I used to say, "Life with Ivey is a rollercoaster ride." Scratch that. It's nosediving in an airplane where she pulls up on the controls in the last second just before crashing. We have updated information on Ivey's hearing. I have been in a state of joy and confusion. Results from the November MRI and ABR are in. To recap, the MRI was looking for any structural quirks to the temporal regions in the skull/brain directed to hearing and the ABR was to see if there was any further changes to Ivey's hearing. The MRI showed no new changes to the regions of the skull/brain, all is as it has been. Still microcephalic, agenesis to the corpus callosum, and structural deformities to small bones that help conduct hearing. And, everything still looks good from the cranial vault many years ago. As for the ABR, there is good news. It seems that the November ABR was consistent with past ABR's, with the exception of the August ABR. This means, Ivey's hearin
Today Ivey and I will head to Emory. Specifically, we are heading to Emory's Department of Human Genetics. We are going back to hopefully find answers to a question that has materialized in the past few months. Ivey's inner circle is aware of changes that have occurred and the steps we have in front of us in a search for an answer, if there is an answer. In Ivey's last sedated procedure(s), an ABR was conducted. An ABR (Auditory Brainstem Response) tells us if her inner ear (cochlea) and the neural pathways for hearing are working. Over Ivey's lifetime she has had several ABRs. An ABR is the only accurate way we can test Ivey's hearing because of her limitations in communicating what she hears. Where Ivey has consistently maintained a mild/moderate hearing loss, that has now shifted. The latest ABR indicated that Ivey's hearing is now a moderate/severe hearing loss. Her right ear having a moderate loss; her left ear having a severe loss. Due to this