Getting back to our friendly surgeon with the MRI and CT Scan reports, my concern and hope was that NI should be a good candidate for CIs - so he could really benefit from the solution. The Doctor confirmed this, and that was a relief.
Now the next step was to really make some choices of how we wanted to get the CI done. Among other things, we had to first figure out if we wanted to do unilateral or bilateral implants (one side or both sides), decide which device we wanted to get (costs ranging from Rs. 5 to 10 lakhs per device) and perhaps most importantly, when we want to get the implants done. The surgeon's opinion was that we do the implants asap, given that Ni was still just going to turn 2 - which was an ideal age (or just about there - my research on the internet informed that 18 months was the ideal age for children to start listening and picking up language).
So we had to act and decided quickly. We decided to get back to Mumbai and think over it in a week's time. Given the developments, and the perspective we had - it was pretty clear that we had to get the implant done - that seemed to be the only real solution. One of the factors was also the experience that an old school buddy of mine shared. I just bumped into him at the Ahmedabad audiologist (Shabd Brahma) - and figured his son had also got a CI. He shared that they tried a lot of other things (native and modern medicine methods) - but finally came to choose CI, since it was the best option.
Also, in the little research that we could do over the week - we realized how much this procedure had developed in the last 30 years and that CIs today were pretty good and we could read some really good stories of children who could have a pretty normal and great life with them. In the meantime we also explored a couple of opinions from down South, specifically from Chennai - where we learnt that there was a Dr. Mohan Kameswaran , who ran a very successful ENT center (MERF), specializing in CI surgeries. We could manage to speak to Dr. Kameswaran - and he clearly wanted to see the child before he could suggest anything. This was going to be a stretch since travelling to Chennai with NI just for an appointment with the Doctor, with probably the same outcome - didn't seem so appealing. But the parallel thought always is that its good to get a second opinion and understand the recommendation in detail for us to make the most informed choice. The additional money spent in making the visit would just work into the entire cost of getting the best treatment for NI. Anyway, I guess once you make a choice about such things, it is best to back it and go down the path fully.
The choice between unilateral or bilateral was simpler in the scheme of things. Not easy though. Pros were that NI would have to go through surgery just once, and he would have the benefit of sound localisation and input to both ears right from the start. We would anyways have to do the second ear pretty quickly (like within 1-2 years) if we wanted to get it done. Cons were that he was going to have to wear the aid on both sides, bear greater surgical risk (though it was minimal - but as parents you always feel its a risk) and of course, it was going to cost us a fair bit more at one shot. I guess as any set of parents, money was the least of our concern. We decided to go with bilateral implants so we could really offer NI the best opportunity to pick up listening. A lot of course still depended on the therapy we could get him and our own effort.
From a timing standpoint, once we knew we had to do it - we just wanted to do it asap. So we settled for an end-April date - to be precise, Friday the 29th of April. So we got back to the surgeon (Dr. RV) and wanted to figure out exactly the expense, the process for the surgery and the rehabilitation. NI was still completely oblivious of what was going to happen - he was his usual hyper-active self. SO much so, that we had 4-feet fall at a temple (Chinmaya Mission, Powai) we visited with a huge bump on his forehead. THat incident shook me, because for the first 5 seconds, NI seemed to not be able to move his hand - perhaps from the shock of the fall. In any case, our prayers had started to be more intense and here on, we just needed to really keep a cool head and appear strong to each other even if we really didn't feel that way.
This was hard. Its easier said than done. But NI, we are just determined to get you to have a good and happy life. If you ever wonder why life is tough, just remember us and that all we want for you is to feel beautiful and happy. The rest is just a part of the journey.
lots of love and prayers,
SI
Next: Preparing for the CI surgery.
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