One Surgery Down

Here's my sweet little girl in recovery.  She threw up a few times and was a little crabby, but in the midst of all that she was asking questions like, "Can I take the mask off?" (the mask being the plastic cup thing on her ear) over and over.   I explained she couldn't take the "mask" off until tomorrow because those were the doctors instructions.  She managed to roll her eyes and exclaim, "I have to go home looking like this?"  It was in that moment I realized she was going to be just fine.

It's true.  Up until that moment, I had my doubts.  When you have the experience of taking your son to the hospital because he had a headache, which is a "routine" symptom (I would categorize it as that) and he doesn't wake up, strange things go through your mind.  So, today when I took my daughter in for a "routine" surgery and I have to wait for her to wake up, it's not an easy task.  I prayed really hard that I would see those eyes again.  I never got to see Ethan's bright eyes again, and I am so grateful today that Madilyn was quickly back to herself.

For those who are unaware, Madilyn has a cholesteotoma in both ears.  This is a benign growth that happens randomly to people's whose ears "retract".  I don't exactly know what that means, but basically it means the ear is formed wrong and that causes this growth where the only treatment is surgery. Unfortunately, Madilyn has one in both ears.  The doctor goes in to remove the "disease" which is disintegrating the hearing bones.  This part took three hours today.  Her ear heals for six months and if the cholesteotoma doesn't grow back, he goes back in to reconstruct the hearing bones with titanium.  Sounds like a fun little art project.  Then, the doctor repeats those steps for her other ear.  If for some reason the growth is there in six months, the doctor has to clean it out again and reconstruct later.

After going in today he found Madilyn's cholesteotoma was significant.  It had disintegrated two of the three hearing bones. She has one left right now (and for the next six months).  This disease had also started to "thin out" the skull bone and the facial bones.  Glad we got it when we did.  I have been told some of the worst cases were when the cholesteotoma actually grew through the skull bone and into the brain (not good).

I am amazed how lucky we are for modern medicine.  I am not even a medicine girl.  I don't even take pain relievers for a headache.  But, after listening to what they had to do in my little girl's ear today, I am so grateful for this miracle.  The miracle that the doctors could find this growth and get it in time.  After an emotional morning of signing papers and watching my daughter breathe while hoping to see her eyes again, it's proved to be a good day.  Madilyn is healing great.  She's done throwing up and she ate some food.  Love you girl!