Bilateral?

Morgan had her regular 6 month check up with Dr Germiller last week. Everything looked good as far as her tube in her left ear, and her implant site. I asked Dr. Germiller his thoughts on going bilateral with Morgan now that the new Nucleus 5 is out. Its a new smaller and thinner implant. Morgan will be able to get the new device in 2010. Dr. Germiller said the new internal device is very nice, its much smaller and there is no drilling into the skull, just a small amount of shaving would need to be done to ensure it lays flat on the head. This is very exciting. He already had kids lined up to get it this coming week. He suggested we go to the University of Penn to have a test done on Morgan to see if there was inner ear damage to her left her from her first surgery. When and implant is done there is a risk of inner ear damage, if you just have one implant this isn't an issue because you still have the other ear that is not damaged. If Morgan had damage done to her left ear, and then went bilateral the risk would also be there that damage would be done to the inner ear of her right ear. If that were to happen she would most likely have balance issues for the rest of her life. If she doesn't have any inner ear damage to her left ear then it won't be an issue for her right ear if it were to get damaged. Your balance comes from your inner ear and you only need one good inner ear to sustain your balance. Dr. Germiller is having this balance testing done this coming fall/winter. He suggested that since Morgan has done so well with just one, that if she was his child he doesn't think he would get the second implant if there is inner ear damage in her left ear. Balance issues for the rest of her life is much worse than having to wait to get reimplanted in her left ear is a malfunction were to ever happen. I love that he puts himself in your shoes and gives you his honest opinions about things. He really makes you think about all the options before you make a decision. We just love Dr. Germiller!