GroshLink

Hi All

Just wanted to update you on Eden's visit to the ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) doctor this morning. We've been monitoring the fluid in Eden's ears--the last few times she's been there she's had fluid, but no infection. B/c the fluid can affect hearing our concern has been that she's not hearing optimally out of the right ear (the left ear is the one that doesn't hear). Today she continued to have fluid and the doctor decided it's best to put tubes in her ears to drain the fluid and prevent future buildup. Again, our concern is to maintain hearing in her right ear, but he'll tube both ears. He said it's not out of the realm of possibility that she may regain some hearing in her left ear, based on how we've observed the other cranial nerves improve over the last few months. Tubing the left ear would at least rule out fluid that could interfere with hearing. It's rare that hearing would come back, but b/c we assume the mass was causing the hearing loss by impeding the auditory nerve, if the mass shrinks or goes away, it could free up the auditory nerve to function again.

The surgery takes about 5 min. but requires anesthesia (gas). It's scheduled for May 8th. After that she'll have another hearing test and hopefully we'll get her ears "squared away" before our move.

Eden continues to make new speech sounds. She'll say "mama" when asked and can say "dada" and "deedee" but not on command. A developmentalist sees her once a month to keep on eye on her progress. She comes this week for the 2nd time.

That's the scoop. Thanks for your prayers!

Theresa