Yes, that was very tardy. I know, I know.
I looked like a chipmunk for days, people, you have to cut me some slack.
But I'm feeling more human now...human enough to be very stressed out about going back to finish my root canal on the 17th. That is not going to be fun. That was a big needle. Big. Huge, really.
So I'm...fuming, a little about something a fried of mine tweeted me the other day. Dave Ramsey, who is a professional money person or whatever, had a caller who contacted his radio show asking about the financial smarts of implanting her almost two year old son.
Now this is through the grape vine, so I don't know the details, but he basically said it wasn't a safe bet because the success rate was too iffy and it was too much of a financial risk.
I'm so mad I could kind of spit, if I was the type of person who spat, which I'm not.
Did Dave get a degree in implant technology when I wasn't paying attention? Is he an audiologist or even a speech therapist? An implant surgeon? Is he in any way someone who should be weighing in on the scientific odds of an implant surgery working? Last I checked that was something that was different for every single patient, depending on age and etiology of hearing loss. Maybe they covered all of this in the show, but somehow I doubt it.
The woman was apparently in tears, and I hope she threw his advice right out the window. Yes, being out of debt is an amazing thing. But if you've decided you want to go for cochlear implants, giving your child the chance to hear is worth whatever it costs. And there is absolutely no way someone on a radio show who has never been through it could understand that, understand that the advice he was giving would literally devastate a family who was trying to be responsible and do what they felt was the right thing by their son.
Anyway. I need to count to ten or something. Implanting is such a personal decision, something that you second guess and kill yourself over. We were such a mess over it it would not have been hard for the right person to make us really doubt ourselves. I just hate to think that there are highly regarded people out there completely inexperienced in implants who could discourage a family from making the choice they've agonized over.
I guess it's just like everything else...just because someone is good at one thing doesn't mean they're an expert in everything else.
Tomorrow is a big day, just so you know. Stay tuned!
