The Gift of Hearing

I wanted to post an update on Rhyle's hearing. I took the kids to the audiologist last week to have Rhyle's hearing rechecked and to meet with the doctor. Rhyle was scheduled to have tubes put in his ears (for the second time) and an appendectomy earlier this year. The surgery was only weeks away when we had insurance changes that caused us to cancel the procedure. At the time, I was honestly relieved, because I wasn't completely comfortable with the idea, nor convinced that surgery was the best option. Not knowing what else to do kept me from canceling earlier. Braden and I agreed that we wanted our little (4) boy to hear. At the time, his hearing tests were coming back extremely poor and there was essentially no movement of the eardrum. (I have read articles that friends have sent me linking ear infections and excess fluid in the ears to consumption of dairy. Even though I wanted to see if cutting out dairy could positively affect Rhyle's hearing, it was practically challenging. We eat cheese regularly around here.) I sensed that the Lord was divinely rescheduling for us.

Fast forward to the end of summer. Braden and I mutually agreed that if his hearing was still subpar, we needed to do something about it. At times we could tell that he wasn't hearing us as well as he ought. It seemed time to visit the doctor again and pursue treatment. I had meanwhile switched the family to rice milk and other milks (replacing cow milk), and consciously tried to alter our consumption to less processed dairy.

I am not making any claims. I'm not sure what changed over the summer. When the doctor met with us on Friday he was surprised that Rhyle's hearing was all within normal ranges, and while he still didn't have normal movement of the eardrum, he had SOME (quite an improvement!). Should I have been surprised?

Praise God! We are so thankful that Rhyle does not need surgery at this time. We are SO thankful that he can hear normally. We are so thankful that God intervened in the timing and worked the situation to His glory. He works all things to His glory, but I am glad that we were able to see Him in this and praise His faithful work.