Oliver and Sophies stories.

Oliver has had hearing problems since birth, along with twisted toes, inbalance and grade 3 tonsils. He had his adenoids removed ands grometts fitted 1 year and 1 day ago. So far his hearing has improved 100%, his speech has improved 95%, his developmental age has increased from 2 years behind his peers to 1 year ahead. he still snores terribly and sometimes stops breathing for a second or two in his sleep. But other than that hes doing ok. We have our next appointment on 3rd March and hopefully that will be just a hearing test and quick chat with the consultant. It has been very hard trying to get this all sorted out and i now appreciate a little more what other parents with children with special needs and other disabilities struggle with. Because if i have struggled to be heard with the minor compared to others problem that Oliver has had i can imagen what others must go through when they have children with more severe problems.

Sophie has got problems with her breathing. This may well lead to asthma. She is very much like myself and is a loud breather, to the point that to hear she will hold her breathe and the same to speak she will take a deeper breath than most people and speak in one breath. The doctor and i are keeping an eye on it to make sure it doesnt worsen which hope fully she will be ok with it all. and may be something she grows out of.


Well thats it from us mwah

today we had Olivers hearing test and unfortunately it wasnt good news. The consultant said it is a miracle that he can hear us as his grommets have failed and have come out. they are lying in the ear canal and the ear drum is in tact but there is such a bad blockage in the middle ear that he shouldnt be able to hear any sounds that arent in direct contact with his skull. but somehow he can and i thank my Grandfathers for that as i am sure they are keeping him from being deaf. But it now means we are back on the waiting list for more grommets to be fitted. the operation should be in August or September.

Aww poor little man hope he is ok jain x

he seems ok abit upset that he has to have another op but the school are being fab and helping more and they will talk to him too if he becomes too worried about it, he is quite open with his emotions and loves his teacher to bits and talks to her about most things.

he just needs to concentrate abit harder for a little while longer and it should all be good. he is still whizzing through his reading books and things so he cant be doing that bad.

Hope he is ok x

thanks Chelsea hes doing good. keeps saying he cant hear us now. i think its where he now see it as acceptable to mention it where as before i kept telling him not to be silly and there was nothing wrong with his hearing where it had improved so much. and now i dont say it as i know he cant hear all that well so he is speaking more openly about it.

What horrid news, about the grommets failing. I do hope the waiting list isnt too long and that he can have the op soon to sort things out, he's done so well, despite them saying he shouldnt be able to hear, so he's obviously a top young man!

Did they say why the grommets had dislodged?

no only that it is possible they had done what they were meant to so came out and it has just got bad again.

lately we have had him very emotional and in floods of tears because he says he cant hear us, he is being good about it and asking us to repeat ourselves and he is getting better with the eye contact but im still not happy with how things are. yesterday he told his dad that he cant hear us and that it is making him angry which would explain why his good behaviour has slipped again.

some days it is like he is totally blanking you, he will look straight at you and there is nothing, and then other days he can hear a whisper.

the waiting list is 6 months which is the middle of September, but we have asked that it be put as a priority because of him starting year 2 which is an important one with the SAT's and they dont like them having any time off at all and i cant remember exactly when they take them. weve also told the hospital that we will take any cancellation throughout the summer holidays with a weeks notice because of having someone to look after Sophie.

the consultant was very blazay (sp) about it and seemed to think leaving it til next year would be ok but i told him i didnt want Olivers education to suffer again, he has had to catch up from being at the stage his sister is at now at the age of 2 to all his class mates at the time who were 5. so he has done flaming well and i dont want his hearing lapsing to jeopardise that.

i also read that if it gets left too long a childs hearing can deteriorate that badly that it can be irreversable, and im sure you will agree that no parent in their right mind would want that. and the consultant didnt disagree with that statement either.

That is a shocking attitude by the doctor, you must be very frustrated.

Poor guy, no wonder he's upset and angry. I know from personal experience that when I have a 'deaf ear' from having a cold, it drives me absolutely nuts.

You should definitely keep on at the hospital about cancellations and make it clear to the doctors that you are not going to sit back quietly and wait.

I feel so cross on your behalf. Its easy enough some doctor in his office saying 'wait until next year'. His child isnt suffering.

Grrrrrrrrrrr!

Big hugs, hope things are sorted VERY SOON!