Saw Dr. Kenna today. She had copies of the reports from the surgeons we consulted. Either I never received these reports, or I was so wacko post-partum that I just don't remember them. Anyway it looks like the surgeons do want to do the extra-ear-canal-ectomy, but they want to make super duper schmooper (any Sid the Science Kid fans out there?) certain that they don't go near our favorite facial nerve, no. 7, which is already partially paralyzed.
Dr. Kenna said all the right things that made me feel like I am A., not Pushy Mommy for getting the BAHA in the first place, because hey, why not! and B., not Lazy Mommy for not wanting to fight with Chaz over the sweatband. So we take the summer off from the hearing aid, and see how things shake out with the surgery. It's cool, baby! The auditory neuroplasticity thing? That idea that we need to stimulate those parts of Charlie's brain otherwise they will be reassigned to other tasks? "No one really knows the answer," she said.
So I think we're OK for the moment. We're going to get a special hearing test for Charlie with the BAHA, and if it shows dramatic improvement in his hearing, that will help us decide what to do about the hearing aid. Meanwhile, I've got to figure out when we're going to do this surgery.
As always, you are being a super duper ooper schmooper advocate for Charlie. (GSZ is watching Sid as I type...)
Posted by: Heather Z | June 16, 2009 at 08:58 AM
Loving the "Chaz"- we should all have bad-ass alter-ego names!
Posted by: sasha | June 16, 2009 at 03:45 PM