The past few years have been hard for the Cram family, but especially so for little Aiden. He has suffered sleep issues, anxiety but now recently sudden and dramatic hearing loss! Between  sleep specialists, pediatrician appointments, an MRI, and an ENT specialist, his anxiety has become serious.

The MRI revealed no tumors, but more will be needed in the future to keep checking. Both ears have severe hearing loss - his right being the worst. How awful for a little boy! 

He was fitted today for hearing aids, but unfortunately the family’s insurance doesn’t cover this type of need. The cost is astronomical at $4800! That’s above and beyond the costs of taking off work to make appointments, gas and travel, and the rest of the medical bills.

It would be such a weight off of his sweet mother’s mind to know that her baby has what he needs. Help this awesome family get through this difficult time. Please donate what you can!

(This fundraiser is being set up by Sarah Lofing, a family friend. All the funds will be provided directly to the Cram family to help pay for Aiden’s hearing aids.)

From Alicia Cram, Aiden’s mama: 
Well today was a very long and challenging day for us. We have some answers, but still more questions and concerns. Aiden has severe hearing loss in both ears, but the right is worse. It’s not complete hearing loss, only with certain sounds and pitches. With that being said, it still affects him and his daily life in some situations drastically. It also explains why he is always the loudest kid around and the other things about the last 8 months are making a lot more sense now knowing this was the issue. It is permanent and we are hopeful it won’t get worse. The MRI of his brain last week didn’t show any obvious tumors of any kind, which we are very thankful and relieved. This doesn’t mean we are out of the woods yet. The specialists still believe they have ruled out almost all possibilities of the cause of this abrupt loss since this is all happened so severely within a years time. They are suggesting another MRI in another 6 months to again check for brain tumors of any kind. Today Aiden also got to choose his colors for the hearing aides and they squirted yellow goo in his ears with a gun to get the molds for his ears. In a few weeks we will have them and be able to get them fitted. Our insurance doesn’t cover hearing aides whatsoever so we are also working with a company through the specialist office to get them at a discounted rate, but they are still unbelievably very pricey! Once he has them it should really help him and his behavior and perception. I am praying his peers will be kind to him, as kids can tend to be very cruel. As for the adenoids and tonsils we have a set date in a few weeks for surgery to have them removed in hopes it will solve his inability to get good sleep. Although the oximeter machine we did a few weeks ago didn’t show drastic changes of his oxygen levels, the specialist believes the surgery is worth it as he sleeps with his mouth open and does stop and gasp for air occasionally as he sleeps. (Sleep apnea) Thank you for those who have reached out. It could always be worse, but knowing your child has permanent significant hearing loss and not knowing an obvious reason is still heartbreaking for me as his momma. And all of the challenges this will bring. Of course very thankful for how it will help as well.