Canal Closure Post-op

Tuesday April 23, 2013

Canal Closure 5 days post-op

Today we saw Dr. Roberson 5 days post-op.  Sam has been doing great.  She went to school on Friday, the day following the surgery.  She hasn't complained of pain at all.  Dr. Roberson took off the small piece of tape that was covering the incision, put some ointment on it and said everything looked great.  The sutures will dissolve/fall out over the next few months.  

This was a bit of a tricky surgery for Dr. Roberson because Sam's 7th Facial Nerve was very close to the location he was working.  Everyone is different, so they monitor this very closely with a nerve monitoring device.  Thankfully, Dr. Roberson has a very steady hand and was able to complete the closure without a problem.  He said he had to do something in there to protect that nerve a little better, so he took pictures and shared them with Dr. Reinisch so he will be aware for the Medpor surgery in July. 

Right Ear Canal Closure

Thursday April 18, 2013

Right Ear Canal Closure

Today is the day Dr. Joseph Roberson closed Sam's right ear canal.  Based on the CT Scan she had done several months ago, the decision was made to close the small, narrow canal that she had before her right ear was created.  Dr. Roberson is the world leading doctor in Atresia and we are fortunate to have him as Sam's ENT. 

Samantha was once again a super star and the nurses couldn't believe how calm she was in pre-op.  I informed the Anesthesiologist that she did not want to drink the "happy" juice before she was wheeled back and promised him she would be fine and not throw a fit.  She sat in the bed playing with my iPad while all her vitals were checked and she was prepped to go.  When they were ready Mike and I gave her hugs and kisses and off she went.  When Dr. Roberson was finished he came out and confirmed we made the right decision to close the canal because he would not have been able to open it up once he saw what her middle ear looked like.

Seriously, she is so brave.  I am so proud of her!

Here is a picture from this afternoon, smiling and reading a book!