Oh my goodness gaigrrl ... I do relate to how worried you must be right now, and those worst case scenarios cycling through, unbidden yet demanding your attention.  And yes, great news that audiology & paeds ENT appointment can occur quite quickly ... but the waiting is hellish, no doubt about it.  

I will certainly send lots of good energy your way every day, along with hopes & prayers for good outcomes - the elusive "must have been a virus but it's gone now & all is well" kind of news.    Kids are somehow amazingly, miraculously resilient - if we could just match that as parents,  life would be so much simpler. 

Hi G Girl

many hearing losses in toddlers/preschoolers can be fixed with tubes being place in their ears. Here's hoping that's your  daughter's issue.

On the other hand Youthworker lives with a hearing loss and seems to do fine.

Hugs and prayers and love that girl.

May your appointment come quickly!

This is indeed worrisome gaiagrrl ... nothing to offer but care and support. I thought of YouthWorker's gifts and strengths as well Tabitha. Please keep us posted gaiagrrl. Thinking of you (and your partner) and your daughter.

Hi Gaiii -- good thing for you noticing so early?

Our youngest coped with it...and lived with it.. It wasn't until we were dealing with something else at about 5  that the doctor suggested  checking out his hearing too -- sure enough hearing loss.   Turned out his speech oddities were not due to his soother, but rather, the inability to hear.

He had tubes placed in his ears.....kept them until he "grew out" of them...and his hearing is fine now.

so...hang in there....thankful that you found it, and hoping it is a relatively simple resolution.

(ps...for him, his hearing was due to chronic ear infections --- so his hearing was like he was underwater....and he exhibited no illness, fever  or pain (high pain threshold))

Hi!  I see Tabitha beat me to it!    I am apparently the resident HOH guy!  (HOH = Hard of Hearing)

I have a hearing loss and have had it my whole life -- it runs in the family, so about 2/3 of the family along my father's line has a hearing loss.  My hearing loss is in the moderate to severe range, as is pretty much everyone else's in my family.

I have been wearing hearing aids since I was two years old.

If this is a case where your daughter needs hearing aids, then I can't stress enough -- approach it with acceptance and embrace it as part of who your daughter is!  My entire family treats hearing loss with guilt and shame.  We don't talk about it, we don't acknowledge it, and we think of it as the family curse.  I am the only exception to that.  My dad, who grew up ashamed of his hearing loss, did not want me to do the same -- so he and my mom made sure that I fully accepted it as part of me and integrated it into who I am.

And technology is amazing nowadays!  Hearing aids, TELEX machines in school, and all sorts of devices have improved drastically since I was a kid.  A hearing loss and hearing aids can be a disability in the technical sense of the word -- BUT it does NOT have to be a damper on living life to the fullest.  It means some extra responsibility (being careful not to get them wet, etc), but my hearing loss and my hearing aids have never stopped me from participating in anything in life.

If you ever have any questions about what it is like to be a kid wearing hearing aids, having a hearing loss, or coping with being different in that way, please do not hesitate to ask -- either publicly in a thread like this, privately via wondermail, or even via facebook or email (I can give you my contact info if you wondermail me).  I am super open about this sort of stuff -- after seeing how my family and many others with hearing loss brush off and ignore questions, I have made it my personal mission to be open and receptive to ALL questions and to give answers to the best of my ability.

Also, if you ever have any questions of what it is like to be a parent of such a child, I'm sure my mom would be willing to answer some questions!

Yeah Youthworker! Was hoping you would pop by!

I will be praying for you and your daughter.

 We all understand why you are so worried and my prayers are with you that all of you will handle whatever comes your way.

The fact taht you spoke of lots of colds leads me to hope that she has sustained temporary damage due to undiagnosed ear infections.  If kids don't have alot of pain with ear infections sometimes they aren't noticable and so not treated.

I am pretty sure that even in Toronto, a 3 year old with such results would get bumped to teh top of the list.  No one wants to mess with ears.

GOod luck 

agreed, last pointe.  When we had ear issues, at 5, we were in right away.

Greetings!

((((gaiagrrl)))) . . . caring thoughts go out to you this day and in the days ahead as you wait for tests, reports, diagnosis, and treatment.  The testing and waiting can be the worst . . . hopefully once the medical profession can tell you what you are dealing with then your focus can be on "where do we go from here".  Along with all the others I hope your news is good.

Praying right now for your family and your daughter as you go through this trying time.  May you feel held in the center of God's love.

Hey YW, what a response - you are terrific!

Hope, peace, joy, love . . .

YW - thank you for reminding us that this is not a death sentence. 

My sister began wearing hearing aids at age 8.  She struggled with feeling self-conscious about her difference, but 20 years later - she is as normal a (deaf and annoying) sister as anyone could have.

I'm hoping, Gaia, that this is something that is simple and treatable.  But if it isn't, you'll end up being okay with that too.  Good luck with your appointments.

Thinking of you gaiagirl and hoping the tests show your daughter's hearing loss is temporary.

Sending positive thoughts and hugs your way.

I remember reading an amusing book about a big family years ago.  In one chapter the mother takes all the kids to the store for new shoes.  As the sales man patiently tries 1/2 dozen shoes on each child, the others race around the store pulling shoes they like off the shelves, crawling under the displays, climbing on the seats, shouting to each other as the mother tries her best to sush them.  Finally everything is looked after, each child has a new pair of shoes, they are paid for, and the mother turns to thank the sales man for his patience.  He looks at her, "Eh, what was that again.  I turned this off an hour ago."  And he points to his hearing aid.  The mother is amazed.  "You mean that you can turn off the noise whenever you want to?'  she says with envy in her voice.

Seriously, you must be over wrought about your daughter.  Hopefully you will get a full diagnoses soon,  and that it is something that can be fixed or adjusted to.  I know what it is like to worry about your daughter regardless of the age.

Thinking of you and your partner and your little one tonight Gaiagrrl.  I'm glad that the audiologist and pediatric ENT will see your daughter soon - not easy to be waiting.

Thanks for all your thoughts and comments.  My computer crashed and this was the first time I could visit... we're still waiting on hearing when her testing is.  And LP, she actually doesn't get a lot of colds but this past winter my partner and I did and she had a runny nose but nothing more than that.  Although I did read, as you mentioned, that some kids have a higher pain threshold and just don't react to an ear infection in the same way as others... no fever, no pain (seemingly)...  She *is* a toughie but I think she'd have said something if her ears hurt.

I'll let you all know when the testing is...

And YW, thank you so much for your response... and if needed, believe me I will take you up on the offer of contact and questions and advice and your story and your experience.. ty ty ty .

gaia -- it is suprising..

my youngest ended up with emergency surgery due to a abscess in his tonsils.  We had taken him to doctor's as didn't have his normal pep -- doctor did a look, went out to his office & we could hear him arguing with specialist. on the phone...we were sent to kitchener to specialist -- specialist dismissed us -- saying, there is no way he has this item  -- sent us home...saying he will be fine in morning take this... in the morning we phoned as he was significantly worse...went back to specialist, who looked at him.. immediately phoned hospital & booked surgery..and we rushed over to emergency.  That was when we learned the dangers of a high pain threshold.  The doctor had given him water to drink -- didn't tell us it was a test based on how he reacted to the pain he should experience.  Since he didnt react, specialiste figured it couldn't be that bad.  Abscess was drained..he healed.  doctor recommended checking a few other things.  When tonsil was well enough to be removed we had tubes, adenoids & tonsils done. 

hoping gaiachild is good..and items are readily addressed.

 My son was about 8 and off school with severe ear pain.  SO of course he and my daughter who was 5 both went to the pediatricians.

His ears were slightly inflamed but then, just because we were there he looked at my daughter.  She had not once complained and didn't have a cold.

Her ears were totally infected and pussy.  In terrible shape but it simply didn't bother her.  She didn't seem to even know they were infected.

So it depends on the kid.  What I learned to do for her was whenever she had a cold i would do the finger test.  Rub your fingers together right beside your ear.  You can hear it clearly.  If she couldn't I knew she had an ear infection.

Now realistically they don't often put kids on antibiotics as it appears the infection will resolve alone.  But if there are lots of infections, that results in scar tissue and hearing issues.   I always watched for it.

I remember now.  Seelerboy was about six or seven.  We had all had colds, Seelerboy probably the least bothered - Seelergirl's nose running, her eyes watering.  But they all cleared up within the week to ten days.  A few weeks later I noticed that Seelerboy seemed a bit listless (for him - without knowing him he would still seem a rather active child), just not quite himself.    I decided he was due for a check-up.  Doctor checked his throat (clear), chest (clear), etc.  Then he looked in his ears.  "How long have your ears been hurting?"   "Oh, about two weeks."  Seelerboy answered unconcernedly. 

I was so embarassed.  I felt like a neglectful mom who would let her child suffer for two weeks with an ear infection before doing anything.  But he hadn't said anything.  He didn't have a cold any more.  He didn't have a fever.  He was eating well.  He was going o school, playing outside.  Only I had noticed any difference in him, and it was so slight to be almost insignificant. 

With a bit of medication he was on the mend again.  Kids act differently to pain than we do - and they don't realize that they don't hear as well as others because they lack the experience or it comes on gradually.  I was actually surprised when i put on my first pair of glasses as a child and could suddenly see leaves on trees rather than globs of green, numbers on calendars and hands on clocks without walking across the room to look at them. 

I hope that your daughter's hearing loss is something that can be dealt with.

I'm sorry if my weak attempt at a joke up-thread was inappropriate.  I know this is serious and I hope I didn't come across as making light of it. 

No worries Seeler, I took it with the spirit with which it was intended.

Seeler -- kids can be the same with glasses.

Rather than distracting from Gaia's thread, and the support of her , i will start a new thread on kids thinking "this is normal"

hi, gaiagrrl.

In addition to our other adventures, my baby girl has lost a lot of her hearing since she was born.  It is apparently something normal for someone in her condition, althouhg we weren't warned to expect it.  In our case, the hearing loss is permanent.  Hopefully not progressing any more, but certainly never to recover.  So here's what I know.  Hearing aids are HUGELY expensive.  Please look into insurance through and employer if at all possible, and if you reach the point of needing them, push hard to get access to ADP, which is an Ontario government program to cover 75% of the cost of medical devices.  That left us covering $500-600, which we were fortunate to have insurance for.  If it does look like you are headed in the hearing aid direction, insist on a referral to an ENT and audiologist at your closest children's hospital.  It is totally worth the wait, they can be helpful in many, many ways.

On the positive side, although there can be some getting used to having the things on your head, every kid we have seen has totally loved being able to hear.  I gather it can be a bit scary for those who are born completely deaf, but for someone like your daughter, her whole world of sound becomes clearer, makes more sense, and is easier to understand.  She will be happy!

It sucks, but on the grand scale of things, hearing aids are manageable without too much trouble.  That said, I join those in hoping that you are dealing with something more minor and temporary.