Wednesday, March 19, 2014

An APD Life- How Our Journey Began

When I first learned about APD, I had a 5 year old and a 3 year old child. My five year old was a very bright little boy who seemed to loose track of details, forget things I thought he should remember and whose attention it was hard to get. He had survived atypical pneumochoccial pneumonia with plural empyema, fevers over 107 degrees, chest surgery and surgery to remove his tonsils and adenoids. Despite my extreme gratitude for his health and well being, there was a nagging feeling that would not go away that something was amiss still. He had been in for two hearing tests and we were told that he could hear perfectly, I just didn't buy it. I knew that child could not hear me a lot of the time. I can not say enough good things about Children's Mercy Hospital in Kansas City and the wonderful attitude they have there of listening to the concerns of parents. That attitude saves lives. When parents come in with concerns and, instead of just going with the current medical opinion, they sit and listen to what parents are asking, they save lives-yes there is another story there and it has to do with the pneumonia! Today, it is a story about an audiologist who did a hearing test on a five year old. The results showed his hearing to be normal. She came out and looked at a weary mommy and listened to her. Then she sent the five year old for further testing. That further testing is what led to the journey into the world of a person with APD.