So today was Kayleigh’s hearing tests, it was at 3pm so I picked her up from pre-school a little early to get her there.
The wait for the appointment wasn’t too bad in the end, about 4 weeks, but it seems that just the start of our waiting.
Kayleigh was a star throughout the whole test, she was grinning away thinking it was a great game whilst I sat there nervously trying to see what the nurse was writting down.
Then I had that gut renching feeling something wasn’t quiet right. I could see the lady pressing the sound button and everytime i looked at Kayleigh she just gave me this huge cheeky grin oblivious to the sound that she was mean’t to be listening to.
She couldn’t hear it, my heart sank at that moment.
It turns our after all the tests that she has glue ear in both ears which is causing mild to moderate hearing loss in both ears. Due to the speech therapist agreeing it could be her hearing that is contributing towards her speech we have now been referred to the ENT departement at the local hospital with a waiting list of 6 weeks before they take a decision on what the next step is.
Hopefully before this point her hearing will start to improve and the fluid in the middle ear will start to drain but only time will tell. The worse case senario will be gromits in both ears.
Now I know this isn’t anywhere near what some people go through with their children. Not even close. It’s not even the fact that she might have to undergo an operation thats upsetting me.
Its simply the fact I feel this overwhelming guilt of not picking it up sooner! Why didn’t I notice she was struggling to hear? How long has she been living in a little bubble? Maybe if I had noticed sooner we wouldn’t even need speech therapy.
I just hope the wait isn’t too long & we’re on the road to recovery sooner rather than later.
Bless you, and stop beating yourself up immediately. My youngest son has had a whole host of problems with his ears, including glue ear. His speech stopped altogether at 12 months, then age 2 he had grommets fitted and he spoke within the next day. You’ll be amazed how well she progresses once she can clearly hear the words around her and the sound of her own voice, so don’t beat yourself up about what has passed. Good luck to you and your lovely daughter.
Hi Laura,
Thank you so much for your comments, its amazing to hear the improvement in your son’s speech after the grommets were fitted. Makes me feel a bit more positive 🙂
I was born with glue ear as well as a whole host of other problems with my ears. I would suspect that she will need gromits but she’ll be fine. My speech was awful and I was taught to lip read (which can be VERY useful) but within days of having gromits I could hear and my speech had improved and now, well, I’m perfectly normal (ish)!! Good luck and keep us updated on her progress x
Hi Faye,
Thank you so much for your comments. I’ll keep you updated on how it goes, hopefully in 6 weeks we’ll have an answer 🙂
It’s difficult, I think, to draw that line between being over concerned about hitting milestones and developments on time, and being too much the other way. It has been picked up early & you might find that when the hearing is sorted out that the need for the speech therapy falls away – they learn so fast.
Heya, my little boy also had problems with his hearing. He went for 3 tests altogether, and finally has had the all clear. He was premature, and I put that down for him being so far behind his classmates 🙁 Then he had a routine eye test at school (he’s in reception), and it turns out that he needed glasses! I felt like the worst mother in the world, as I didn’t even realise he had poor eye sight. I still feel guilty now 🙁 What I’m trying to say, is that it really isn’t your fault you didn’t notice. All kids are different, you wasn’t to know. I hope she gets on ok x I had glue ear as a kid also x
oh bless you, please don’t feel responsible, the thing with kids and glue ear is its gradual and as toddlers/young uns it’s so hard to know whether they are actually deaf or just selective hearing 😉 tinkers that they are! I had glue ear and gromits as a child and my hearings perfect now, I remember it being such a revelation once I started to hear properly after the op, I was about 5 when it got sorted out. Hard for my parents but worth it in the end. Good luck and have a big hug x
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