[FloridaJewel]

Since we just went through this......
our referral had Hep C on her medicals too. She tested + 2 wks after birth, then neg. at 8 months. I was concerned and had her retested at 16.5 months, for both virus and antibodies and it was neg. The IA dr. said transmission from mother to child was low. I think Ktates mentioned about 5-9%. I've read up to 12%, but one more test that's negative would ease your mind!
Good luck!

[happyhome]

Wow, thank you all so much! This information has been incredibly helpful. Really, I can't tell you how much you've helped us sort all of this out. We will send the info to the IA doc and wait for more info from the orphanage. Hopefully the IA doc will tell us the possible impact of the mother using drugs. Hopefully we can get a retest for the Hep C, and hopefully the orphanage will tell us more about the "hearing disorder." I had chronic ear infections as a kid, and had tubes in my ears with great results. Hopefully that's it. Anyway, at this point I'm still hopeful we'll be able accept this referral.

I'll keep you all posted.
THANKS AGAIN!!!!!

[jroc]

Sounds like you have gotten some great advice, Emily. From what I've read on the posts here, both of the health issues you asked about are somewhat common. Good luck to you and let us know how is goes with the IA doc.


Jen

[cathvash]

There is an easy screening technique that can be done with a tuning fork, that can help provide information about the type and degree of hearing loss. (i.e. is the hearing loss from a problem in the inner ear-more serious, or from the more treatable eardrum/fluid etc.) You could easily obtain the instrument and learn to do this easy screening, as well as some other easy hearing exams/tests that you could do on trip 1. It might provide some information for your doctor that would help him/her make a better assessment. Good luck!

[cathvash]

Just realized your referral is very young - This technique with the tuning fork may or may not work, but there are other screenings you could learn to perform, even for a child this young. Try these links to start:


http://www.infanthearing.org/

[MustangLippy]

Our DD had some health issues reported on her medical that turned out to be true (hyperopia and failure to thrive) but no hearing ailment was noted. However when she was tested by the early intervention folks here in the US (at age 12 months) they noted mild hearing loss in her left ear.

I took her to our ENT for a second opinion and they ran the usual tests (in the sound booth) but it was inconclusive due to her age. According to them and the EI folks the only way to conclusively know at this age is a hospital procedure where the child is sedated.

We chose not to do this but to check back in a year.

Our DD is 18 months old now and has some words like "hi", "bye" "cat" and "ball". I am more worried about her receptive language than anything and I don't know how much might be influenced by her "hearing loss".

However, based on what we've experienced so far this wouldn't have been cause for us to turn down her referal even if we'd known.

Hope this helps
MustangLippy