We had to park in a garage we weren't used to. Out of 4 garages, we had always used the other 3. We found a space, and found the elevator. It was a glass one, with a glass, not metal, door.
We weren't watching Ben close enough. When the doors opened to the floor we wanted, he had his hand on the door. He must have thought he'd help push it open, or it just took his hand, I don't know. When the door slid into its pocket to get out of the way, Ben's hand went with it. I've never been so scared. Ok, maybe I have, but it was in the top 5. I couldn't budge his hand, it was wedged so tightly. Eric was with me (thank you, God!) and thought to push the "close door" button, so it would release Ben's hand. Katherine was terrified for her big brother, Ben was in pain and terrified. Actually, we all were just purely scared.
His hand will have bruises and scrapes, but never swelled much, although it stayed red the rest of the day. He uses his hands well, and claps so we are assuming it isn't broken. I really hope I'm not making a wrong assumption. We saw several nurses and a few doctors after this happened for Ben's appointment and mentioned his hand, but no one seemed concerned.
We were told to be there at 9. We were, even with the elevator incident. Ben was called around 9:30. We weren't "seen" until 10:30. The meds weren't given until after 12:45. By 1:15 it was done. then the doctor didn't stop by although I saw him walking in the hall, until 1:40. Ben hadn't had anything to eat or drink since the night before. We were put in a room without anyplace to lay down with a 52 pound, 8 year old, drugged boy. It was a challenge.
So, the results of all of this are: Ben's right ear shows low normal hearing. Ben's left ear shows mild loss. I had spoken with Ben's SLP earlier about what to do based on the possible results. She believes any loss needs intervention. She explained to me that Ben could have his class amplified, that he could have head phones with a microphone that would ampliphy, and a few other options. Of course hearing aid is in the list as well and I know they have become quite small.
When given the results, the attitude was clearly, and blatantly, "He won't wear the hearing aid, so why bother getting one " Any other type of intervention was not mentioned. If I hadn't asked and known there were other methods, I certainly wouldn't have learned it there. How disapointing. How maddening! I was angry about the whole day. Do they go through the motions of the tests, all the while thinking this? Do they think "why are these parents of this child bothering?"
After hearing this attitude from a few people, the doctor came in gave us the results the others already had and said, as the others had, "he won't wear a hearing aid, so don't bother". Then he said he'd see us again in a year. I told him we would like to make an appointment with their hearing aid people and got it set up by taking the paperwork down the hall and making the appointment myself. He may not wear one, or he may. He will decide that, not me. I won't deny him the opportunity, nor will I give up before I even try. We have insurance and I have always put Ben's needs ahead of anything we wanted to buy. If we end up with expenses I can't get covered by something. He is worth it. I'd rather my son be able to hear better than replace our 16 year old car, any day. I will give him every chance I can to be successful, and if it doesn't work, we will approach it a different way until we find an intervention or adaptation that does work.
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