Good Medicine

It was official, our little Abigail Grace was hard of hearing. Suddenly we were thrust into a world we knew absolutely nothing about. I guess that I knew it was a possibility that our baby might have a hearing disability, but I certainly never considered it. There were so many other big scary things to worry about like Autism and Cystic Fibrosis. In fact, I didn't know anyone with hearing loss except for an elderly relative who wore a Miracle Ear. I was incredibly overwhelmed and confused and had absolutely no idea what to do next.

Enter the Audiology Department at Dayton Children's Hospital...

Shortly after Abigail's ABR we were assigned an audiologist. She was responsible for monitoring Abigail's hearing loss, choosing and assigning her hearing aids, constructing her ear molds, answering any and all questions that we may have regarding Abigail's loss and being a friend throughout this process.

In addition to our Audiologist, we were assigned an ENT (Ear, Nose and Throat) Specialist. His job was to examine Abigail's ears, help determine the cause of her loss, monitor the medical side of her loss and any potential problems in her ears that might contribute to further loss.

While trying to wrap my head around all the medical terms surrounding Abigail's hearing loss, I had failed to even consider the financial impact that this would have on our family. I wasn't even sure if our insurance covered this type of disability. To my relief, we were also assigned a case worker. She was responsible for all communication with our insurance company, getting us enrolled in BCMH (I talk about this in a later post), outlining the financial costs that may lay ahead, explaining all the tests that would be ordered to help determine the cause for Abigail's loss and a general "What comes next?" sort of guide.

Over the next few weeks these medical professionals would guide us into this new world; they would answer all of our questions, provide support and help us to help our perfect daughter.