12 week Ear

Friday April 28, 2013

12 weeks post-op

I really can't believe it's been 12 weeks!  Sam's ear looks great.  In fact, she was at her Opthamology appoint at Stanford and her doctor who has followed her since she was 4 months old couldn't believe it.  She brought in a Resident to see Sam, like she always does and was shocked with amazement!   I know bilateral Microtia Atresia is not that common, so in a teaching facility such as Stanford University, doctors often like to "take a look".   Sam and I don't mind because we know they are learning and if we can help in any way, that's great!  Anyway,  I showed this young Resident before pictures and he couldn't believe it.  He said if we hadn't said anything to him, he wouldn't have guessed it was a reconstructed ear.  

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. 

11 week old ear

Friday April 19, 2013

11 weeks post-op

Samantha's ear is still healing nicely.  Thank goodness!  Now that she just had the canal closed on the right side, we are getting closer and closer to the end.  Here are some pictures of her 11 week old ear.  

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!

10 week old ear

Friday April 12, 2013

10 week old ear

Well, Dr. Reinisch is very pleased with how Sam's ear is healing.  Each week he asks you to send pictures so he can follow the healing process.  I always get a little nervous awaiting his comments each week.  I think it's looking good, but he is the expert!   He asks for different angles.  Here is a snapshot of what we sent him.

9 week old ear

Friday April 5, 2013

9 weeks post-op (original)

4.5 weeks post-op (fix)

Dr. Reinisch was right (of course), the scab I was worried about last week came off.  I also worked harder on getting the stitches out and I'm pretty certain they are almost all out.  We also got Sam a new battery door.  She has been asking for a purple one since last summer when she saw them at the AG Bell Conference as well as the Atresia Microtia Conference.  So, since she was due for me to change it, I thought I'd surprise her with a purple one!  She added a little decoration to it as well.  :)

We just heard from Dr. Reinisch and he said Sam's ear "looks great!".  I'm so happy he feels good about the healing. 

8 week old ear

Friday March 29, 2013

8 weeks post-op (original)

3.5 weeks post-op (fix)

Wow, I really can't believe it's been 8 weeks since Sam received her ear.  I love catching her looking at it in the mirror and listening to her talk about how she will soon be able to wear fun sunglasses like her little sister.  The gift Dr. Reinisch has given my little girl is truly amazing!  

Dr. Reinisch is happy with the way the ear is looking.  I questioned the scab on the back, but he said that it should come off.  He also told me to start working a little bit harder on getting the stitches out from the "fix" surgery.  I have been cleaning it every day, but the ear is still a bit sensitive, so I'm probably not rubbing as hard as I need to be. 

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

3 week old ear

Friday February 22, 2013

3 Weeks Post-op

This coming week we will start to wash her ear using some gauze so we can start to ease the stitches out. 

Big Ear Reveal

FRIDAY FEBRUARY 15, 2013 

2 Weeks Post-Op

We are back in LA for the big unveiling of Sam's left ear.  My emotions are all over the place, excited, nervous, anxious, but most of all grateful!

Francesca is taking out the ear cup stitches

Loosening the ear cup

Taking the cup off...first look!

Washing her hair and cleaning the ear.  Her hair really needed a good washing since it had been 2 whole weeks without washing.  I was praying I would be able to get all the tangles out of it!

Clean, brushed hair and a big smile after she saw the ear for the first time!  Her first comment, "I look like Ella!"  (Ella is her little sister)

 Official office pictures

Samantha and Dr. Reinisch

Before and after photos

Happy girl!!

New Self Portrait

Sam's teacher asked her to document her surgery experience so that it could be made into a little memory book.  As I was looking over her work, I found this self portrait of herself.  Brought tears to my eyes!