Thursday, February 28, 2008

What...No Implant??

I'm frustrated, confused and emotionally drained. So, we have been trying to rush this process of getting the second implant done and all that was needed before we could submit the request to the insurance, was an aided test (a hearing test with just a hearing aid on). The reason they do this is to prove that the patient is not hearing the necessary speech sounds with just a hearing aid. They told me on Monday that they would not be able to get us in for that until early April--which would really not help our plan to get this all done in May. But Tuesday night they called and said that they had a cancellation, which by the way, has never happened in three years. I was thrilled, but the problem was that a new ear mold (the part of the aid that goes in the ear) was needed and to have one made would be another 2-3 weeks. Well, later that night Jake and I went to our parent class and when I opened my change holder in the car there was his old ear mold! Things couldn't be working out better and all of these small details were confirming my decision of going forward with a second implant.
Well, to make a long story short(er) after the aided test, we found out that Logan was not technically eligible for the second implant because his hearing loss is not "bad enough". This was new news to us, our last audiologist told us he was profoundly deaf in both ears (the same audiologist who told me I was crazy, for over a year, when I told her I felt Logan's loss had become worse and it had). According to Wednesday's test, he is "Severe to Profoundly" deaf in that ear, which means he is barely ineligible to receive the surgery-according to the insurance company, who approves it. I should have been thrilled, his loss is not as bad as we thought, but I wasn't--I was disappointed. Being that he's so close, I wish that we could do the implant, especially since we know his hearing loss is progressive-which means it will get worse. I just don't get it, it took me 2 months of sleepless, prayerful nights to come to a decision that I knew was right, only to not even have that choice anymore.
We came home that day and let him wear just the hearing aid all day and I "tested" him to see what he was hearing. I called his name from three feet away...nothing. The telephone rang from about 2 feet away...nothing. I even turned the blender on and nothing! According to this test he should have heard all of that. We are going to get another test done tomorrow at John Tracy to see if we get the same results. I think we are going to submit the request to the insurance with a letter from the audiologist stating why he needs this.
I feel like my thoughts are kind of scattered in this post, sorry for being all over the place.

7 comments:

The DeVito's said...

I'm so sorry Celeste! I hope that it works with the letter.

Mom to Toes said...

Oh, how frustrating! I would be feeling the exact same way your are.

I am glad you are able to get a second opinion and move forward with Logan's surgery.

Mom to Toes said...

I should amend my last statement...

I am glad you are able to get a second opinion and *hopefully* move forward with Logan's surgery.

The Brights said...

Gotta love the 'professionals'! Let us know how his appointment goes! Isn't it silly how we want them to hear less so we are able to provide them with more?? I'll pray you get the results you are looking for!

Jyl... said...

you guys are in our prayers! We love you.

Iz and K. said...

Hi Celeste!
Thank you for your msg!
It's nice to get in touch with families from LA, I'd love to keep in touch with you, maybe by email?
here is mine! izbataglin@gmail.com
Please, feel free to write at any time!
Isabelle, Kauan's mom!

Drew's Mom said...

Kids are good at tricking you into thinking they hear more than they do! I'd go with your gut - it's hard to accept "bad, but not bad enough".

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