Left ear update

Last week the molds came in. On Friday, I took Jack to Palo Alto to pick them up. Dr. Colen removed the wick, cleaned his ears out said they both look really good. She then inserted the plug in the left ear. We then had it modified a little by shaving off a little of the outside rim and putting a small hole in it so we could tether it to his shirt.

We came back home and right away it was persistently falling out. Here was the solution to that problem:















We had Jack wear the plug all day and night until Monday. We have been taking it out while he is at preschool. It is pretty tight when we put it back in, but he seems to not be bothered by it when it is in place. He seems to be hearing a little better and things are looking good.

We will graduate to a larger plug soon and are praying that this will do the trick.

All for now...

Progress comes in little bits

I know, long time without and update. So sorry. This one will be worth it, though...

Last week I took Jack to California Ear Institute. His hearing test was pretty horrible, but his ear has some debris in it and he is all stuffed up from allergies. The good news is that his ear canal is still open and Dr. Roberson was able to make an impression of his ear canal to have a mold made. They will have 4 serially larger molds made with a hole down the middle so Jack can hear while wearing it. We will put the smallest one in first and then will move up to the larger ones to hopefully keep the canal open. Before we left, Dr. Roberson was able to get a wick in place really well. So, that was all good. Now, we wait for the molds to come in...

So, here is the "worth it" part. Jack LOVES dinosaurs. I can hardly say the names. Jack is simply fascinated with the dinosaurs themselves and the complicated names for them. Here I am reading some off to him with him repeating them.

Pretty AWESOME!

Quick update

Well, the Tobradex drops we are using in Jack's ear appear to be helping quite a bit. The wick is loose and even fell out this week because the ear canal is opening up so much. We are keeping a bandage on the ear to keep the wick in and moist with the drops. We are relieved that it seems to be much better. I will try to post some pictures in the next few days.

A setback week...

Well, last weekend while in Colorado to visit family, we noticed that Jack's left ear canal (second surgery) began swelling. The outer ear seemed fine. We thought maybe he was just having a tough time with allergies. By Monday, his left ear was essentially swollen shut. I emailed Dr. Roberson and Dr. Reinisch and it was decided that we should bring him down to Palo Alto. Chris cancelled everything at work and took Jack to Palo Alto on Wednesday. Dr. Roberson says that it is not actually swollen, but scarring. He had a very tough time putting in a wick and it was rough on everyone involved. Jack was very upset. Chris came home with Jack and unbelievably, by bedtime, the wick had fallen out. I emailed Dr. Roberson again with the bad news. He thought it might make a difference if we tried again. So, I cancelled my obligations at work today and took Jack down to Palo Alto today. After much effort, Dr. Colen got another wick inserted. Jack was very brave, but ended up completely hysterical. I felt so bad for him. It was hard not to cry with him. We put a bandaid over his ear in the hopes that it will help keep the wick from getting snagged on something and falling out again. We will keep a bandaid on his ear and use Tobradex drops which have a steroid in them. It is the hope that this will open the canal enough that by the next time we are back to see Dr. Roberson in a few weeks, a silicone plug can be made to force the canal open a little more. If this works, we will use progressively larger plugs to hold the canal open. If all that does not work, Jack will have to have the scar tissue removed and the canal re-lined at his next surgery. This is all so dissappointing. Jack's hearing is much improved (along with his behavior) with his left ear functioning. This could result in Jack having little hearing in his left ear until January. I am so sad to have this have this happen.

Please keep Jack in your prayers...

The best (or worst) mom ever!

It all depends on your perspective...

Yesterday, Chris and Carter were off at a soccer tournament and I stayed here for Darby's tourney. Jack and Jaden stayed here with us, so we were busy as usual. So after Darby's games, I did some things around the house and before I knew it, it was 4:30pm. Dinner time was approaching and my charges would soon begin asking the dreaded question, "What's for dinner???" So, to head it off at the pass, I suggested that Darby look up a movie on the internet. We were goin' out. We settled on Wall-E and headed out.

I think Jack has only been to the theater once or twice, so he is still very excited about the whole experience. Jaden could care less about the movie, it is really about the junk food for her. So, when the previews are over, Jack has a pile of popcorn in his lap and the fireworks are shooting over the Disney castle on the big screen. He looks over at me with the biggest grin he can create and says, "It's boo-tee-full mommy!!!!" He was sooooo happy. Jaden was her normal self and pretty much talked non-stop through the whole movie. I swear the only time that child is quiet is when she is sleeping.

So here is where the best/worst mom in the world part comes in...

We all enjoyed the movie (excpet for Jaden who has no idea what she saw) and were headed home at about 8pm when Jaden has an epiphany in the back seat.... "Mom, we ate popcorn, candy and slurpees for dinner!!!" Darby and I just about died laughing. I don't think I have EVER fed my children such a meal in all my nearly 13 years of parenting. That's dad's job and the kids know it - ha.

So, here I am, hoping no social worker is reading this and feeling secure that my kids thought, for just one day, that I am indeed the BEST mom in the world.

Finally better - 7 months right ear, 3 months left

I am sorry, I know it has been a while since I posted last. Jack has really struggled since the bug bite. His left ear has been infected ever since. The latest round of drops appeared to be working much better. The inflamation in the left ear had visibly dissipated and the ear was much less red. We saw Dr. Roberson this week and he removed the wick. Both Jack's ear drums looked good and he can hear much better after having them cleaned. I think his ornery factor has gone down a fair bit as well! He was very happy to be cleared to go swimming on Sunday and was quite the fish! Here are the recent pics:




















So, we did a "staycation" this past week and toured around northern California with some good friends from out of state. We played on the beach at lake Tahoe, camped in the Santa Cruz mountains, hiked, toured Alcatraz, Fisherman's wharf and Chinatown in San Fran, drove up the coast and rode the famous "skunk train," drove through a giant redwood tree and toured a lighthouse. Some carsickness and lots of photos later, we arrived back home and send the kids back to school this morning. I think we are all relieved to be back in our routine. I highly recommend the staycation - discover your backyard!

Here are some pics from our adventures:















I will add more from the other camera soon.

Also another big day for Jack today! We finalized his re-adoption in California. One last pile of adoption paperwork complete! Jack will now recieve a California birth certificate. It's official, he is stuck with us for the rest of his life!

One week post bug bite...

Well, I think Jack has nearly recovered. The swelling is gone. On Friday, we went to California Ear Institute at Palo Alto for a check up and to have the wick removed. His right ear, which was the one that was so swollen, was completely clear. His left ear, which was not swollen but was the more recent surgery, is still a bit infected. So, we are still using Floxin drops two times a day and will return to Palo Alto Friday for one more check up.

Here are some pics from tonight.

The swelling is down

Update on the bug bite...

Chris took Jack to see Dr Roberson on Tuesday. They put a wick in each ear canal as the left (not the one that was extremely swollen) was infected and the other was risking infection. The wick allows the drops to get into the canal and to the ear drum. He will have these removed on Friday. Dr. Roberson suspects an allergic reaction to the bite.

Here are some pictures from today:
















As you can see, the swelling has gone down significantly and things are looking better.

Jack is needing to wear his BAHA to hear. We are thankful to have it.

All for now...

Not enough bug spray...

Well, this weekend we went camping. Our first camping trip since before Jack's last surgery. We stayed pretty close to home, but far enough to be out of cell phone range. Not having cell phone coverage is relaxing and I needed it.

We had a great time roasting marshmallows, playing in the river and for the kids - playing in the dirt. This happens to be Jack's favorite pastime. Give the kid a shovel, bucket and a dump truck and really nothing else matters. The saying, "take only pictures and leave only footprints" doesn't apply to Jack. Or for the rest of my kids. We bring home dirt. Lots of it. In the car, in their hair, on their bodies, on the gear. They played either in the dirt or in the river most of the time. A kid's paradise!

















On Saturday, Jack and Jaden insisted they were not tired enough for a nap. What do you think????
















Unfortunately, we also got eaten alive by mosquitos. We sprayed and sprayed and still got bit. I am pretty unscathed. But the dirt diggers got it pretty bad. So, last night, I noticed Jack's right ear (first surgery) looked a little swollen. It looked like it might have been bitten by a mosquito. This morning, we were shocked to see his ear looking like this:















So, the blessing of no cell phone coverage made me a bit stressed at that point. We packed up everything in a big hustle with much appreciated help from our fellow campers. We hightailed it back in to cell phone range and immediately called Dr. Reinisch. He said he has seen this before and would call in an antibiotic as a precaution. He said he thought it would be better within about a day. We traded emails with Dr. Roberson and Dr. Reinisch and sent pictures. We have now given Jack 4 doses and are praying for some improvement by morning. If not, we will be headed to Palo Alto early this week. His ear canal is swollen completely shut and he really isn't hearing well at all.

So, keep Jack in your prayers....

Surgery 2 - two months

Well, Jack is doing great. He is VERY happy to be able to swim. In a stroke of amazing luck, one of the interns at work has lifeguard experience and we hired her to give the kids some swimming lessons. I will have to get a video clip of the new family fish! Jack is a head down, legs kickin', doggy paddling machine. And, quite proud of himself too, I might add. I think the major difference is that he can hear us while he is swimming.

We have noticed that he is very loud and loves to hum and jabber nonsense as he plays now. He has also started a retro kick of raspberry blowing and tongue clicking. These are things the other kids did as babies and I never heard Jack doing this. I think there is something about exploring those sounds that is just fascinating him! So, all that is fun.

Here are some pics from today of Jack's ears. I have noticed that his right ear (first surgery) is getting sunscreen stuck in the little nooks. Kind of nice to finally have that problem. I think it is still slowly gaining some definition.














His left ear is softening up a lot and is slowly looking better.
















His scalp hair is slowly filling in.















We have a happy boy!

Update - post surgery #2 hearing test

I just wanted to post an update since Jack's hearing test this week. Dr. Colen cleaned out Jack's ears prior to the test this time. We then went over for the test. The audiologist had Jack throw balls into a little basket when he heard the tones. He was so funny, he had to smack the ball she was holding with his ball before he would wait for the tone - kind of like a little "cheers!" He did pretty well, but ran out of steam at the end. At the very high frequency, he tested at a pretty significant loss, but that could have been because he wasn't paying attention well enough. A couple of times he was waiting and said, "I can't hear it!"

Anyway, his hearing is much better than I expected on the day of surgery. He is hearing at about 40dB across frequencies - except the very highest. Of course we have seen this in his speech over the past few weeks. He has just gotten so much more clear and he is giving Jaden a run for her money on airwave time - he is talking so much!

Of course, we have a waiting game here now to see if the hearing stabilizes at this level - hopefully it will. If it does, Dr. Roberson does not think that we will need to aid Jack's hearing from this point forward. Amazing. He says that two ears working together at that level should serve Jack very well.

We continue to be a little dissapointed in the shrinkage that we are seeing with the skin grafts resulting in wrinkling on the front of his left ear and the backs of both ears. I have asked Dr. Reinisch about this and he says it is from the use of the split thickness skin grafts. He says they see this a little sometimes - more often with asian skin. He has also said that Jack is in a league of his own on this issue. He says we will just have to see how much they soften over time and address it at the stage 2 surgery. He said he may have to add a little skin.

Dr. Roberson and Dr. Colen felt that the little white spot on Jack's left ear is actually the medpor framework that we can see through the skin. This is where the skin struggled and peeled off. We will see what Dr. Reinisch says, but they were pretty certain. Neither of them felt it was at risk of exposure.

So, we are scheduled for December 22 for Stage 2 in Palo Alto and will probably keep this date even though Dr. Roberson will likely not need to do a revision.

When I get a chance, I will post Jack's audiogram here:




All for now!

Surgery 2, Day 30

Jack continues to do really well. We have been having him wear hats to prevent sunburn on his scalp where the skin graft came from. The hair is coming in a little thin and is taking some time to come in the rest of the way. This weekend, he saw a "Cars" hat and just had to have it. If a kid has to wear a hat, he might as well like it, huh? It was pretty darn cute too...














Here are some pictures of his left ear. It continues to heal and look better each day. There is some reddish crusty stuff in his ear canal that seems to be accumulating. I emailed Dr. Roberson tonight, but I am sure he will say it is nothing to worry about and that they will clean it out when he has his hearing test.
















We think he is hearing very well right now and he has been a lot more conversational and his speech has been much more clear.

Big kid update... Carter got his braces off today - yippeee! His speech is much more clear now too - ha! Darby had her first appointment with the orthodontist today and will be getting her braces this summer. Good thing we like this guy as it looks like we will still be seeing him regularly...

Surgery 1 - right ear at 5 months

It has taken a few days since removing the sock that the swelling in Jack's right ear has finally starting to dissipate. He was also sleeping on it, and that made it swell more too. Now that the cup is off, he is sleeping more on his back. It has been nearly 5 months since his first surgery, so I thought I would post a picture of his right ear. I have noticed that it is becoming much more defined than I remember it being prior to the second surgery. I think his ears are healing much more slowly than others that I have seen pictures of. Dr. Reinisch has said that often asian skin heals more slowly. I suppose he IS the expert....

Suregy 2 - Day 24 - Check up

Today, Jack had a post op appointment in Palo Alto. We plan to leave the cup and netting off from this point forward. I don't know if I am just more comfortable this time or what, but his ear seems to look more healed to me. I asked Jack if he could hear me out of his new ear and he says no. Who knows if that is actually the case. We will know more when he has his hearing tested, which will be on June 25. Dr. Colen removed most of the packing but left a small amount which will dissolve over time. We will still put drops in Jack's ear twice a day. He is not allowed to swim just yet - bummer. It is hard when all the other kids can and he can't. So, here are today's pictures of Jack's left ear:
















He was quite thrilled to put Jaden's sunglasses on - conveniently held up by a pair of ... EARS!
















He is doing MUCH better behavior-wise, which might be related to the fact that he has been back in preschool (and away from me???). He is just generally happier! I have bought him two new hats from Old Navy. We are concerned about the skin graft site on his head and sun exposure. We are just going to try to keep a hat on him all the time. So, I got him to say his ABC's...



Today was Jack's last day of speech preschool for this year. I took Jack there first thing before he went to Palo Alto to give the teachers each a little thank you note. I was thinking that about two years ago, we first saw Jack's file. He was in an orphanage on the other side of the world. Had he stayed there, we would never have experienced the joy of this little boy... seen his smile every day, felt his sincere hugs. He would likely never heard leaves rustle in the forest, never heard water run from a faucet and may have never spoken a word. I think it has taken a small army of helpers for Jack to hear and to speak - to be able to say his ABC's! My gratitude runs deep for everyone who has supported us on this fantastic journey. Jack has learned a lot and taught us a lot - he was meant to be with us.

Surgery 2 - Day 18 - dressing change

Jack's sock has been getting loose and Dr. Reinisch had recommended that we change the cup today or tomorrow, so we did this tonight.

This is getting SO much easier. I am better at it and Jack is more patient. So, I removed the cup and dressings.

Here is his ear before I cleaned it:














There is a small sore spot on his skin graft site. I put some bacitricin on it. I cleaned his ear with Q-tips and peroxide and got a lot of crusty stuff off. There is some tan colored skin that is peeling off and the skin underneath looks really good. The dark spot below his ear canal looks like if I peeled the crust off that it would bleed. So, that was left in place and the whole ear was covered in bacitricin ointment.

I replaced the cup with the cutout at the top and put the sock back on. Seemed like I did all that in no time flat!

The left ear has pulled in quite a bit, but overall, it is looking good.

Here are some pictures:


















Oh, and lastly, we had some canine adventures this weekend too. Moxie, who has been systematically chewing up everything in sight, stepped on something and cut the pad on her paw on Sunday. Of course, on Monday morning, it would still bleed profusely if not bandaged, so she had to go to the vet hospital for surgery to stitch it up. Of course, this happens on a holiday, which was not cheap! And this is our SPCA rescue dog! The only bright spot in all of this is that I might go get a year's supply of those plastic collars. They are very effective in preventing her from chewing on her paw, but they also prevent chewing on everything else! Why didn't I think of that SOONER!!!!

Her she is in all her misery.

Breakfast attire

This morning, Jaden and Jack came outside while I was doing some yardwork. They watched me while they sat and at some breakfast. When Jack first came out in his footie pajamas, I told him that he couldn't come out without shoes on. Here was his solution...













Yesterday, he was very happy listening to music on some headphones. I am sure it will be fun to do this again when his other ear is healed.

Surgery 2, Day 12 - the second time is easier

Today, we went to Palo Alto for a follow up appointment with Dr. Colen. Dr. Roberson was available by phone from another office if necessary, but he was not called.

At our follow up with Dr. Reinisch last week, he put some more blue silicone on and put a little hole in it for us to put drops through. This worked pretty well. Today, we removed the sock and cup and Dr. Colen removed the blue silicone. All this went pretty well. Definitely easier than the last time. The hardest part for Jack was the adhesive on the cup. Part of what is making it easier is ensuring that the sticky part of the tape is not in his hair when we put it on. Dr. Colen cleaned Jack's ear a bit and then we replaced the cup and sock. We decided to not remove the yellow gauze there in the office and agreed that I would do it tonight at home. We plan to go back in a few weeks to have all the packing removed from the ear canal. I sent Dr. Reinisch the pictures tonight and we will see what he has to say.

The only thing of concern for me was that there seems to be a dark spot on the skin graft. Dr. Colen said that this can happen sometimes and that the skin will likely slough off the top and the membrane below provides good blood flow for the skin to regenerate. Here are some pictures of his ear, you can see the spot below the canal and above the earlobe. The sponge and packing are still in his canal.















I think the ears are very even from the front, which is amazing.

When we got home, I took the sock back off and we removed the yellow gauze. I am glad we got it off now as it was much easier than the last time. We soaked the gauze with water by putting a wet washcloth on his head. Then, I pulled in the direction the hair was growing and it peeled off pretty easily. Here is a picture of the top of his head after the gauze was off and then Jack helping by holding the cup...
















We have modified the cup to try to be a little easier on the sore spot that the cup is making on his head again. We cut out a gap at the top of the cup - here is a picture:












We then put some gauze under the edges where the cup meets his head. This s
will relieve some of the pressure, hopefully. I will watch this pretty closely over the next few days. Then we put a new sock on and here is a half smile from my ornery boy...














I am relieved that we are about half way through this recovery period and dreading the remainder of it. Jack is just bored not being able to run around. Tonight we let him ride his trike around the back patio. This seems to be a good release without running! Hopefully we can do that some more this weekend. Sometimes he likes to play "crash" and that would bring it all to a halt.

All for now, more soon...