Hearing Aid Consult with my 8 year old!

With all the craziness of my second oldest turning 10 this week, I have not given myself the proper time to process the reality of today and tomorrow.  Last week, my youngest son (child #3) was diagnosed with permanent hearing loss.  It's not across the board, hence why he is 8 and we are just now figuring it out.  He can hear low tones just fine, but mid to high tones have to be so loud that by the time he hears them....it's at a level that hurts a normal hearing person's ears.

Today we consult for hearing aids.  This will allow him to hear all tones at "normal" level and hopefully get rid of the pain of being in a loud room (like his lunchroom).  I am nervous and anxious for my boy.  He is concerned about the aftermath when his friends realize that he went from being "normal" like them to "the kid with hearing aids."  He has good friends with good parents, so I am hopeful that all will be fine in his world.

The big kicker and question answer-er (word??  Well....it is now!) will be the MRI tomorrow afternoon.

We are choosing to attempt this bad boy without sedation.  My boy has already had two surgeries that required sedation and if we get the answer we want, he's almost guaranteed a third trip.  I do not want his body building an immunity to the medication needed for that (call me crazy...I don't care....my kids are immunized, so I can have this one!).

The questions:

What?!?!?!  I just thought he got anxious in large crowds with lots of different noises at once (because I do).

How long has this been here?  The son claims forever (talk about a debbie downer in parenting!)

What is causing it?  When we did the hearing test, the oncologist determined that whatever it is...is between the bones of the ear and the nerves.  His ear canal and drums look perfectly normal and healthy.

Can we fix it???  Is there a life for him without hearing aids?

If we can't fix it....now what? How do we move forward?  Do we need to adjust his entire life??

Here are some questions that I probably won't ask in front of my son but am secretly trying to answer on my own:

Is my son "special needs?"

Do I need to parent him differently?

Is his life going to change for the worse?

How on earth did he make it 8.5 years without me noticing!?!

Our chins are up!  We are optimist that this will get figured out swiftly and can be fixed!  We are grateful for the doctors who are caring and swift with their diagnosis and treatment!

Bring it on!!

( In a deep base tone so my boy can hear it without it hurting!!)