Vivi had her follow up audiology exam today, which had to be given under sedation due to her age and the difficulty in getting accurate results unless she is very sound asleep.
She continues to have no hearing response in her left ear, nothing at all. I knew it was an incredibly long shot, but I had been holding out some now-crushed hope that we might see some improvement. The audiologists had advised me it was not likely, but I also had been told the eye-droop was not likely to improve (and it went away completely).
It's a bummer because
Cisplatin, one of her chemotherapy agents, is infamous for causing high-tone hearing loss. In fact, she has some loss on very high-frequency tones right now. These are tones so high that although they test for them, these tones rarely actually occur and by adulthood most people can't hear them. There is no way to predict how much hearing she could lose in the remaining good ear. She will only receive Cisplatin two more times - tomorrow, and again on "day 8" of her final round of Induction Chemotherapy in December.
I am not trying to whine about a relatively minor thing. Hearing loss is not a big deal - even if Vivi loses her hearing entirely, that would be okay. We were also told by the audiologists that they believe there is fluid behind the eardrum in her "good" ear, which might indicate a middle ear infection. I think I probably had an ear infection every month when I was little. It's just not fair, the list of things Vivienne has to deal with:
- Cancer
- Two brain sugeries
- Kidney surgery
- Central line and constant fiddling with it
- Chronic sinus problems
- Bad allergies
- Hearing loss
- Eye muscle control problems in left eye
- Ear infection
- Tummy aches and nausea
- C. diff infection
- Rash on her neck.
If I were her, I would be constantly complaining. I could never be half as strong, pleasant, sweet and sunny as she is. It's a little bit embarassing to have a tiny baby consistently outshine me with her strength and tolerance.
She continues to have no hearing response in her left ear, nothing at all. I knew it was an incredibly long shot, but I had been holding out some now-crushed hope that we might see some improvement. The audiologists had advised me it was not likely, but I also had been told the eye-droop was not likely to improve (and it went away completely).
It's a bummer because Cisplatin, one of her chemotherapy agents, is infamous for causing high-tone hearing loss. In fact, she has some loss on very high-frequency tones right now. These are tones so high that although they test for them, these tones rarely actually occur and by adulthood most people can't hear them. There is no way to predict how much hearing she could lose in the remaining good ear. She will only receive Cisplatin two more times - tomorrow, and again on "day 8" of her final round of Induction Chemotherapy in December.
I am not trying to whine about a relatively minor thing. Hearing loss is not a big deal - even if Vivi loses her hearing entirely, that would be okay. We were also told by the audiologists that they believe there is fluid behind the eardrum in her "good" ear, which might indicate a middle ear infection. I think I probably had an ear infection every month when I was little. It's just not fair, the list of things Vivienne has to deal with:
- Cancer
- Two brain sugeries
- Kidney surgery
- Central line and constant fiddling with it
- Chronic sinus problems
- Bad allergies
- Hearing loss
- Eye muscle control problems in left eye
- Ear infection
- Tummy aches and nausea
- C. diff infection
- Rash on her neck.
If I were her, I would be constantly complaining. I could never be half as strong, pleasant, sweet and sunny as she is. It's a little bit embarassing to have a tiny baby consistently outshine me with her strength and tolerance.