I guess I'll start with the GOOD. When Benjamin was just a few weeks old and still in the hospital they did what's called an "ABR" hearing test. During this test they place monitoring patches on the head to see how the brain stem reacts to different decibels of sound. After this test they told us that Benjamin had severe hearing loss in his right ear and slight hearing loss in his left ear. We've know this all along and he has shown definite signs of no hearing in his right ear. He compensates extremely well though. They wanted to do another "ABR" sometime down the road and last week was that sometime. We were able to find out more exacts on his hearing loss. It turns out that he has pretty much no hearing in his right ear. I guess you would probably say it's 90-95% loss. No surprise to us! We have never been sure of what kind of loss he has in his left ear though. They discovered that he has 50% hearing loss in his left ear. WOW! You would never know it! His speech therapist is shocked that his vocabulary is so high for having such extreme hearing loss. He was fitted on Monday for hearing aids in both ears. They are not sure how helpful it will be to place one in his right ear, but they said it's better to try one, than to assume it won't work. He will be getting his hearing aids in a few weeks. I'm so excited to see how he responds to them! If you wanted to imagine what he hears right now, stuff a piece of cotton in your left ear and then plug your right ear off as much as you can and that would be similar. The children and I did this yesterday and it was a great thing to experience. Praise God for the technology of hearing devices. Benjamin's world is about to change!
Now for the GREAT! Benjamin went to see the hand surgeon yesterday and was given a "thumbs up!" (ha ha) Everything is looking fabulous. Next month Benjamin will hit the one year mark for the surgery to give him a new thumb on his right hand and boy does he use it. It is so wonderful. He uses his left thumb more everyday as it gets stronger and stronger. Thanks Doctor Rooks and Doctor Deering. Your work will be put to good use in the years to come!
Now for the excellent... Benjamin has been working with a speech therapist for almost a year now and since day one she has worked with Benjamin on blowing bubbles. From the time Benjamin was born he was not able to suck or to blow out. This means that he was not able to blow out his candles at his 1st or 2nd birthday. Well just a couple weeks ago he blew bubbles for the first time!!!! He is so amazing. Statistics say he would never improve his oral abilities, but he's proving that all wrong. I'm looking forward to seeing him blow out his candles in September on his 3rd birthday. I'm sure I will video it for all to see.
Everyday I'm amazed at Benjamin and all the things he's accomplishing. He is sooo COOL :-) Everyone who meets Benjamin instantly falls in love with him. He is loved by all. I can't believe that he is my son and that God chose me to be his mother. I have done nothing to earn the privilege of being his mother. He truly is a gift from God!
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