Two and a Half Months Post Microtia Surgery

The drive from LA to Palo Alto has gotten to be second nature for me.  Ben and I leave at around 6:00 AM, we wave goodbye to the other kids, we put Star Wars on the truck's DVD player, and I hear him cute sounds (sometimes giggles, sometimes gasps while he's hiding under his blanket) coming from the back seat.  We stop at around 8:30 AM for McDonald's pancakes, sausage, eggs, yogurt, hash browns (him) and coffee (me).  And he takes a nap for an hour and a half.

We schedule our appointments with Dr. Roberson for around 3:30 PM, so we have a couple of hours of rest between when we arrive in Palo Alto (around noon) and when we need to go to our appointment.

At the appointment, Dr. Roberson looked at his ear drum and said it looked really good.  (Dr. Putnam had also said it looked great.)

He explained that he won't go through the actual ear drum for the surgery but along the side of the ear canal.  He also repeated the prognosis - pretty good.  He wouldn't know until he goes in there exactly what he would do - probably putting a titanium prosthetic onto the Stapes so that it touches the Incus.

After the doctor visit, we went to Create It Ceramics and Glass Studio at the Town and Country Mall in Palo Alto and made a shiny black spider with white dots and beady red eyes.  That place is like Color Me Mine but even better!  Lots of fun!

Two Months Post Microtia Repair!

September 18, 2011.  Today's the 2 month mark from when Ben had his microtia surgery.  Since the past post when Ben's brother repeatedly re-injured Ben's new ear, Dr. Lewin put his ear on lockdown under an ear cup for the following week.  After checking it last week, Dr. Lewin gave him the go ahead for any activities that he wants.  Soccer?  Sure!  Swimming?  Sure!  Ben had his first foray back into the soccer world yesterday and was a champ - he loves soccer.

His hearing on right side reverted to sub-par levels, so we talked with Dr. Roberson this past Wednesday.  He said that there could be problems with the ear drum, the stapes or both.  We'll go see him in person at the end of the month for an in-person assessment.

We've also scheduled an appointment for the surgical repair - he said there's a 50% chance that the surgery will result in restoring Ben's hearing to normal levels whereby he would not have to wear a hearing device.

Above is a photo of Ben today.  He was in the middle of eating, so that's mid-bite.  There are still a few tiny bumps in his ear, but his ear is looking really good overall.

Eight and a Half Weeks Post Microtia Repair

We visited Dr. Lewin, and she said that the ear was healing pretty well.  We removed the ear cup, and Ben resumed his regular activities - including his AYSO soccer.

By now we were also thinking about making sure that we scheduled Ben's atresia repair revision (his hearing had improved after the surgery in March, but then was back to its previous level after a while).  We wanted to schedule the surgery in 2011 if possible because we had already gone through the entire deductible as well as the maximum amount that a family pays in one year - so if we waited until next year - we'd have to pay the deductible all over again.  (See notes later on how this became a very fortuitous decision, as we later received a letter from Dr. Roberson's office that he was going to no longer be in network starting 2012, and also my own insurance policy raised its deductible and maximum amount that a family pays considerably for 2012...)

Anyway, we scheduled for Thursday, November 17.  In order to really know what we were doing during the revision, we talked by phone with Dr. Roberson.  He indicated that the hearing loss could be due to two things: (1) a "lateralized" ear drum and/or (2) conductive hearing loss due to the connection between the three tiny bones or ossicles (Malleus, Incus and Stapes) in his middle ear not having the connection they need in order to conduct sound.  According to the surgical notes from March surgery, there was a "fibrous" connection between the Incus and Stapes - so that, at a minimum was a problem.  In order to know whether the ear drum were also a problem, he'd have to see Ben.

Seven and a Half Weeks Post MIcrotia Repair

Ben's ear was healing really nicely, so with permission from Dr. Lewin, he started to enjoy the few remaining days of summer.  School was starting on September 7, and unfortunately, I had to be out of town on the first day of school!

September 6, 2011.  After the Labor Day weekend which included Ben's brother kicking him in the ear and knicking his ear, we paid a quick visit to Dr. Lewin who confirmed that we are doing the right thing with the Bacitracin and yellow tape, and that we're basically back to square one on that spot for Ben and need to wait for it to heal...

September 7, 2011.  Another bump on the road to recovery...While traveling, I received a text from my husband that Ben's younger brother (yes, the same one who kicked him in the ear a couple of days before) had wrestled him to the ground in the playground right before school, and Ben landed on his ear in exactly the same spot busting open the wound.  (Groan!)  Here is a picture (left) of what it looked like after the tumble in the play yard.  Thankfully, we now carry Bacitracin and yellow tape with us...

By the next day, the ear had healed a little and looked like this (right).

Ben returned to Dr. Lewin that day, and she re-bandaged his ear and said that it had to be kept under the plastic ear cup until it was completely healed.  We did not put any ointments on the ear, just let it heal under the ear cup.

Seven Weeks Post Microtia Repair

Ben after his brother kicked him in the ear

September 5, 2011.  Two steps forward, one step back.  Ben returned from a wonderful slumber Labor Day weekend nonchalantly mentioning that his brother had kicked him in the ear with his shoe - so in the same weak spot as before - his ear got banged up.  Back to the Bacitracin and yellow Xoroform tape.  (I went ahead and bought a jumbo pack of it online.)  The other parts of his ear are healing nicely, though...Tomorrow we'll be seven weeks out.

Six Weeks Post Microtia Repair



September 1, 2011.  As Francesca promised, Ben's ear continues to gain definition.  You can see the "Y" there.  Ben took a bath tonight, and I mistook his new ear with his "old" ear.  Not the greatest photo of Ben, but here's how his ear is looking.  We are going to the audiologist and Dr. Lewin tomorrow.  He's had a cold, and I think it's affecting his hearing in both of his ears.

September 2, 2011.  Since Ben was saying, "What?" quite a bit, we took him in for an audiological test with Dr. Sol and Dr. Avila (his new associate) who confirmed that he has a little "pressure" / fluid in his left ear and bone conduction loss in his right ear.  They set us up with a visit with Dr. Michelle Putnam (an ENT) with Westside Head and Neck for later in the day.

We had set up a visit with Dr. Lewin next.  Dr. Lewin who said that the ear is healing well, that we should continue with Clobetasol on the front for just a little longer but stop the Bacitracin, that Ben can do anything that the ENT OKs, that the ear will continue to heal and stabilize over the next few months and that we'll see Dr. Lewin next in December!

When we visited Dr. Putnam, she confirmed that the left ear had some pressure and that there is bone conduction hearing loss in the right ear (most likely the 3 bones in the middle ear have re-fused together and are not conducting sound) and that the ear drum looks good/intact.  She prescribed Afrin, Ocean's nasal saline solution and Nasonex (prescription) for Ben to take to try to clear up the liquid.  Also, she said he's cleared to swim but that he should dry out his ear after swimming.



Dr. Putnam and Ben