Larklinnet
01-07-2004, 10:42 PM
I hope this is the right place to post this, but if this thread belongs elsewhere please move it, Piglet68 (thanks!)
My 4 year old ds had an infection in both ears over Thanksgiving, and did a course of amoxicillin. He'd only had one ear infection before (around 18 months old). In December at the 4 year old routine checkup, they tested his hearing and noted that the exam showed a very mild hearing loss, but the doctor said he still had fluid in his ears that she thought probably caused this. He was scheduled to be retested in early February. We hadn't noticed any hearing problem and weren't that concerned since the explanation seemed logical.
Over the past few days both my husband and I have noticed subtle signs that ds may not be hearing as well as we think he should, especially when we speak in lower tones (but quite audible ones). Sometimes he seems unattentive, something we'd probably have tended to attribute to ignoring us when he doesn't want to be interrupted or bothered with parental interference. It's nothing really blatant and most of the time his hearing seems fine. But today we kept testing out whether he seemed to be hearing us especially when we'd talk to him when he wasn't looking right at us, and he didn't react sometimes until we raised the pitch and level of our voices.
We're uneasy enough that I called the pediatrician's office to say I didn't want to wait until February for another exam, and they are seeing him tomorrow. I guess I am kind of expecting to have any possible finding that isn't 100% okay still pinned on the recent ear infections (this might not be fair, his MD isn't the patronizing type but I can't help being concerned anyway). I wasn't really worried about the antibiotic treatments he's had because it's only happened twice in his life, but now I'm kicking myself for not being more cautious about them, or being too accepting of the ear infection diagnosis.
I suppose what I'm hoping for from more knowledgable MDC mamas are suggestions as to what to ask the doctor if there's still a problem (obviously I suspect there is since I'm writing this!), whether I should wait to see if things improve if that's what's suggested, if I should insist on an audiology consult now, and if there are alternative routes I can go to deal with this. I'm somewhat mainstream in terms of medical stuff but the more time I spend here the less comfortable I am just accepting the "party line."
Thanks so much for any advice - hope I can report back that I was just borrowing trouble!
My 4 year old ds had an infection in both ears over Thanksgiving, and did a course of amoxicillin. He'd only had one ear infection before (around 18 months old). In December at the 4 year old routine checkup, they tested his hearing and noted that the exam showed a very mild hearing loss, but the doctor said he still had fluid in his ears that she thought probably caused this. He was scheduled to be retested in early February. We hadn't noticed any hearing problem and weren't that concerned since the explanation seemed logical.
Over the past few days both my husband and I have noticed subtle signs that ds may not be hearing as well as we think he should, especially when we speak in lower tones (but quite audible ones). Sometimes he seems unattentive, something we'd probably have tended to attribute to ignoring us when he doesn't want to be interrupted or bothered with parental interference. It's nothing really blatant and most of the time his hearing seems fine. But today we kept testing out whether he seemed to be hearing us especially when we'd talk to him when he wasn't looking right at us, and he didn't react sometimes until we raised the pitch and level of our voices.
We're uneasy enough that I called the pediatrician's office to say I didn't want to wait until February for another exam, and they are seeing him tomorrow. I guess I am kind of expecting to have any possible finding that isn't 100% okay still pinned on the recent ear infections (this might not be fair, his MD isn't the patronizing type but I can't help being concerned anyway). I wasn't really worried about the antibiotic treatments he's had because it's only happened twice in his life, but now I'm kicking myself for not being more cautious about them, or being too accepting of the ear infection diagnosis.
I suppose what I'm hoping for from more knowledgable MDC mamas are suggestions as to what to ask the doctor if there's still a problem (obviously I suspect there is since I'm writing this!), whether I should wait to see if things improve if that's what's suggested, if I should insist on an audiology consult now, and if there are alternative routes I can go to deal with this. I'm somewhat mainstream in terms of medical stuff but the more time I spend here the less comfortable I am just accepting the "party line."
Thanks so much for any advice - hope I can report back that I was just borrowing trouble!