Sedated ABR/ MRI

When Kendall was 6 months old she had her last hearing tests to verify her degree of hearing loss. During these tests they looked at her brain activity to see any reaction to varying noise frequencies. To make sure they would get accurate results and not get any interference from her moving they sedated her. The entire process took about two hours total and she tolerated the sedation well. The results were as expected- profound bilateral hearing loss.

The last step in our cochlear implant candidacy process was to get an MRI. They needed to make sure that her cochleas and auditory nerves were fully developed. We were not too nervous about getting these results since we already knew that a flawed Connexin 26 gene was the cause of her hearing loss, but we still had to rule out any other causes.

She was such a champ and had no issues at all. The only problem we had was trying to keep all the medical equipment out of her mouth!!
 When Kemper had his MRI  they gave him IV sedation. This time with Kendall they just used gas to put her under and it was so much better. She had an easier time coming out of sedation and was back to normal in a very short time. It seemed like it took forever for K just to wake up post MRI.

Thankfully the MRI results were as expected too-  her auditory canal structure is intact as well as her auditory nerve so she is a perfect candidate for cochlear implants!

Bitter Sweet

Baby K's ENT called and gave me the results on his MRI, his auditory canal structure is intact as well as his auditory nerve, which means Baby K can get his cochlear implants when he turns 12 months or maybe earlier!

It still kills me that he has to go through all this but at least he is now well on his way to the hearing world!

Now on to dealing with insurance...

Step Two : MRI

Getting prepared with Daddy Loves the blinking lights

It's been a looong day. I went to bed around 11pm the night before and woke up around 1am thinking about Baby K's MRI. I was then awoken at 4am by Baby K, he was having a party in his crib that I was unaware I was invited to. This party lasted until 5:30 am not leaving me much time to sleep because my alarm was set for 6:15am so we could make it to the hospital by 7 to check in. His actual MRI was scheduled for 8am, but the anesthesiologist that was going to sedate him was stuck in surgery so we didn't get started until 8:45, not so good since Baby K was not allowed to eat prior to the MRI. The nurses got him all settled in, weighing him and taking his vital signs. I was then allowed to carry him into the MRI room and hold him as they began to sedate him. Being a nurse I knew what to expect but it still saddened me as I felt him go limp in my arms. The MRI lasted about an hour and then we were allowed to see him. He was all bundled up in warm blankets looking as cute as ever. It took him a good while to fully wake up. He had to be awake and able to eat some before we could go home. He was so tired he could hardly cry. He just made little cat like noises that just broke your heart. Finally he was awake and eating enough that we able to go home around 11. The doctors warned us that he might be very sleepy and sleep for 3-4 hours when we got home. I thought well good I need a nap, but no Baby K was wide awake only taking two 30 min naps the entire day until he finally tuckered out at 10pm! He had the opposite reaction to the anesthesia and he was very hyperactive, just wanting to play. Now I just hope he will sleep most of the night. We should have his results some time next week until then I think I'm going to be a nervous wreck!

*Pause music at bottom*