Earlier this year, Amy flunked her hearing test. Not a little bit. A lot. Her pediatrician wanted an official follow-up with an ENT so I made an appointment at CHOP.
I’m not gonna lie. Amy’s health issues have been exhausting. I know that sounds terrible to say out loud. It sounds, I’m sure, especially selfish to those parents whose children have chronic, life-threatening diseases. I can’t imagine what that feels like. I can say, though, that I believe that pain and personal experience is relative. And relatively speaking, Amy’s illnesses have been personally difficult for me.
The HSP started in December 2009. It was the last – and most serious – of a string of health issues for Amy. She has suffered through night terrors, “grossly enlarged” adenoids, sleeping and breathing abnormalities and anxiety. When she entered kindergarten, I thought we had turned a corner. She was getting taller, gaining weight, sleeping through the night… It was looking good. And then the HSP hit. It was literally months of vomiting, stomach pain, severe rashes, blood in her urine, swollen hands and feet, painful joints. It was awful.
It went away and came back, went away and came back. I was beginning to wonder if she was going to be one of those odd cases that couldn’t shake it. But her good days began to outnumber her bad days. And eventually, there were no more bad days.
That’s why the failed hearing test took me by surprise. Why this? Why now?
I guess we’ll never know – and you won’t hear me complaining. Today, the ENT gave her the “all clear” noting that her hearing was perfect. Thank God.
Of course, Ames can never just have a good day. She was completely exhausted at the end. She didn’t want to go to summer camp so she hung out with me at the office. She refused to eat lunch, saying she wasn’t hungry. She turned down dinner, too, complaining of a tummy ache. She just lounged on the sofa, looking a bit like a limp rag.
I’m choosing to believe that she is simply over tired. And I’m going to focus on the positive: her hearing test was super! No worries, right?
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