“That’s not a van. This is a van.”
–Eric Sass
We were taking some holiday pictures yesterday and we got this one. He is our dancin’ boy!
Who can save the day when the Crime Monster takes all of Santa’s presents? Superhero, of course, with her trusty animal sidekicks and her hair-tangling sword. Art and story by Zoey.
Once upon a time, Santa was talking, saying, "Hey, you bad guys… Stop taking my presents!"
"I will not, since I’m a crime monster!"
The sidekicks were really, really happy, ’cause their job was to help the superhero.
Superhero said, "No problem! I can fix this anytime!"
She got out her sword…
…she gently picked it and made a knot in his hair, and he said, "No fair!"
"But, you need to go to jail."
"Not fair that I need to go to jail!"
Superhero said, "I saved the day!"
Here’s Zoey narrating her comic book:
Yesterday we went back in to see Dr. Huang. Nothing nasty going on in the head scans, so no left ‘n’ right ear tumors or anything scary like that. I do seem to have some sort of inner ear fluid issue, which seems most likely to be Meniere’s Disease, like my Grandpa Holderby had. I’m not having major vertigo issues yet, which would make the diagnosis easier.
The treatment we’re going with is a diuretic taken once a day in the morning (to minimize nighttime bladder-induced waking). This should help regulate the fluid in my inner ears, along with the bonus of lowering my blood pressure. I took the first one this morning, and it’s not bad at all so far. This will probably only maintain my current level of hearing rather than fix anything, but that’s something. I suppose it should help me avoid the vertigo, too, which can be disabling in some people with Meniere’s.
We are going to schedule a hearing aid fitting and see what styles help the most. I’m hoping that Costco carries whatever brand we end up picking, as I hear (heh) their prices can be up to $1,000 cheaper. Per ear.
On the upside, if not my first set of ‘aids, my next one in five or so years will probably have Bluetooth or some new wireless technology, to allow me to listen to music or phone calls without putting on headphones. Efficiency? Sounds good to me.
[Edit: I completely forgot to mention the part where I'm also starting a low-sodium diet. Denial? Never!]
Howling is heard in the living room.
Mommy: “Is that a coyote I hear?”
Zoey: “No mommy. That was a Pink Poodle Princess Scratcher.”
“So, how was preschool today?”
“It was great. Everyone adored me!”
I think I mentioned this before, but the blood tests for genetic issues, autoimmune disorders, and unspeakable mutations—all of the inner ear—came back negative. But we couldn’t let the fun stop there, so last week I went in to the otologist’s office for some additional testing.
The first test involved artificial pressure changes, ear popping, drinking water while holding my nose shut, and a handheld computer which judged my ear-popping skills.
The second involved lying down on a massage table wearing a strange pair of blacked-out goggles with cameras to record my eye movement, and if I recall correctly (it was early in the morning and I wasn’t allowed coffee) some combination of sound and artificial pressure designed to try and make me feel dizzy. I didn’t feel dizzy, but my eyes did twitch a bit.
The third and longest test was also pretty weird. Picture yourself lying down. Now imagine two electrodes on your forehead (vertically placed in the middle), one on each earlobe, and one deep inside one of your ears. Now, you know that ticking sound made by a gas stove when you light it? Imagine that sound, really loud, piped directly into one of your ears. Add in some static in the other ear, so that all you can hear is loud, constant, fast ticking and static. The noise just keeps going, just as loud, except for when it stops unpredictably and restarts just as unpredictably.
There was an hour and a half scheduled for this test, but I think it went faster. I’m not sure, because the audiologist told me while sticking things to my head that some people fall asleep during the test and that she usually sees better results when that happens. Get me up early, deprive me of coffee, stick really annoying noises in my ears, have me lie down on a comfortable massage table, and tell me I can fall asleep, and as it turns out, I’ll fall asleep. But, for the record, I don’t really feel the need to go through all that again just to take a nap.
Tomorrow afternoon the fun just keeps on funning, as I head back to Pill Hill for MRI and CT scans. I think that will finish off the testing, and we’ll schedule a meeting with Dr. Huong after that to discuss what she found in my ears.
Coming soon (really!) are a movie of Keegan walking and a slideshow featuring Zoey narrating a comic book she drew.
Here are words that Keegan says at almost 1918 months old, in no particular order:
- Mommy
- Daddy (but he likes to call me Mommy)
- Grandpa (it doesn’t quite sound like that, but it’s clear what he means)
- gabay (his made-up word, like baby Zoey’s bipth)
- ball
- baby
- please
- gilk (milk)
- pie
- hi
- bye
- mine
- up
- doggie
- book
- pod (iPod)
- hat
- Oh-wee or Wee-wee (Zoey)
- apple
- ice
Signs:
- please
- thank you
- more
- milk
- water
That’s all we can think of right now.
Coming soon: Another ear update and video of Keegan walking!
Aunt Bev wrote to point out that my Grandpa Holderby had Meniere’s Disease, discovered when he was about 59, in 1967, after he woke up one morning and couldn’t hear. He wore hearing aids after that, which I also didn’t remember, but then I was pretty little when he died. Although most cases of this disease include horrible vertigo and usually only affect the hearing in one ear, this was not the case with him. We may well have found the culprit for my hearing loss. Or not. More news to follow as the investigation develops.
