usually doesn't respond unless I raise my voice or clap my hands when I say his name. She said his name a few more times, and then she clapped and said his name loudly, and he finally turned around and smiled at her.
This is a fairly strong indication that Burke's hearing is somewhat decreased. However, he passed his hearing test with flying colors when he was in the NICU, so we know he can hear something. Chances are that his hearing is simply muffled, due to fluid in his ears. So...she's treating him with antibiotics to clear up any fluid in his ears, and then he will be having a hearing evaluation with the audiology team in a couple of weeks on the 27th.
Depending on the findings of that evaluation, he may need tubes put in his ears. (She's already considering tubes, since he's had several ear infections.)
Burke has also been referred to First Steps (a developmental intervention program) to try to work on the speech delay. I have worked with the First Steps program during my time in college, and I'm very comfortable with it. I simply never thought I would have personal experience with the program.
Anyway, we don't think it's anything serious or permanent. But it's still a little bit of a shock. We appreciate all of your prayers for a smooth ride. :) Be it a perfect hearing test, an easy successful surgery, or something more complicated, I'm sure we'll make it through just fine. God has already proven himself over and over again during Burke's lifetime, and I have no doubt He'll show up again this time! :)
Take it away, God! This show is yours. Our boy is yours! We commit him and his life to you!
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