Aug 5 – 20 Is the Magic number

We had a surgical consult with Dr Brown, pediatric surgical ENT surgeon at Cornell Presbyterian, to discuss the possibilities of a CI.  He began by telling us that when this procedure is done at such a young age, the chances for success (meaning one being able to learn to speak) are extremely high… and chances that she could be mainstreamed into regular school at a young age is very likely.  But, not everybody is a candidate for this procedure.  On paper, Madison is an ideal candidate… but a MRI needs to be conducted to determine if she has an auditory nerve.  We were told that there is 1 in 100 chance that she will NOT have a nerve…it is extremely rare.  In addition, this physician has never encountered such thing.  We try to remain positive… but than again, given our situation already being very rare, it is very difficult to keep our hopes up.  Considering she is a candidate for a CI, she can be implanted as young as 6 months… but she needs to weight 20lbs.  Although this is a minimally invasive procedure, anesthesia is still administered and blood is still lost… thus the weigh requirement.