What's That? Scarlet Can Hear!

Scarlet has battled ear infections from infancy. With no rhythm or reason, she would get an ear infection out of the blue, more often than her brothers ever did and often without any other symptom of sickness. We got to the point where I could look at her and tell it was an ear infection. We'd go to the doctor where, until they actually looked in her ear, no one would believe she had an infection because she had no fever, no runny nose, no sickness, etc.

After lots of research and deliberation, we decided to have tubes put in her ears on Jan. 24. At 18 months old, she already had close to double the number of ear infections considered "normal" for a baby her age. The surgery was fairly simple and she did very well. Aside from feeling groggy the first two hours after anesthesia , she returned to her jovial self immediately. What's more impressive - and more important - are the immediate changes we noticed in her hearing. The same day, normal household noises that never bothered her before began to frighten and startle her. That went on for about 3 or 4 days.

Over the next two weeks, her vocabulary increased and she began saying sounds she's never said before. At her post-op, the doctor told us Scarlet was hearing between 40 to 50 decibels, which is defined as "mild to moderate" hearing loss before the surgery. Post-surgery, she hears at 10 decibels, which is the in the “normal” hearing range (Normal hearing is between –20 and 25 decibels).

We're very happy with the decision we made, as hard as it was. Right now, Scarlet is deep into her first cold with the tubes. Usually, this would already have turned into an ear infection, but it hasn't yet. We'll keep a watchful eye and see just how much these little wonders will help her.

And, our biggest concern of all has been resolved: With clear ears, she is learning to how to hear properly, which is the foundation for phonics and sound comprehension much later in life.