Unexpected Diagnosis

Over spring break, Brandt went back to see Beth for a third time to try to figure out why his CI performance has been going downhill the past few months. She has tested him several times and he's still scoring very high, but in real-world situations he's just not doing as well as he did shortly after activation. At first he thought it was due to congestion, since he'd had a cold that stuffed up his nose. But after the cold went away he still wasn't doing well, and after several weeks of taking decongestant and two different allergy medications, it hadn't improved. My mom and Josie have both asked me "Have you noticed that Brandt isn't doing as well as he was a few months ago? Is it just me or is he getting worse?!"

So at the third appointment trying to figure out the problem, Beth suggested that it might be that Brandt's left (aided) ear is getting worse and is dragging down the progress of the implanted ear--and her recommendation is to go ahead and get it implanted as well. WHAT?!?!

I had actually asked Beth a few months ago about implanting the other ear, since he was doing so well, and she said it was something he could consider if he wanted.  But Brandt wasn't in a hurry to get his other ear operated on, which is very understandable of course.  I was just so excited about his success, I figured having bilateral success would be even better.  He said he'd get it done eventually but didn't see the need anytime soon. Well, the need has unexpectedly arisen.

Due to an upcoming change in his job situation, the surgery needed to be done by early June, but they were scheduling into mid-July. Brandt shrugged and said "Oh well, guess it'll have to wait a year or two after all" but I was NOT going to give up without a fight! I e-mailed Dr. Awesome's assistant, explained the situation, and now he is scheduled for surgery on May 28! I'm just shocked at this turn of events.  We knew another surgery was in our future, but we didn't expect the future to get here so soon.