To be honest, we were very disappointed with our visit to Duke this week. Neither CHKD or Duke has been able to get a clear idea of Gwyneth's hearing loss. Tests have shown differing results, and Gwyneth has developed a fear of the animatronics in the sound booths (she's literally not scared of anything but animatronic animals), so the only way we're going to get that clear picture is to do another Auditory Brainstem Response (ABR) .
Because of the lack of reliable data, the audiologist had no choice but to set her hearing aids to a "conservative" setting, basically meaning, they're set at a low volume so that her ears won't be damaged (had they been set too "high"). We already know that she has severe hearing loss in her right ear, so we can assume that her right hearing aid is not going to help her much at this point. We also know that she has very little hearing loss in her left ear, so we're also assuming that her left hearing aid is not helping much.
Regardless, it is great to finally have the hearing aids and be able to get Gwyneth used to wearing them. As you can see in the post below, Tricia chose pink for the "behind the ear" to match her glasses. The custom ear molds are sparkly (not sure how or why).
Gwyneth was/is not happy about letting us place them in her ears, but once they're in, she doesn't seem to mind. She hasn't shown much reaction to wearing them, and it doesn't appear that they have made any difference with her ability to hear. We understand that it may take a while for her brain to readjust to hearing new sounds, but again, we're fairly certain that they're really not doing much for her either way at this point.
We're hoping to have the ABR and the readjustment of her settings scheduled sometime in the next few weeks, and that, at that point, we'll really begin seeing a difference and some progress. In the meantime, we'll help her become acustom to wearing them.
Here's a video shot a few minutes after she was fitted for the first time...not much to see except for extreme Gwyneth cuteness.
Because of the lack of reliable data, the audiologist had no choice but to set her hearing aids to a "conservative" setting, basically meaning, they're set at a low volume so that her ears won't be damaged (had they been set too "high"). We already know that she has severe hearing loss in her right ear, so we can assume that her right hearing aid is not going to help her much at this point. We also know that she has very little hearing loss in her left ear, so we're also assuming that her left hearing aid is not helping much.
Regardless, it is great to finally have the hearing aids and be able to get Gwyneth used to wearing them. As you can see in the post below, Tricia chose pink for the "behind the ear" to match her glasses. The custom ear molds are sparkly (not sure how or why).
Gwyneth was/is not happy about letting us place them in her ears, but once they're in, she doesn't seem to mind. She hasn't shown much reaction to wearing them, and it doesn't appear that they have made any difference with her ability to hear. We understand that it may take a while for her brain to readjust to hearing new sounds, but again, we're fairly certain that they're really not doing much for her either way at this point.
We're hoping to have the ABR and the readjustment of her settings scheduled sometime in the next few weeks, and that, at that point, we'll really begin seeing a difference and some progress. In the meantime, we'll help her become acustom to wearing them.
Here's a video shot a few minutes after she was fitted for the first time...not much to see except for extreme Gwyneth cuteness.
Nate