Say What? Follow-Up #1

Back on the 24th I went to see Dr. Huong, the otologist. I received yet another round of hearing tests, which seem to be in agreement with the other two from this year. Apparently my hearing loss is mostly nerve-related, rather than mechanical, which makes otosclerosis less likely.

Here’s the list of possible hearing loss causes so far:

• Meniere’s Disease (inner ear fluid issue)
• Otosclerosis (middle ear/inner ear bone calcification)
• Autoimmune (body attacking cells in my ears)
• DNA Preprogrammed to Endeafen Me
• Matching tumors (one in each ear)

There are a few tests in my future to help sort out what is going on. These include a blood test, an MRI, a CT scan, and some sort of ear pressurization test. I can also schedule a hearing aid test fitting, to see what fabulous style of ear fashion works the best for me. We think that insurance will cover most of these things, once my deductible is met, though it won’t pay for trying out various hearing aids.

I’ll post more follow-ups once results start coming back.

Each year Shoreline Cooperative Preschool has one big fundraiser. This combines our Halloween Carnival, a silent auction (run by Rona and me and a small crew), and a raffle. You are, of course, invited to come to the big carnival at our preschool, to play some games, eat fun food, and bid on (truly) fabulous auction items, but there’s something else you can do to help keep us in books and fieldtrips. We have raffle tickets to move to deserving people like you! Priced at a very reasonable $1 each, these tickets open up worlds of prize-earning potential for a lucky someone who just might be you!

At time of purchase you can choose between a Child Prize or an Adult Prize. The Child Prize includes the winner’s choice of two of the following:

1. Seattle Pacific Science Center Family Membership
2. Seattle Children’s Museum Family Membership
3. Woodland Park Zoo Family Membership
4. Seattle Aquarium Family Membership
5. Northwest Puppet Theater gift certificate
6. Everett Imagine Children’s Museum Family Membership

The Adult Prize (which you should probably go for—it’s okay, you deserve it) is a two night stay at the Pan Pacific Hotel in downtown Seattle.

Just let us know how many tickets you want, and for each one whether you want to vie for the Child Prize or the Adult Prize.

Thanks, on behalf of Zoey and all her preschool friends!

My hearing has been a little problematic for years, but I didn’t really have it checked until 2005. I recently had it checked again at Costco, since it’s free there, and the results weren’t encouraging. Dr. Tracy asked me to get a second test done at an "official" hearing lab, and the results were the same. In the past three years my low to mid range hearing has worsened by about 20 to 30 decibels, meaning sounds in that frequency range (that of adult human speech) sound 20 to 30 decibels quieter to me than they actually are.

According to "Doc Rock," my Ear, Nose, and Throat doctor, the pattern of my hearing loss is not consistent with nerve damage caused by noise exposure, but does closely match that from a condition called otosclerosis. If I do have that, my hearing will most likely just continue to deteriorate. Treatment options include surgery to replace a bone in the inner ear (usually the stapes) with a prosthetic one, or hearing aids. The surgery, called a stapedectomy, usually improves hearing, but actually has a small chance of causing complete deafness in the affected ear (they usually do one ear at a time). It is also not necessarily a permanent fix, and so the patient often ends up wearing hearing aids later on. As for starting with hearing aids, this might be the only option if the hearing loss isn’t severe enough.

Doc Rock is having me get a second opinion from an otologist (ear specialist). I see her on Wednesday, and I’ll report back here with what she says.

We all went to the Puyallup Fair yesterday with the Hesses. It was a grand time! I haven’t been there in years! Keegan was amazed and didn’t take a nap for the longest time, until he just plain conked out around 2pm (he had been up at 8). Zoey went on rides for the very first time! She went on the helicopter ride:

The car (I remember it as the tea cup) ride:

And the roller coaster (third car back on the right)!:

Much fun was had! We also saw the animals. Keegan was looking at cows here:

It was a good time!

"Someday you’re going to discover you’re not invincible, and it’s going to come as a shock."

"Daddy, what does ‘shock’ mean?"

We just had a very busy couple of weeks, Brassapalooza Trumpet Camp, Evan went to GenCon in Indianapolis, and Evan’s parents were here for a week to help us out. During this time, Evelyn, Earl, and I took the kids to the portrait studio to get some pictures done. I haven’t done pictures at the studio for a while, mainly because the photographers just seemed to be getting worse. This time we got some good pictures, but, the only one of the kids together took about 10 minutes and they had trouble with Keeg either trying to suck his thumb or almost crying. Hmmmmm. A Challenge. They have nice props and backdrops, though.

It was lovely having the Portland Sasses up. Earl ended up fixing tons of things for us! Thanks Earl!!! He fixed our droopy gutter, tackled our scary morning glory invasion, fixed the hole in the side of the house from where we took out an vent duct from the old stove (he fixed the venting on the new stove when we moved in a couple years ago), got rid of the yellowjacket nest (which was in the ground in our rosebed—it was the size of a soccer ball!), vacuumed the van, fixed the lightbulb in the bathroom and fixed the plumbing in the toilet (which broke the morning they were leaving!). Wow. We thank you so much for helping our little home stay running!

Evan came back on Monday. It is nice to have him home again! Trumpet camp was a complete success! YAY! The kids are doing great, and things are starting to ramp up faster into the school year. Zoey will be in the Inventors class at preschool. Keegan will be doing the Little Gym all year. We are signing up Zoey for more art classes for the Fall and then ballet starting up again in January, I think.

Summer has been great so far! We did some things, saw some people, played some music, had free time, took naps, and even watched some movies! Two more weeks of summer!

That’s the view I had on my way to Gen Con, but so far it’s pretty much the same on the way back home. I’m at the Minneapolis-St. Paul Airport, spending a bit too much for wi-fi. Just one more hour left on my layover.

Judging by the constant announcements over the PA system, either most airports don’t care, or this one serves the most forgetful people in the world. I just hope I never leave my cell phone at the security checkpoint.

It was a good convention, but I’m very ready to be home.

In case you were wondering about the bluesy strains coming over the baby monitor a while ago, no, Keegan’s nap didn’t "take," and yes, apparently Zoey left a harmonica in his crib.

"Thanks for getting more gorilla bars!"

"You’re welcome, Zoey."

"I’m so proud of you, Mommy."

Yesterday we moved Keegan’s crib into Zoey’s room—now Zoey & Keegan’s room—and he spent his first night in there with her. He had trouble falling asleep in the new space, and then woke up at Time I Can’t Remember From Lack Of Sleep in the night, but Zoey slept fine, which was my main concern. Rona did a great job cleaning out their room, which job included moving out a clutter-magnet chair, and it is great in there now. I declare Operation One Room a success!