Day 11 - A long day

Picture warning for this post - pictures of Jack's healing ear below...

Well, Jack has been doing just great. We had a little concern this weekend as there was some additional oozing from the cup area. It is very hard to tell if this is from the drops or from something wrong. So, I called Dr. Roberson's office and talked to the on-call Dr. on Sunday. He was very re-assuring and felt there was nothing wrong. Regarding the drops, he said, "The more the merrier." I felt better having called, even though I always feel bad calling the on-call Dr. after-hours. I may try a needle-less syringe.

Jack has been watching a lot of movies, which, up until lately he was completely disinterested in. I wonder if he can hear them better? Anyway, he is very interested in these Thomas movies and so has been playing with his train set also. I will post a video clip here:

My mom has been sending little packages for Jaden and Jack, which has been very exciting! Here are the kids with a sticker book and a very NOISY microphone that Jack loves (gee thanks, mom).















Today, we went to Palo Alto for a follow up with Dr. Colen and Dr. Roberson. I was thinking on the way there how traumatic our first trip was (over a year ago!). Jack was just hysterical most of the way and I think he ate a pound of animal crackers en-route. I had a kid CD blaring the whole way as it was the only thing that somewhat consoled him. I was so glad to get out of that car! Today, Jack very quietly watched the movie, Cars while I sat in on some conference calls for work. What a difference...

So, when we got there, Bruna ushered us right back and when she asked Jack how he was, he kind of sheepishly patted his head and said somberly, "I got a hat..." It was pretty funny. I had been telling him we had to change his bandages today. Bruna was great and took Jack to get a basket full of toys that he could pick one from at the end of the appointment. She sat on the floor with him and really made him feel better.

Dr. Colen cut off the netting, which made Jack very upset. I don't think anything was painful, I just think it was memories from last week. I forgot to bring some mineral oil to use in removing the adhesive strip from the cup, so after a few tries, we just left it on. We decided I would just rig it up to get home and then work it out later. Dr. Colen removed the outer-most sponge. She explained that Jack still has a lot of packing still in the ear canal, so he probably hears better (which I can tell), but will probably hear even better when all that is out. I put a new cup over the old adhesive and Bruna and I put the netting back over his head and cut out the hole for his face. He just hates that whole process, but once it is in place, he is all fine.

The ear is still pretty swollen, but here it is with the sponge still in place:



I expect I will see that look again when Jack is, say, 14???)










Here is the back of the ear:















Here is the ear with the sponge out. The canal looks very large, but it will shrink over time.














Both Dr.'s felt that Jack's ear looks great and that the canal is healing nicely. I was a little worried that the back of the ear was sort of bruised-looking, but Dr. Roberson thinks it is no problem. I did notice one stitch that was missed last week and Dr. Roberson said let's just wait to pull that out until next week. Jack had sort of had enough. Dr. Roberson wants to see Jack next week, saying that he would like to see him a little more often than normal as this is new. So, I will make another appointment for next week.

When Jack and I got home, I laid him down and drenched the adhesive strip in mineral oil. Jack was not happy. I rubbed it for a while and then pulled it off. Horrible. When I put the cup back on, I made sure there was no adhesive in his hair this time. That should make things a little better.

He took a 2 hour nap after all that and is my happy boy again tonight.

More soon...