Part 2

Okay, I think I am starting to get the hang of this now and I actually have been able to download a picture. I am so excited!! I think I like this new technology.



For those who decide to read this, I am going to revert back to my hand written journal. Please know that if this seems repetitive or not all that you really want to get into, you can just skip to the archive you would like to read about. Just please know that I am doing this for Mollie and know that she will have this as her own personal story to refer to .



June 10, 2007 - We found out this week that Mollie has severe hearing loss. We are just beginning to process and understand some of what we will be facing as a family. There is so much to learn and understand. The important thing to remember is that Mollie is still who she is and still developing into a funny, fun, little girl. She will do just fine through this process. She has been living with this and making her own little adjustments w/o even realizing she cannot hear. I am just so thankful that we are getting this now while she is so young and we can start to help her so that she can learn to talk.



From June 6 - September 12, 2007 - we had about 15 different doctors appointments to get Mollie diagnosed and try and determine what may have caused her hearing loss and when it could have all started. June 13th she had her first visit to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital for a CT Scan for which they had to sedate her to stay still. We learned that we would need to meet with a geneticist and an ENT to get a diagnosis. I really did wonder if all these appointments were that necessary. It wasn't until after we went through all the hearing tests that we met with the doctor again to learn that Mollie did have all the bones in her ears. Yes, we have bones in our ears and we have tiny hairs in our ears that help with the vibration to carry sound. We learned that if those hairs die off they are not replaced and hearing loss occurs. After all the appointments we still don't really know what caused the loss but it has been labeled as "sensorineural hearing loss" .



The day that Mollie was given her hearing aids we were told that she was a possible candidate for the Cochlear implants. She was severely hearing impaired in both ears. Sounds that you and I might take for granted were not things that she heard. She did not hear water running, birds chirping , people talking, a dog barking. There is a very good graph called an Audiogram it shows the "banana" of hearing - this is how a typical healthy person would hear. You and I would hear at a level of 20 decibels. Mollie could not hear it unless it was at a level of 70 decibels or higher. So to give you an idea she could hear it if it were a lawnmower, airplane, drums or jackhammer.



They diagnosed Mollie as being a newborn as far as her hearing and speech and language development but physically she was 2 years old. We were told we would be working very hard and getting her a lot of therapy. She had to learn to start wearing her hearing aids at all waking hours. Boy that was fun! Mollie did not want to wear them and it took some control from Mommy and Daddy to have her learn that this gadget on her head was not going away. I think Daddy and I were just as frustrated as she was. There were definitely some tears shed. We did learn however that M&M's were a good reward for Mollie if she would put them in. Let's just say we consumed a lot of chocolate for awhile. Thankfully Mollie is motivated by food! On 6/25 I wrote in my journal - "Day four with hearing aids. She is making progress and wearing them for longer periods. We have started using M&M's to reward her for wearing them. This works! Aron w/ TEIS is working on the financial plan to get Mollie qualified for speech and language therapy at BWC. "

Journal entry 7/18/2007 - Met w/ Dr. Goudy and referred to Dr. Kaylee for evaluation on CI. Dr. Kaylee was the original surgeon we were to work with. 7/25/07 Mollie is a good candidate structurally for implants. We will need to wait for Cathy Hayes and team meat for Mollie's approval for CI's.

It was during this time that we started to prepare for the possibility of Mollie receiving implants. We flooded ourselves with information and started attending the parent support group at Bill Wilkerson. It was also during this time I learned about the Toddler Group offered 3 days a week at the Mama Lere Hearing School. I knew in my heart this is what Mollie needed to be doing because all the research we read and what we had been told was that the most imperative time for developing speech and language is before the age of 5. We knew we were already very late to this party.

All summer I worked the phone and appointments, talked to anyone that I could and I think just through pure effort was able to get Mollie a place in the toddler group. I felt as if I had run a marathon. But there was success as she started school on September 12th. She also started her individual therapy.