JACOB'S HEROES 2 EARS TO HEAR
Donation protected
We need HEROES!!!
From the beginning...
Jacob failed all four of his newborn hearing screenings. The nurses loved his blond hair so they kept trying to retest him. So we thought, no biggy, it's probably just a fluke. We waited about six weeks then took him for his first ABR and they said he had mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Which would only require hearing aids. So we had another ABR and the audiologist said close to the same thing so we got him his hearing aids by his 5 month birthday. From the start Jay and I were not confident with his diagnosis or his audiologist. His new ears just kept ringing and he wouldn't keep them on. Which they said was normal, but Jay and I still felt they were wrong because Jacob seemed frustrated and constantly screamed. He hated car rides because he couldn't see us and looking back we now know he couldn't hear us. That audiologist even said he could hear us he was probably just ignoring us! We thought that was a crazy thing to say about a five month old baby. So we went to another audiologist who still told us the same thing. She even told us that our decision to focus on auditory-verbal therapy may be wrong and that we needed to be signing to him. By then Jay and I were feeling pretty lost. Luckily that whole time we had a wonderful speech therapist Pam Shafer who kept supporting us and telling us to listen to our guts. She even got us to head down to Riley this spring. Finally Riley got us! They said Jacob's hearing loss was actually much worse and that his hearing aids were way too low. He is officially diagnosed with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Which put Jacob into a whole different category. We turned up his hearing aids in June and I wanted to give it some time. He has gotten some new words since then but after doing his aided testing this Monday we realized he is missing most letter sounds he can't even hear a siren with his hearing aids on. So Jay and I have finally come to the decision that Jacob will need to have bilateral implants put in by the end of the year (for the best insurance coverage). So Jay and I are trying to find any funds we can, to help give our baby the hearing he needs to level his playing field. I'm always applying and reapplying to whatever I can for help. Most of the time we are denied because we don't hit the poverty line which must be so low. I mean there are weeks we have a hard time even paying the gas to get down to Riley let alone stay down there for all the testing Jake needs for implantation.
Okay so this is where we need HEROES. Any prayers, or help spreading our story and even financial support would make you a HERO to us!
From the beginning...
Jacob failed all four of his newborn hearing screenings. The nurses loved his blond hair so they kept trying to retest him. So we thought, no biggy, it's probably just a fluke. We waited about six weeks then took him for his first ABR and they said he had mild to moderate sensorineural hearing loss. Which would only require hearing aids. So we had another ABR and the audiologist said close to the same thing so we got him his hearing aids by his 5 month birthday. From the start Jay and I were not confident with his diagnosis or his audiologist. His new ears just kept ringing and he wouldn't keep them on. Which they said was normal, but Jay and I still felt they were wrong because Jacob seemed frustrated and constantly screamed. He hated car rides because he couldn't see us and looking back we now know he couldn't hear us. That audiologist even said he could hear us he was probably just ignoring us! We thought that was a crazy thing to say about a five month old baby. So we went to another audiologist who still told us the same thing. She even told us that our decision to focus on auditory-verbal therapy may be wrong and that we needed to be signing to him. By then Jay and I were feeling pretty lost. Luckily that whole time we had a wonderful speech therapist Pam Shafer who kept supporting us and telling us to listen to our guts. She even got us to head down to Riley this spring. Finally Riley got us! They said Jacob's hearing loss was actually much worse and that his hearing aids were way too low. He is officially diagnosed with severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Which put Jacob into a whole different category. We turned up his hearing aids in June and I wanted to give it some time. He has gotten some new words since then but after doing his aided testing this Monday we realized he is missing most letter sounds he can't even hear a siren with his hearing aids on. So Jay and I have finally come to the decision that Jacob will need to have bilateral implants put in by the end of the year (for the best insurance coverage). So Jay and I are trying to find any funds we can, to help give our baby the hearing he needs to level his playing field. I'm always applying and reapplying to whatever I can for help. Most of the time we are denied because we don't hit the poverty line which must be so low. I mean there are weeks we have a hard time even paying the gas to get down to Riley let alone stay down there for all the testing Jake needs for implantation.
Okay so this is where we need HEROES. Any prayers, or help spreading our story and even financial support would make you a HERO to us!
Organizer
Heidi Remmo-Rickard
Organizer
South Bend, IN
