Decisions, Decisions, Decisions

Liam and Rachel visited with Dr. C. on Wednesday. Overall, it was a really good visit, and I have no complaints. In fact, I'm really pleased with the plans we've made...I think.

Rachel: From the looks of things, she has unusually thin ear drums. This would normally be rather surprising to me, but I've learned to stop be surprised by anything. Unusually thin ear drums you say? Ok, let me just add that to the list of unusually unusual things about my children. Really, there isn't anything that can be done about it, so he's wanting us to just sit tight and monitor her hearing closely.

I spoke with Sara (deaf ed.teacher for the school district), and she wants to go ahead and order Rachel an FM system with a sound field speaker for Kindergarten. Basically, it'll just turn things up a bit for her and help the teacher sound louder than all the other noise that happens in a Kindergarten classroom.

She just finished her testing with the school district, so now we just have to wait for results. I'm pretty sure they tested her for speech and cognition. I don't have a whole lot of concerns about her cognition, but she does have some interesting speech sometimes.

Liam: This little dude is doing GREAT! Dr. C. asked about his progress, and I was really excited to be able to report that he's finally imitating tons of sounds and words. I'm pretty sure the kid would be a millionaire if money could be earned for making farm animal sounds.

As much as he's making strides, we know it's almost time to move forward with his cochlear implant. It sounds like the plan is to put it in his left ear. All we have to do is wait for Val (audiologist at Liam's school) to say go. My understanding is that she just needs to test one more ear, and then the ball will be rolling on that.

CJ: CJ wasn't with us, but Dr. C. and I discussed him. CJ has decided that he absolutely wants to implant his left ear. I think he's finally old enough to recognize the difference between his aided ear and his implanted ear. I've told him it's going to hurt, and he is undeterred. He insists that he'll give up anything and everything to get that ear implanted. How can I say no to that?

Deciding to implant CJ's aided ear was a really hard choice for us. What if it doesn't work as well as the first? What if he's unhappy with it? What if? What if? What if? In the end, it comes down to the fact my fears can't be the driving force behind my decision making. It needs to be about what's best for my children. He wants this. He can articulate that he wants this. His whole heart and soul wants this. So, this is what he'll get.

*Sigh*. I just hope it's the right decision...