Prince and Jensen have officially tied the knot. Find out what married life has in store for them. They both want to start a family together. Will it happen for them? Have we seen the last of Lenny? Is Prince's career on the back burner now that he...
Over the next couple of weeks, we had Devon's two month appointment and she was gaining weight and growing. The pediatrician said she was as healthy as a horse. She took the vaccines like a champ too. She barely even cried, but I basically sobbed. Prince spent a lot of his down time gathering names of ASL instructors and SLPs that were highly qualified and willing to come interview to work with us exclusively. He had narrowed it down to about five of each and we were supposed to start the process of choosing them in the next few days. Unfortunately, Prince was right on the money about things being in the news, both printed and televised, about Devon. There was a lot of speculation around whether or not she was deaf. Numerous phone calls and emails were pouring in everyday for our side of the story. It was so overwhelming that Amy and Diana weren't getting much else done besides fielding all of the calls and emails with "we have no comment." It was like when Manuela went to the press about our "affair," but maybe even more insistent. It was definitely worse in my eyes bc it centered around an innocent child who should, by all means, be left alone. She didn't choose this life in the public, and not that all celebrities do either, but at least they are adults and can make their own choices.
We had all three gone in for genetic testing just a couple days after the audiology appointment, and the results were back. So we had an appointment today to hear the results. Again, with Prince's money and influence, there was a rush on it. They had tested a large number of genes to hopefully pinpoint exactly what caused Devon's hearing impairment. This would be good information for her of course to know the best treatments for her and so she will have the knowledge she would need to make decisions for herself when she is an adult. It is also invaluable information for Prince and me so we can make decisions about our future family. We arrived at our appointment and anxiously awaited the geneticist, Dr. Foster. We had left Devon back at Paisley with Maria and Diana so we wouldn't be distracted while he explained the results to us. He comes in promptly and greets us warmly. "Ok well I've been pouring over all the information and it is a best case scenario in your situation. Devon's hearing loss is caused by GJB2-related DFNB1 Nonsyndromic Deafness. It is caused by a mutation in GJB2 GJB6, and it is non progressive. Nonsyndromic means it does not affect any other part of the body or lifespan. It also doesn't affect balance or movement like some other forms of hearing loss." I could hear and feel Prince let out a deep exhale beside me since I was holding tight to his arm. I felt my body relax at the news also. The doctor continues, "I know you have already gotten her some hearing aids and will be looking into cochlear implants as she gets older. I also know you are searching for an ASL instructor and a SLP, so you are on the right track. These results didn't change anything, it just confirmed that you don't have to see any different specialists other than for hearing. Great news right?!" "Yes." We both agreed. "So, doctor..." Prince mumbled. "I know. Now you want to know how likely this will happen again if you have more children or what this means for Devon's future family...." "Right." I smile at him. "Ok well her hearing impairment was passed down from a recessive gene from both of you. Roughly 1 in 33 people are a carrier of the mutation that causes this condition. It's fairly common believe it or not, so don't feel like there is something abnormal with your DNA. So a couple of statistics, most deaf people do not have deaf children, only about 10% do. This means that 90% of deaf people are born to hearing parents. So obviously that's what happened in your case and Devon's chances of having hearing impaired children is really low. Ok let me show you a chart to represent how this works when the two parents have the recessive gene." He pulls out a chart to show us.
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"Ok so as you can see this shows a hearing father and mother with the recessive gene, like the both of you. You have a 25% chance of having a deaf child, who would of course be a carrier of the mutated gene. That's Devon." He said, pointing to the figure on the far right of the chart. "You have a 75% chance of having a hearing child, but they could be carriers or non-carriers of the mutated gene. So chances are if you have more children, they will be of normal hearing, but possibly a carrier. Of course, there is no guarantee and you could have one or more children who fall into the 25% that Devon did. Obviously, it is none of my business if you have more children, but I just wanted you to know there is nothing highly abnormal about either of one of yours DNA."
We both left there feeling great. Devon won't have to deal with other ailments along with her hearing loss. All of our focus could be devoted to that and that alone. Also, it is highly likely that our future children will be able to hear and our genes aren't abnormal. Now we just need to find the best people to work with us and Devon, and that's what I'm determined to do.
