hearing problems

[jessgray]

my DS1 has had problems with his right ear since birth.when noise gets to a certain level i am told it becomes hard for him to hear it and its even harder for him to hear things when there is background noise. i am told it isnt affecting his development as far as we know of. he has a hearing test on the 21st to see if he needs to be reffered to a specialist, coz all the hearing tests he has had the same problem appears in each test.
i was wondering if anyone has a child with a hearing problem and what sort of things i can expect if it does turn out my ds1 will have this permentaly(sp?) he is 14 months old.

[jessgray]

any one???

[mama]

just wrote you huge reply and lost it grrrrrrrrr. This will be brief not re-writing all that.

ds- speech delay- ask refferal for paediatrician- she says get hearing test
-request refferal for hearing specialist- he says ds has glue ear
-fluid in middle ear which has hardened affecting hearing and speech
-i research on the net- 1st I type middle ear infection grommits(wrong
spelling)- Huggies forum heaps of info from parents experience, etc
-then I search again(google) spelling grommets(correct spelling)
-look for abc web site, clear medical information with pictures
-specialist quick to suggest grommets :eek: I decide antibiotics (alphamox) and purchase Demazin at chemist(ova counter) which helps relieve glue ear.

I would suggest you demand a refferal immediately,trust your instincts as a mother,can'tbelieve doctor hasn't reffered u already.

good luck :fingerscrossed: let me know what happened

[jessgray]

hi thanks for the reply:)
my ds had his hearing test and the guy who did it sending the results to ds's peadtrician suggesting ds go see a ear nose and throat specialist for further investigation. he said the ear that keeps failing could have fluid behind it but he couldnt be 100%sure and the other ear had wax lol but he isnt as vocal as the guy thought a 15 month old would be.as ds is still babbling and not trying to say definte words.so he thinks it could nwo be affecting his development.

[M~T~J~M]

Hi there,
My DS#1 had failed hearing tests also. He ended up seeing an ENT specialist, and we were told had fluid in both ears. So, it was off to hospital the following week to have ear tubes (grommets) inserted. He was only 13 months old. These stayed in for under a year, and it was off to hospital once again to have another set put in. I knew the first lot had come out because he had a huge behaviour change, and his sleeping patterns had gotten worse.
If your little one has trouble sleeping at night, or if his behaviour is less than ok at times, you will, or should, notice a difference after the tubes have been inserted.
The procedure is very simple, and takes only about 15 - 20 mins. My son's recovery was almost instant the first time, and a little longer the second time, but was still good.
He is now 3.5 yrs, and his ear tubes have now both fallen out (they fall out themselves, and are so very tiny you can't see them!). His language has really come along from when he had the 2nd set put in, and you would never even be able to tell he had a problem with hearing. Don't let it stress you out too much, because as I said, the procedure is very simple.
(From what you have said, this sounds like the same thing my son had...but, hey, I'm no DR!!)

P.S - Try to see somebody other than Russell Calder if you can!!

[jessgray]

russel cadler is he a geelong dr? i'm not sure who ds's peadtrician will refer us to:confused: i presume it would be a dr who deals with children alot lol

did your ds have to stay overnight when he had grommets put in?

[Oscar's mum]

Ozzy was diagnosed with a hearing problem in both ears at birth. He has had numerous testing done to decipher the problem which cannot be found. His right ear is the worst and he can only hear low pitch and his left ear is just passable.

I was told by the specialists that at the moment it does not seem to affect his development (and I have to agree with them) as he is talking and up with any other kids with speach his age.

They said I am welcome to go back and get his hearing checked again any time if I think he is struggling and they can refer him to a speach therapist but unless he starts lagging behind in development I can't see a need to do anything just at this moment.

I think as long as they don't lag in development just let the problem lie dormant for a while until they show problems (if at all)!;)

[M~T~J~M]

Yeah, Russell Calder is in Geelong. No, he didn't have to stay overnight.
We went to St John of God.....He had to be there at a certain time, and he was not to have had anything to eat or drink since 8.00am that morning. When he went in, I went too, and was there when he fell asleep. hen I went back to wait, and was collected when he was coming too. I was there when he had just woken. We then went back into a ward, where he was given something to eat and drink. He ended up falling asleep for an hour or so, then he woke as hungry as hungry, ate all his food, then half hour after that we were allowed to go home. It did pretty make take up the whole day, but he didn't have to stay overnight.
It's pretty staright forward surgery which makes it a little easier to deal with.

[jessgray]

i think ds will be going through barwon health most likely if he needs grommets. i think by the end of this week i should have a copy of the hearing test results that got sent to his peadtrician.

Oscar's mum-yeah we got told it wasnt affecting ds's development till now. now they think it is.

[jessgray]

DS has ben putting his finger in his right ear -the one they think has fluid behind it. i'm not sure if i should worry or not coz he seems fine.he just pokes his ear every now and then

[M~T~J~M]

He will just be poking because he can feel that it is uncomfortable. DS#1 would do this often, before and just after his grommets were inserted. It won't cause any harm. He's just letting you know it doesn't feel right!! ;)

[jessgray]

:) thanks. i hope ds doesnt have to wait too long to see the ear nose & throat dr.

[johnmum]

I have been reading your post, just thought I would add my experience I have 2 boys that both have had grommets. They are 7 1/2 yrs & 4 1/2yrs both at the moment have only 1 grommet in and are just starting to get problems again. I would just say trust yourself if you think there is a problem which is something I didn't do with the older one. My boys both suffer speech problems which I believe is because of the hearing problems they have suffered. Both of mine didn't have grommets put in until they were 4yrs and 3 yrs. Wish I had have pushed the issue more early on. It is such a quick operation we were in and out in around 4 hours. Hope everything goes well.

Tanya

[jessgray]

thanks for your story tanya :)
we got a copy of ds's latest hearing test results in the mail today and it said his hearing was affecting his development and speech.:( so now i think this is why he hasnt really started talking yet.

[jessgray]

how long did everyone have to wait to have the grommets put in?
would the fact we are going public make it longer?

[johnmum]

Jess,

Both my boys had their grommets put in at Frankston Hospital (Vic). The wait in public hospitals is by category, your specialist is the one who gives the category. With both the boys because their speech was affected they were both given a category 2 the older one waited 4 weeks and the younger waited 6 weeks.

Hope this helps.

Tanya:)

[jessgray]

thanks that does help alot :) i was starting to worry that DS would be waiting ages coz the health system waiting lists are so long

[jessgray]

our referal was faxed 30 mins ago :D but gp doesnt know how long we will have to wait she said ti could be weeks or months.

[johnmum]

Dear Jess,

So glad to hear that you have your referral. Hope you don't have to wait to long and hope all goes well.

Tanya

[jessgray]

:) thanks. i am hoping it wont be a too long wait to see the specialist. i can handle waiting for ds to have grommets if he needs them but waiting to see the specialist for ages would drive me nuts , coz i am already worried about his hearing lol

[jessgray]

we got the letter from the outpatients today to tell us how long the waiting list is and what list ds is on etc.
:eek: ds is on the semi urgent one and its a approx 12 month wait!!! that seems like too long IMO
his hearing might get worsr by then or his speech development might be really affected by then :(:banghead: stupid public health system with its long waiting lists

[cassi*girl]

I am glad I found this thread.
My DS (3) needs grommets for both ears. He has been on the waiting list since June. I rang the hospital to see how long they expected it would be before we would have to go in for the operation. I explained I was due to have bubs no.2 in 6 weeks and the lady was SO nice. She said it seemed that is about when he would have been due to go in - isn't it typical!!!
Anyway, she said she would see if she could push him up a bit and I got a phone call this morning saying he is booked in for TOMORROW!!!!!

Yep, tomorrow.....OMG now I am a bit stressed.

So I have had to cancel my baby Dr. app't, call in sick for work (and I only have a week to go, so that went down well - NOT!), and get DH to get the day off.

All organised.............but my concern now is that DS has to fast from 7.30am and can drink water only till 10.30. HOW AM I GOING TO EXPLAIN THAT TO HIM????

Good luck with your app't and I hope you don't have to wait 12 months that is crazy! Can you ring them like I did and just check where he is on the waiting list??

[jessgray]

i hadnt thought of actually doing that :) calling now. i am hold :banghead: lol
nope hospital wont budge ds has to wait 12 months on the list unless he gets a 2nd referal they might consider pushing him up th elist a bit faster.

[jessgray]

ds had a hearing test this morn and failed it. they are pretty certain his right ear has fluid in it now. and i have to go get some ear drops for his left ear to see if it will unblock the wax in that ear and in 6-8 weeks he is gunna be re-tested to see if there is improvement in the left ear otherwise they are gunna bump him up the waiting list to see the specialist.
the results pretty much said at the moment he is only hearing loud noises so now we have to talk loud and clear to him to make sure he will learn how to talk and understand words. it does explain why he doesnt respond sometimes.i had a feeling his hearing was getting worse. fingers crossed the left ear will improve with the ear drops :D

[pirat]

Hi there,
My DS#1 had failed hearing tests also. He ended up seeing an ENT specialist, and we were told had fluid in both ears. So, it was off to hospital the following week to have ear tubes (grommets) inserted. He was only 13 months old. These stayed in for under a year, and it was off to hospital once again to have another set put in. I knew the first lot had come out because he had a huge behaviour change, and his sleeping patterns had gotten worse.
If your little one has trouble sleeping at night, or if his behaviour is less than ok at times, you will, or should, notice a difference after the tubes have been inserted.
The procedure is very simple, and takes only about 15 - 20 mins. My son's recovery was almost instant the first time, and a little longer the second time, but was still good.
He is now 3.5 yrs, and his ear tubes have now both fallen out (they fall out themselves, and are so very tiny you can't see them!). His language has really come along from when he had the 2nd set put in, and you would never even be able to tell he had a problem with hearing. Don't let it stress you out too much, because as I said, the procedure is very simple.
(From what you have said, this sounds like the same thing my son had...but, hey, I'm no DR!!)

P.S - Try to see somebody other than Russell Calder if you can!!


Hi MTJM, hope you get this my daughter is seeing dr russell calder in geelong; you said try to avoid him if you can in this post, can you please tell me why? Please be honest, I rather try someone else if I have to. Thank you :)