7 week old ear

Friday March 22, 2013

7 weeks post-op (original surgery)

16 days post-op (exposure fix)

Dr. Reinisch reviewed the pictures of Sam's ear this weekend and feels good about the way things are looking and healing.  Yay!

Samantha is becoming more and more confident about her ear and is excited to show it off to people.  Today she was at the park with a friend and wanted to show it off.  

She pulled her hair back and said, "Do you want to see something?"

Her friend replied, "sure...looks cute!"

Now, I'm pretty certain her friend was commenting on the sticker she has on her Baha instead of her ear, but it didn't matter.  The friendly exchange was so sweet and I'm proud that Sam was so confident in showing off her ear.  

The Mom of the friend said to me, I honestly don't think Meghan has ever noticed that Sam didn't have ears.  I don't think she did either.

I love the sweet innocence of young children! 

 7 weeks post-op

Friends for life!

I seriously can't imagine my life without these women!  Our lives would have never crossed paths if it weren't for the world of hearing loss and an amazing Deaf School that our beautiful daughters attended for pre-school.  It was so comforting to meet people in your same/similar situation where you can talk to and walk this journey!  Our girls love to play together and we love to hang out and chat.  I think most times we plan play dates for the girls so we can hang out!  This weekend we did a super fun Mom's Night Out, had dinner and talked and talked! I am so very grateful for these amazing women!

 

6 week old ear

March 15, 2013

6 weeks post-op (original surgery)

10 days post-op (exposure fix)

I really can't believe it's been 6 weeks since Sam got her left big ear.  It's amazing! We sent pictures to Dr. Reinisch this weekend and just heard back that he is pleased with the way things are looking.  Yay!

The color of the ear is really looking better.  When Dr. Reinisch did the exposure fix last week he told me that there was a layer of "dead" skin on the ear that he took off.  I had been washing it diligently every day, but didn't realize this.  So, I'm not sure if the color looks better because that skin was taken off or because it's just looking better and better each week.  Either way, I'll take it! 

The bottom part that looks pink is where the area of the small exposure.  Dr. Reinish made an incision at the back of the ear, took some muscle to cover the implant and then a small skin graft from the groin/leg area to put on top.  It looks a little swollen right now, but that will go down with time.  

I also took a picture of the back of the head where a graft was taken 6 weeks ago.  As you can see it is healing very nicely and there is already a lot of hair growth.  At least fast hair growth comes in handy in this situation!

Exposure fix post-op

March 12, 2013

1 week post-op (exposure fix)

We were fortunate enough to see Dr. Reinisch in Palo Alto for the post-op of the surgery Sam had last week to fix the small exposure on the back of the ear.  Dr. Reinish works out of California Ear Institute with Dr. Roberson about once a month and that is where Sam goes for all her regular ENT and Audiology appointments.  Sam has been there so many times in her 5 years of life and she and her sister act like they own the place! :)

  

Sam excited that the protective ear cup is off again. Dr. Reinisch is happy with the way it looks and it healing nicely.

This time we took a family photo with Dr. Reinisch!

My other one...

Oh yes, I do have another daughter...Ella is really into dressing up right now!

She will wear this outfit anywhere! ;)

5 week old ear

Wednesday March 6, 2013

Almost 5 weeks post-op

We are down in LA again for Dr. Reinisch to "fix" the exposure on the back of Sam's ear.  Even though I hated that she had to have surgery again (so soon), I felt better prepared this time.  Sam of course handled it like a champ!

She refused the "red juice" they gave her in pre-op this time.  She took a sip and literally held it in her mouth for at least 15 minutes without swallowing it.  We tried everything to get her to swallow, but she flat out refused.  So finally, we had her spit it out in a cup.  I think the Anesthesiologist was a little nervous to take her away from us without her drinking it (it's suppose to make them a little drowsy before they are wheeled back), but Mike and I felt confident she would be fine.  As we expected, she gave us a kiss and left with the doctors!  It was much easier on me this time, but it's still hard to have your child wheeled away for surgery.

Surgery took only about 2 hours this time and Dr. Reinisch felt really good about the fix.  He did end up putting the protective cup on it for a few days so it can heal.  He thought maybe he wouldn't, but Mike and I were hoping he would because we really want to ensure it heals properly.   We are fortunate that Dr. Reinisch will be in Palo Alto, CA. next week, so we can do our post-op up there since it's so close to our house.

This is a picture of Sam after surgery eating lunch and feeling good.

After Sam's surgery, Mike and I went out for a walk and saw this license plate.  Thank you Los Angeles for loving and taking care of our little Sam!

4 week old ear

Friday March 1, 2013

4 weeks post-op

Overall, we think Sam's ear is looking really good.  

I did notice something on the back side of her ear that just didn't look right to me.  I guess I hadn't really focused a lot of attention on the backside over that past few weeks.  Anyway, I sent photos to Dr. Reinisch and mentioned my concern.  

He was traveling this past weekend in Korea, so I didn't hear back from him until the next day due to the time change.  He noticed my concern and said that he would like to take a look at it during is layover in San Francisco the next day.  He was traveling home from Korea and had a layover before he caught his flight to LA.  Luckily, we live about 10 minutes away from SFO, so it was super easy for us to meet him there.  I was so grateful that he would do this because it really made me feel better that he could see it in person.  

Unfortunately,  my assumption was correct and Sam fell into the small percent of patients that have implant exposure.  It really isn't a big exposure, but it has to be fixed so the implant doesn't get infected.  So, we are heading to LA tomorrow so Dr. Reinisch can fix it on Wednesday.  It is an easy fix for him and relatively short procedure compared to the original surgery.  

Of course this was out of our control, but I hate that she has to go through another surgery.  On the other hand, I'm grateful it is something that can be easily fixed. 

*See the darker spot toward the bottom of the ear