An Incredible Story

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From my patient:

Our youngest son was born June 1, 2015 via induction with Pitocin.  After birth, he failed the hearing test on labor and delivery (OAE) five times and we were referred for additional testing. He later failed a more definitive hearing test (ABR - Auditory Brainstem Response) at 11 days and at 4 weeks old. The results of both tests showed no brain response to auditory stimulation.  He was seen by an ENT at 5 weeks with no observable structural abnormalities, leading to his diagnosis of 'profound sensorineural hearing loss'. Ironically, I started having problems with my own ears around the same time and following a consult with Dr. Brizman my protocol was temporarily simplified and my ears cleared almost immediately.  During my consult, I shared my son's diagnosis with Dr. Brizman and will never forget her reassurance that she was confident his hearing would improve with time. After talking to our pediatrician we learned that both supplements Dr. Brizman recommended for my ears were safe for our son so we added them to his bottle once a day.

At 8 weeks, he was fitted with hearing aids  and he immediately responded to clapping.  Prior to this, we had seen responses only  to sirens, a lawn mower, the house alarm and a door slamming; but he definitly wasn't responding to many of your 'typical sounds' (we have a not so quiet toddler). After fitting him with aids we were told he likely heard 'loud sounds' but no voices. He continued to have monthly sound booth testing, all of which continued to show 'severe to profound' hearing loss. 

Around Christmas time, I was riding in the back seat of our car feeding him (he was looking out the window) and I sneezed. He turned towards me and smiled.  I thought, "maybe he just saw the movement" but when I sneezed again a minute later he turned and giggled.  During this same time frame we continued to see more and more "potential' responses to sound, including the ability to locate sounds when we called his name while out of sight etc...

In January we had our first meeting with his Cochlear implant team.  When they put him in the sound booth his results were near normal, and he passed a repeat OAE with flying colors. We were shocked, but were quickly informed he may have Auditory Neuropathy Spectrum Disorder (ANSD) which would explain both the previous failed hearing tests, and the current 'near normal' booth testing. With ANSD there is often a break down in communication between the auditory nerve and the brain, and like IC there is no known 'medical' cure because the underlying disease mechanism is not well understood. The more we researched, the more we worried.  We learned our son did not have the typical 'risk factors' for this diagnosis but in some cases it can be caused by Autoimmune Inner Ear Disease.  We were told by our Cochlear Implant team that we needed to do another ABR in order to obtain a definitive diagnosis.

Yesterday, we were finally able to complete a repeat ABR and were notified shortly thereafter that he test showed completely normal hearing, with no sign of auditory neuropathy. We were completely stunned, and are over the moon with joy.  The Audiologist and ENT were unable to give us an explanation for how this happened, and they will continue to monitor him every 4-6 months. But as of yesterday, he is a typical, happy, healthy, HEARING 9 month old with full access to sound and the ability to acquire language normally!

From me: This story warmed my heart and is one of many stories that makes what we do so worth all of the difficult moments. This is the kind of story that really points to the power of the "energetics" of the human body and the ability of an Alternative approach to impact that system. I was going to go into a long discussion on the subject, but for tonight, I just wanted to post this and enjoy being overwhlemed with joy over this little baby's victory over what could have been a very different road of life.

Dr.M

 

Comments

katiekookaa's picture
katiekookaa

This is so amazing and makes such a difference to the child's future. Wonderful.