When we took the kids tonsils out the Dr. saw a hole in Jayse’s ear drum which had caused his ear drum to collapse into the middle ear and told us he would likely need another surgery to fix the hole and push his ear drum back out.  Over the next few months we went to the Dr. several times and even did a CT scan to see if there was anything called a cholesteatoma.  A cholesteatoma is basically an abnormal skin growth.  Because of the hole in his ear, skin wants to fix itself and will grow where it normally wouldn’t.  It is not good in the ear because the skin can keep growing and cause a tumor like substance that can cause damage to the ear and even brain.  After the CT scan the doctor didn’t see any evidence of cholesteatoma which was a really good sign.

We scheduled Jayse’s surgery for the doctor to go in and push his ear drum out and put tubes in both ears.  We knew that after the surgery he wouldn’t be able to swim, run or jump for 8 weeks.  We were torn between scheduling the surgery at the end of summer and him having to go to school just having had a surgery or doing it earlier in the summer so he’d be good by the time school started but miss swimming for half the summer.  In the end we thought it would be best for him to do it earlier so he could play football and be ok for school.

On the day of his surgery we dropped Jaelee off at daycare so she wouldn’t have to sit bored at the hospital all day.  Then we drove to the hospital.  As usual it seemed to take forever.  You go to check in and wait.  Then you go to surgery and wait.  Then you make it in to a room and wait even longer.  Through all the waiting Jayse seemed in good spirits and didn’t seem apprehensive about it at all.  I was so proud of him.

We had to wait back in pre-op for a while.  We watched almost a full episode of the most dangerous sharks on shark week.   He got to decorate and put smell goods in his mask and then they came in and gave him medicine that made him loopy and tired.  He was so funny.  He was waving his hands around, talking gibberish and laughing a lot.

The doctor came in and talked to us marked his ear and a bit later they came in got him and wheeled him away.  He was so brave going off by himself.

We knew the surgery was going to be about 4 hours so we were prepared to wait in surgery for a while.  We first headed to the cafeteria and had some lunch.  We then headed back to the waiting room.  We found a nice little corner and set ourselves up.  I had my kindle to watch tv on and my laptop for blogging.  Greg had his kindle to watch something on as well.  The staff at St. Lukes is always excellent and they were again.  They gave me a nice warm blanket for my wait as well.

It was getting to be a evening so Greg had to leave to go get Jaelee before the daycare closed.  Before he got back they came and moved me to a quieter area for privacy and said that Jayse was out of surgery and the doctor would come in and talk to us in a bit.  I called Greg and told him to hustle back to talk with the doctor with me.  Just as Greg got there the doctor came in to talk to us.  He said We’ve got a lot to talk about.  And right away I knew it wasn’t good.

Dr. Robison explained to us that even though we had the CT scan and it showed no signs of cholesteatoma when he got in to the ear he found some.  Inside your ear there are 3 tiny bones from your ear drum to the nerves that help conduct sound and vibrations.  The cholesteatoma had grown around the bones and while he was trying to remove it the 2 of the bones came out.  He had then in a container and showed them to us.  The unfortunate thing is that because the bones were gone Jayse was likely going to have significant hearing loss.

Dr. Robison told us that he would need another surgery in 6-9 months to reconstruct the bones and hopefully get 80% of his hearing back.  What was and still is unknown is if there was damage to the nerve.  That can’t be tested until 12 weeks after surgery.  We have that test in a couple of weeks.  Dr. Robison also told us that it was likely he would need a hearing aide.  Maybe just until his next surgery and potentially forever.  It was all a lot to take in, that we had to go through this again and that he may need a hearing aide.  I was and am grateful however, that he has a healthier ear.

This graph does a good job of showing exactly which bones came out.  The one that looks like a horse shoe is connected to the nerve and was one the doctor was upset he had to remove.

After talking with the doctor we went back to post-op.  Jayse was still asleep and it took him a long time to wake up.  When he finally did he was throwing up.  This was the longest he had ever been under anesthesia and it made his tummy mad.  Because he was throwing up they gave him medicine to help with that but that medicine made him sleepy.  It was an unfun cycle.  They will not release you to go home until you are fully away and able to keep liquids/popcicles down.  It was getting close to 9 and I wanted to make sure we got his prescriptions before the pharmacy closed so I left to go pick them up.  When I got back he was awake and playing on his kindle.  We were able to leave shortly after that.

  

That night and the next couple he did really well.  We just had to wake him up every 4 hours to give him medicine.  For the next few days his balance was off and he felt dizzy.  By Sunday, which was only 3 days after his surgery he was pretty much back to normal and was asking to ride his bike.  He had to wear that bandage on his head for 3 days and then he had a cup with a strap around it that we put on him at night so he wouldn’t roll over on his ear.  Greg had to put ointment on his ear and drops in his ears for 4 weeks.  He handled it all so well and I never once heard him complain.  I am just amazed by him and his bravery.