Max Man Update

So, I blogged about Max and his ears weeks ago and never updated. What a bum of a Momma. Thank you all for your emails and prayers. We are so blessed to have such amazing friends.

Our visit with Dr. Kopke went well. Here's a rundown of what we learned:

1. Max is definitely a candidate for cochlear implants. Everything is formed properly and Max is scheduled for surgery on October 1st. He is very sad that he has to wait such a long time but it is a great opportunity to teach about patience and the Lord's perfect timing.

2. The doctor says that Max has an enlarged vestibular aqueduct which is common in kids with this type of deafness. He says that this means Max possibly had hearing until around the age of two. If this is true it will certainly benefit Max as he "learns to hear" with his implant.

3. Max will need to see a retina specialist to rule out Usher's Syndrome. This syndrome affects hearing and eyesight.

4. He will also need to see a throat specialist. Max's glands are enlarged in his throat and Dr. Kopke is not sure why. He is sending us to one of his collegues to see if we can figure that one out. One possibility here is Pendred's Syndrome, which affects hearing and thyroid. (Understand that I have only done a small amount of research on Pendred's and Usher's and know very little about them.)

5. So far there is no explanation for the tongue weakness. This is most often caused by stroke or tumor and neither of those showed up on the MRI (and we are so grateful).

6. And finally, he talked about Max's balance problems. He showed us a diagram of a healthy ear and it looked something like this:



You can see all the parts of the inner and outer ear. You can see the snail shaped cochlea. Look just above the cochlea and you will see several blue loops (well, they are blue on the diagram anyway). These are your balance center. Next, Dr. Kopke showed us Max's MRI and pointed to where those loops should be on Max. Turns out he doesn't have any. They are missing. You can see the start and end of them, but the actual loops are missing. The doctor has never seen this and has no explanation for us. He is going to be doing some research and hopes to be able to explain it at our next visit. But it helped explain why Max is a bit awkward. The doctor said, "Fortunately, God created our bodies with more than one way of controlling balance." We are grateful that Max is able to do all of the stuff nine-year-olds like to do.

So, that's the rundown. Again, thanks for all of your prayers. The next few months hold lots more doctor visits and lots of adjustments for Max and our family. Please keep praying!