by Debbie Browne
Being a new mother can be nerve-wracking. You expect so much from yourself. Especially when you realize this new little child is your responsibility to care for with all facets of life.
Kellie, my newborn, experienced numerous ear infections before the age of two. What would start out as a normal day, often ended with a sudden high fever which left her screaming in pain. Of course, it was way past normal business hours for doctor appointments leaving only two options: treating the fever with soaks in a cool tub of water and Tylenol or rushing to the Emergency Room at the hospital.
Twice I held her tight while she screamed when her ear drums ruptured. What in the world was going on to leave us going to weekly doctor appointments?
It wasn’t until Kellie was 5 years old that she was diagnosed with Turner syndrome.
According Akron Children’s Hospital, “Hearing problems and ear malformations are common in females with Turner’s syndrome. An estimated 90% have some type of middle ear disorder or conductive hearing loss.
There’s a 9% incidence for sensorineural hearing loss at a young age, increasing to 25% by age 45.
Girls and women with Turner syndrome are at higher risk of middle ear effusion and/or otitis media (ear infections) that may result from an abnormal relationship between the eustachian tube and middle ear – a consequence of abnormal cranial base anatomy.”
In the United States, there are approximately 80,000 girls and women with Turner syndrome. Can you take a moment and imagine what it would be like to not be able to hear?
Do you think it would affect your life socially? With employment? Would you feel isolated from the world? Currently we have 7 applications for hearing aids that we are unable to fill.
I personally had to send decline letters stating, “Leaping Butterfly Ministry would like to thank you for your recent application for a hearing aid scholarship; unfortunately, you were not chosen to receive one at this time…”
Jennifer Odom is one of the 7.
Jennifer has been a patient of Lafayette Hearing Center since she was 8 years old. Jennifer is now 68 years old, married, doesn’t have email, and wrote me a handwritten letter, stapled with a picture of she and her husband, and mailed with a copy of her doctor’s diagnoses.
Jennifer Odom and her husband
She states in her letter, “I avoid going places because it is so difficult to hear. The expense of new hearing aids is not something we can afford. It would certainly be a blessing to receive help.”
Would you consider helping Jennifer, Lea Wolfenbarger, Angela Holmes, Kellie Bennet, Donna Mathews, Cathy Neely, and Jill Westerhoff?
One hearing aid is $1,500.00 and a set is $3,000.00. Your gift can be given by credit card on our website: LeapingButterfly.org or if you send a check to Leaping Butterfly Ministry, 18101 Turning Stream Lane, Pflugerville, TX 78660. With a check, we will not have to pay the extra credit card fees. Any amount given will be placed in our designated Hearing Aid Fund. Be sure to refer to your giving for the fund.
“Each one must give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver.” 2 Corinthians 9:7
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Leaping Butterfly Ministry relies on donations to change lives, to create awareness of Turner syndrome, contribute funds for research, and support for those touched by TS. Click here to see how you can help.
