Doctor's Appointments & French Fry Dilemas

Marc and I have been concerned for awhile now because our two year old daughter, Bella, is not speaking very well. She has a vocabulary of only 6 words and she does try and repeat words that we say but the words always come out sounding mumbled and jumbled. My son, at the age of 2, had a huge vocabulary and was speaking in full, clear sentences. Now, I am not comparing the two because I know that no two children develop at the same rate, however, 6 words is also way below where she should be as far as milestones go. Bella had a long period of Cyclic Fevers (which is a post all in itself) that lasted for about a year in which the fevers would come on a regular cycle and would exceed 106 degrees for days at a time. So we were concerned that her hearing could have been affected by the fevers and that could be the reason she is not talking well yet- she just doesn't hear us and understand what we are saying in order to repeat them. I brought up my concern to our pediatrician at our last visit and he felt my concerns were justified and referred us to the Ear, Nose and Throat (ENT) Specialist that we saw today. We had an appointment with an Audiologist first to perform a hearing test on Bella. The Audiologist stuck a series on tube/plugs in Bella's ears and played sounds on a machine to see how Bella reacted. She then stuck another instrument in her ears to see if Bella had any fluid in her ears. The right ear was fine but there was a substantial amount of fluid behind her left eardrum. Next, the audiologist put Bella and I in a sound proof booth to do a more in-depth test. This booth was tiny! Not good for me who is claustrophobic. It was in the shape of a triangle and at it's largest point was probably 5 or 6 feet long. It was like sitting in a walk in shower with a ceiling on it and a solid door. Yuck! There were big speakers in each corner and the Audiologist could see through a tinted window as she made noises and spoke to Bella through the different speakers. Most of the time the sound (ranging in pitches and volume) would come from one speaker at a time but a few times it would come from both. It was very interesting to see how- and how often Bella responded. She didn't do well with the real low pitches or the low volume sounds.
Here is what the booth looked like.
This is showing one corner of the booth where the speakers were. On top of the speaker was a little box that would light up and inside was a bunny that played the drums every time Bella would respond correctly. You can see just how small this booth is because I couldn't even get a third of it into one shot- teeny!


This is where the Audiologist sat during the test. She could look through the window to see Bella but we could not see her.

And of course as we were wrapping up big brother Kyle had to get in on the action too!

Bella did amazing throughout the entire test- I couldn't even believe it! The hearing test lasted over 45 minutes!!!

Next we went to an exam room and waited to see the Ear, Nose and Throat Specialist. Dr. "R".

While we were waiting the kids decided to explore the room and check things out. For as many doctors we have been to I have found that this is the best thing to do- let them explore and get comfortable with the surroundings- they do better once the Dr comes in! And this chair was a lot of fun!

The ENT examined Bella, explained the results of the hearing test and the concerns with the fluid behind her eardrum. The fluid is not infected (yet) but it is there and it will continue to be there because her canal isn't shaped right to allow for easy drainage. What makes it more concerning is that Marc (and his side of the family) has issues with hearing problems and hearing loss. The Dr said he wanted to take the most proactive approach and have tubes put in her ears. My heart sank. I know, I know, it isn't terrible............. it could be so much worse. The thing is, it is a surgery- a 20 minute outpatient surgery- but still a surgery! A surgery with anesthesia! And potential risks. I think of everything she has been through over the last year and think that this is just one more thing. You would think that we would have to drag her into Dr's appointments kicking and screaming after all of the Dr's, specialists, tests that she has had but she is a trooper. My brave little trooper.

After we left the appointment we walked through the humongo parking lot, loaded the kids in the van, buckled them both into their car seats and drove a mile up the road and went to our pediatrician's office. I scheduled an appointment with him because Bella has had a fever again since Monday and a bad cough whenever she lays down to go to sleep. He examined her and said that he wanted a chest xray just to be sure. So, we walked back through the little parking lot, loaded the kids back in the van, buckled both of them in their car seats and headed back to the hospital branch a mile down the road, walked through the humongo parking lot and into the waiting room to get the xray. The receptionist told us it would be about 10 minutes. Huh. Thirty five minutes later we still hadn't been called, it is after noon by now and the kids and I are hungry, they are tired and we are approaching baby meltdown in 3...............2.......................1- BAM! Both kids fall out at exactly the same time. Kyle fell and hurt his knee while trying to run away from Bella because he just stole her kitty. So they are both crying, screaming, moaning. And I didn't even try to make them be quiet. Nope. Sure, I soothed them but didn't make any attempt to hush them. It was amazing how fast we were taken back to x ray after they started their fits! Bella once again did great with her x ray and within 10 minutes we were headed back to the pediatrician's office. Walk back through the humongo parking lot again, buckle both kids into car seats, drive 1 mile up the road, park the van, unbuckle the kids and walk through the little parking lot. Dr pulls up Bella's x rays on his computer- everything looks great. Given orders to give Albuterol treatments up to three times per day, as needed, for the coughing, check back in a week. I asked the pediatrician (whom I trust 100% due to the relationship we have built) about the tubes. He agreed with the ENT/ specialist and said that he is one of the best pediatric ENTs and if he says get them- we should get them. Talk to the girls in the office for a few minutes and head out the door. Walk through the little parking lot, buckle both kids into their car seat- AGAIN and Kyle is begging for french fries. Drive through Wendy's, my son proceeds to yell out his order from the backseat causing the poor girl at the mic to not be able to hear a thing and confuse everyone within earshot.

"Welcome to Wendy's, can I take your order?" Wendy's

"I want french fries!!" Kyle

"Kyle- please be quiet!" Me

"Can I help You?" Wendy's

"But I want FRENCH FRIES!" Kyle

"What size fry do you want?" Wendy's

"Ky please!" Me

"I want 4 fries!" Kyle

"Ok but what size for your four fries?" Wendy's

"NO! We don't want four fries- we only want two orders of fries. Ky- please stop talking! I am trying to think!" Me

"Fine then. Let me know when you are ready to order! Geez!" Wendy's

"Crap! No- not you! I was speaking to my son, he is trying to order, sorry- I know what we want." Me

"Oh, okay then- go ahead with your order." Wendy's

"I would like 2 small fries, 2 chicken wraps.........." Me

"I WANT 4 ICE CREAM MILKSHAKES PLEASE!" Kyle

"4 frostys? What size and what flavor?" Wendy's

"Kyle STOP!" Me

"I'm sorry- what flavor?" Wendy's

"Large pink ones please!" Kyle

"Kyle!" Me

"I'm sorry we don't have frostys in strawberry- chocolate and vanilla only" Wendy's

"I want pi..............." Kyle

"HUSH! NO MORE!" Me

"Lady- would it be easier for you to come in the store? You have my line wrapped around to the road." Wendy's

"NO! No it would NOT be easier to come in the store! GIVE ME TWO SMALL FRIES, TWO CHICKEN WRAPS, TWO CHOCOLATE FROSTYS AND A CHEESEBURGER! That's all please. Thank you." Me

"Okay, pull around." Wendy's

Oh how I did not want to pull around. I did not want to pull around and show my face. OH! Big sunglasses............ that will work.

Pull up to the window hand her my credit card....

"Sorry Ma'am our credit card machine is broken- we can only accept cash." Wendy's

"Are you kidding? I have no cash! Seriously!?!?! You have got to be joking!" Me (on verge of break down)

"Here's your food ma'am- you just go on now and have a good day." Wendy's (with eyes bugging out of her head like she was now afraid of the crazy lady with the large sunglasses and loud child shouting orders from the backseat.)

I swiped the bag and headed home. Who knew french fries would be so much work! And by the time we got the french fries and milkshake guess what- both kids conked out cold in the back seat. Didn't touch the first fry. ARGH!!!!!!!!! But I did get to listen to my own radio station all the way home. That was a treat!

Boy, I am SO ready for a nap.

~Heather :O