Four Months Post Microtia Repair

It's been four + months since the microtia repair, and after a fantastic initial result, we've had a few road bumps including:

• Re-injuring a spot on the rim of his ear at least twice
• A keloid developing especially on the rim of his ear (don't know if it's related to the fact that it was re-injured)
• The surface of the ear isn't as smooth as it once was
• Need for atresia repair revision
• At least one cold/ear infection

So we're still in the Bay Area (now we're in San Francisco) recovering from the atresia repair revision, and we're trying to keep Ben still.  He's doing homework and workbooks and learning about contractions and we're trying to make it so he doesn't miss too much of what was taught in class.

By the day after his surgery, he stopped throwing up and he feels good.  He did not take any of the Tylenol + Codeine - it tasted bad.  After the first night, we removed the cotton on his ear but left the plug in his ear.  He is taking Amoxicillin for 5 days after his surgery, and we're putting 3 ear drops in his ear twice a day, and we're keeping his ear completely dry.  We've been keeping it under the ear cup at night.

This is a picture of his ear - it still has a bit of the iodine stain on it from the surgery.  I compare this picture with some of the photos in September, and the skin looks considerably less smooth (even above and beyond the keloid on the rim.  The "good news" is that his hair is usually hanging a little over the rim of his ear, and you'd never notice the bumps - and he doesn't seem to be self-conscious about it.