Friday was the last (allegedly) of Alice’s Audiology appointments prior to the review meeting on March 6th. As she had only just received the new moulds for her new aids they decided to postpone this to give her more of a chance to settle in with them.

There are two issues with this: Firstly, i only found this out once I had arrived at the hospital. Secondly, her aids feed back so badly and have obviously hurt her that she wont let them near her now.

I said to the CI manager that it wasn’t a problem that they were postponing the audiology as we now have the 6th March as a back-stop date, so long as it was before that. She said that we needed a break, having been at the hospital so often. She also, as an afterthought, mentioned that the 6th March wasn’t the date for her review, it was the date for her surgery!!!

This was caveated with a “I’m pretty sure, I’ll call you to confirm”.

No call as yet, but this could be (not holding my breath) the best news for little Alice yet. We may finally be there in only 5 weeks!

Nonetheless, Alice keeps smiling

Mea Culpa. I lost one of Alice’s hearing aids last week.

Since January I have been ‘working from home’ on Mondays to look after Alice as her Nanny has now left us. I made it as far as the second Monday before, whilst leaving St. George’s after one of Alice’s many appointments, I lost one of her aids. I tried my hardest to blame everyone else for this – Alice’s mummy, the dog, Alice etc. but unfortunately this was to no avail.

New hearing aids it is.

Friday saw the second of Alice’s SLT assessments. We have now had four of her five audiology assessments, both of her TOD and SLT assessments and most of her general medical scans and assessments. All that remains before a decision is made is one more audiology and her eye test. We are finally getting there!

I also found out on Friday that we have a date for her review meeting where they will approve her for a CI (or not as the case may be) – March 6^th. Surgery should be 4-6 weeks after that!

So with my head hung in shame, Alice was fitted with new aids on Friday. This time, as even despite her ANSD, the team have confirmed reasonably consistent ‘Severe’ results, they have cranked them up to 85db. We are still waiting for one new mould, so Alice only has one aid at present, but it does seem to help more than the old ones (unsurprisingly).

Funnily enough, while Alice was having the new mould taken, David Sevadurai came in to tell Eleanor, the CI Manager, that his CI surgery that morning had been postponed as the patient had drunk some orange juice and couldn’t be anaesthetised. And with that it all suddenly seemed so real. Somewhere in St. George’s were another set of parents and a child for whom this was the big day – the end of all the waiting – the end of the countless assessments and the start of………well who knows? We can only hope.