Hearing Results Are In....Kinda

Well, today was our trip to the Pediatric ENT office in Frisco to get a closer look at Hazel's tiny ears and to evaluate her hearing.  The office is relatively small and they were running behind this afternoon.  So we ended up seeing the first doctor at 3:15 instead of at 2:15 when our appointment was scheduled...but at least I got to see the majority of the movie "Up".  It's all about multitasking lately.  Anyways...no one is checking out this post to know what I do with my miniature moments of free time. 

The exam portion went really well and Hazel was surprisingly cooperative.  They were able to get a microscope aimed into her ear canal and everything is where it should be...ear canals are a little small, ear drums looks good and everything is structurally intact.  They said they had to use the smallest tools that they own to clear out some build up from her ears...but it is a good thing that there was ear junk to remove since that could have messed up our initial screenings.  One of the best portions of the exam was that the doctor could not tell a difference between the ear which almost passed the hospital's hearing screening and which ear had no response at all. 

Next was a visit to the audiologist who works out of the same office.  They attempted to do their own hearing screening.  Basically they put baby sized headphones into her ears that are tube shaped.  It was dead silent in the room with the exception of the rhythmic sound of Hazel going to town on her pacifier.  Unfortunately, the equipment they have on hand was not small enough to fit her ear canals and too much noise was present to get an accurate reading.  They are ordering smaller attachments just for Hazel and a detailed test of her hearing will be done in the next few weeks.

I think that these inconclusive results would have stressed Aubree and I out in a world where hearing was Hazel's only challenge.  But today felt like a major win and gives us a much needed morale boost.  We are doing our best to stay positive but the last 24 hours or so have been rough until now. 

We appreciate all of the  encouraging Facebook posts, notes, e-mails, messages and prayers from everyone.  I honestly did not think that so many people would care enough to read about Hazel on the blog...as of right now, there have been slightly more than 3,250 page views on the blog.  Simply incredible.

I'm still planning to catch everyone up on our road to this point...more posts coming soon.