Some relief

Well, we went today and had Hannah's bloodwork redone. While we were at the audiologist's doing Hannah's hearing test Mark called me on the cell and said that I needed to call the doctor back. The Dr. said that her lipase levels read normal with this labwork. So we have some relief there. However, she will go for an ultrasound tomorrow to rule out a problem with her gall bladder. So, we will have to wait for those results. I am relieved at least that it isn't her pancreas.

He also asked if she had access to alcohol because he said if she drinks then that can raise her lipase levels too. Well, I explained again to him that at school she is on a closed campus and would have no access on campus. To leave campus she is chaperoned. When at home she doesn't drink and she doesn't go hang out with any kids here in town because all of her friends are at school. So, when she is home, she is home. I believe that we can safely say, 100%, that she isn't drinking.

We also got some other good news. Hannah does not need to wear hearing aids. Why you ask? Well, when Hannah was diagnosed with the hearing loss they originally did her hearing test on post (at Ft. Riley). When that came back with the hearing loss they referred us to the audiologist's to get hearing aids. When we picked the hearing aids up, she tested her hearing again and found that it had worsened from when she had the first test a month before so the Dr. recommended we have her hearing tested again on post. This time it showed it was worse than the one before also. So, the doctor did a different kind of test where Hannah would have no input and it showed that her hearing should be fine and that there were no mechanical reasons for Hannah to not be able to hear. He felt that the hearing loss could be a psychological response (probably as a result of her vision loss diagnosis and her acceptance or non-acceptance of that diagnosis). The Dr. felt that Hannah was not doing it on purpose because the "hearing loss" was pretty equal among all decibel levels in both ears. He said even with his training and with a lot of thinking about it on his part he could not have "faked" hearing loss that perfectly, hence the diagnosis that it was a psychologically induced hearing loss. Now that Hannah has had time to deal with and accept that she will eventually be blind she isn't having the hearing loss.

I am glad because this has had us worried also. There is such a form of Hannah's eye disease called Usher's Syndrome that does result in the blindness but comes with the hearing loss also and we were afraid that this is what Hannah had.

So, a little less stress for today anyway. Thanks for the thoughts and prayers. I'll keep everyone posted on the ultrasound results. Hopefully nothing there.