Yet another hearing test....

It's was a long day yesterday....
Ellie had a check up at the hospital on her ears...

 Two hours on the bus for a hearing test & to see her consultant!! We were supposed to go a few weeks ago but with the snow and ice we didn't fancy the journey....

  
Shortly after Ellie was born she had the normal hearing tests they do on newborns...They tried and tried with her but couldn't get a clear result.

This started the first of many visits to the hospital for hearing tests... 

We went through all the baby tests where they have the probe things put in their ears....Then the toddler ones where Ellie had to wear headphones and they would play a noise in them and the Audiology people would note down if she responded....Then we moved on a bit when she was 3 or 4 years old to the test where they played a sound and Ellie would put a ring on a stand every time she heard a sound....

It took until she was about 4 years old to agree on a name for her hearing loss....

They decided on Auditory Neuropathy...Sounds complicated but it really isn't it is a type of hearing loss where the cochlea seems to work...But there is something wrong with how the auditory nerve works....Basically all the ear works, the nerves going to the brain work there is just a loose connection somewhere in the middle!!

If you met Ellie you would never guess she is 95% deaf in one ear....She copes so well with it....She has known no different....She has always heard like that....

The only time she does struggle is at school sometimes when there is a lot of noise going on....She struggles to make out where sounds are coming from and who's talking to her...But it hasn't stopped her she's a bright child and keeps up with all the other kids....

There is no cure....They could try her with hearing aids but that may cause her more problems with getting used to them... She is coping without them why add something which potentially could cause her problems...

She has started playing on the fact she has hearing loss....She just ignores things she does not want to hear....but if she's upstairs and I open a sweet wrapper or packet of crisps downstairs she hears that....lol

So the results of today....Nothing...Nothing has changed!! No better, no worse.....She's still partially deaf...

But today we've had some good news....We don't have to go back for 12 months....This will be the longest in Ellie's life she's gone without a appointment at the hospital for her ears....They are sending a lovely lady out to Ellie's school every 6 weeks to do hearing tests to keep an eye on her....

It's fantastic!! The next hospital appointment we have is in September.....This will be the longest we've gone with no appointments in 5 years....If it's not been Ellie's ears, it was her eyes or both of the girls for there for their hearts....