Cookie bite hearing loss
As a young child, Shiloh Buckner would occasionally mispronounce a word or watch television with the volume up incredibly high, but it was nothing that really seemed out of the norm. It wasn’t until one day in kindergarten when she had a routine hearing exam that everything changed. While her classmates passed the test, she didn’t, beginning a journey that not only brought her to Children’s of Alabama, but finally revealed an issue that had been plaguing her for years.
“Once we found out she failed the hearing exam at school, we made an appointment with Children's and learned she had cookie bite hearing loss,” her mother, Jordyne Upchurch, explained. “Obviously, that news was devastating to hear, especially since she had gone the first five years of her life without anyone knowing.”
Cookie bite hearing loss is a type of sensorineural hearing loss that affects the way Shiloh hears the “middle” frequency of sounds. It’s not a curable issue; rather, it’s one that requires treatment with hearing aids. “She’s been wearing hearing aids ever since, which means she’s finally able to be a normal kid,” Jordyne said. “Dr. Emily Rector at Children’s was so wonderful in helping get everything taken care of, and as a mom that’s all you want: for your child to be healthy and a normal kid. And today she is—she’s a straight-A student, and she plays three sports. The hearing aids really helped bring her out of her shell.”
Shiloh’s diagnosis requires routine annual checkups at Children’s to ensure there’s no progressive hearing loss and that the hearing aids continue to work properly. But the hearing aids do have to be replaced every few years, a costly burden on families as they aren’t covered by insurance. “They usually have to be changed out every two to three years, sometimes just because the technology changes so fast,” Jordyne explained.
The cost can add up for families, especially for patients like Shiloh who has bilateral hearing loss, requiring two hearing aids. When it was time for Shiloh’s hearing aids to be updated last year, Jordyne received the news that was unexpected but joyful: Shiloh was receiving free hearing aids through Picks For Kids, a program for which Chick-fil-A donates money to the Charity League Hearing & Speech Clinic at Children’s of Alabama. The program runs during college football season, and every time the Alabama Crimson Tide or Auburn Tigers get an interception, Chick-fil-A donates $1,000. “When the doctor told me about the program and that it was going to cover Shiloh’s hearing aids, I thought it was a joke at first,” Jordyne said. “It meant so much to us. The relief it gave us and the financial burden it relieved for us in not having to pay for new hearing aids meant so much to us.”
Shiloh’s new hearing aids incorporate the latest technology, including the ability to connect with her devices. They also help Shiloh hear better while in crowds, keeping background noises at a minimum. “I can’t say enough how grateful I am that Shiloh gets to be a normal kid and not only do all the normal kid things, but thrives while doing them,” Jordyne said. “She wouldn’t have that if it wasn’t for the care at Children’s and the Picks for Kids program. We couldn’t be more grateful.”
