Elliot's Hearing Test

Elliot had his one year follow up hearing test yesterday. He has lost the hearing he had in his right ear. Kevin and I are a little blindsided. Elliot has been making great gains in speech acquisition, and is communicating so well. his left ear is very good, which would explain his ability to hear and respond to us. Elliot is continually making great strides, growing, learning, making connections. This kind of news really threw us.

I have a hard time balancing the harsh truths with unwavering optimism for Elliot. How is it I am supposed to have both when we get this punch in the stomach every few months? I feel really weak when I let myself become overwhelmed like I feel right now. But these feelings are really familiar, as Kevin and I discussed today. We know this feeling of dread and sadness, and fear...it comes with the territory...and then it goes, after a month or so.

We have another hard one on the periphery...a swallow study next Tuesday. Elliot's speech therapist fears that he may be taking in some food in his lungs. He has poor motor control of his mouth, and seems to always have a gurgle in his chest.. Quite frankly, I don't think the results will be what we hoped for...but at least we won't be taken by surprise.

I feel like I need another vacation.

I'll be updating our blog with more in the next few days, and with the details of our vacation...which was really wonderful.