Dangerous Wonder

Sep. 28, 2006

Ear Adventures

Many of you already know that my son was born with a condition called "congenital atresia/microtia" of the left ear. It basically means that my son was born without his left ear fully developed. He had no opening to hear out of and only a "fold" of skin where the outer ear generally should be. The amazing news is that in April of this year (see previous posts in April Archives) he had surgery to correct the inner ear condition. They had to move the "flap" of skin back and then create a large opening for the canal and then built and placed a new eardrum to his stapes. This was the first surgery. The second surgery consisted of a skin graph from his bicep to cover the exposed tissue in his new ear canal.

Yesterday we saw a specialist who can now fix his outer ear. I must admit that going to see a plastic surgeon was a bit unerving at first. I didn't know what kinds of things to expect being that it was that sort of field, but after we found out a few things...1. he performs surgery on children all the time, 2. he goes on 2 missions trips a year to 3rd world countries to perform surgeries for precious children, 3. he attends church where we do!...I was much more at ease and felt the outpouring of God's provision.

Basically, in 6months, we will start the adventure of the next 2-3 surgeries for our little man. They will take cartilage from 2 of his ribs to form the ear and shape it to match his other ear. I'm not sure what all the terms are and the specifics, but all-in-all he will have an ear that looks more normal than not! I can hardly believe that this is possible, but I have seen pictures of little kids with "new ears" and it's unbelievable.

Our brave knight...as we call him...has hearing out of his new ear in the "normal" range, which our Dr. said was "extraordinary." It turned out better than expected. He has transformed into a very outgoing little boy and loves to sing in the bathroom...I think it's the amazing acoustics and hearing his voice all around him! He can now swim with a special ear-plug, although we have to get a new one soon as his canal is getting smaller as it heals. He is not looking forward to more surgery (who would?) but he does want a "new ear"...it just is freaking him out a bit and your prayers would be most appreciated as we approach his next surgeries in the coming months. Those are our ear adventures and we'll keep you posted to the many amazing things the Lord is doing in and through this situation!