Today we checked into Boys Town with an optimistic attitude, just certain that this would be the last of Audrena's surgeries. We went through all of the pre-surgery business and handed Audrena off to the Anesthesiologist without such a nervous pit in our stomachs as we had last time. Audrena would receive her left side cochlear implant, and all would be well.
We received a visit from the surgical nurse shortly after surgery started. Everything was going fine, but Dr. L. had to cut a tiny section of hair, so she returned it to us in a ziplock bag.
About an hour later, we received a phone call from her stating that things were taking longer than normal due to Audrena's anatomy, which we expected. She would call in an hour with another update.
Soon after, Dr. L. came into the room and said, "We have been thrown a curve ball." He found a cholesteatoma behind Audrena's ear drum. This is basically a growth of skin that should not be there. If left to grow, it can cause hearing loss and other issues in a person with normal hearing. In Audrena's case, both he and Dr. K. agreed that it would be careless to continue with the implantation today. Doing so could push some of that skin tissue into the cochlea, and there would be no way to clean it out without destroying the possibility for an implant. Instead, they agreed to clean out the cholesteatoma and wait 6 months.
After 6 months has passed, he will do another CT scan to make sure it has not grown back. If things look good, then he will finish the cochlear implant surgery. He apologized for such disheartening news, but he explained that this is pretty rare. He has never had it happen in well over 700 surgeries. Leave it to our daughter to be that one case.
There was some talk about whether this might be congenital, but he concluded that the cholesteatoma was caused by the tube she had in her ear. He removed the tube and placed a fat graft and re-grafted the right ear since it had not taken.
After the surgery, Dr. L. came in again to report that Audrena was awake in the recovery room and with no facial nerve damage (always the main concern for Daddy, as he loves that precious smile). He again apologized and said this was something he could not have predicted, and in the grand scheme of things it will be a small bump in the road. We told him we are just happy that he is so cautious. It's always better to be safe than sorry.
As for the recovery, Audrena came out of the anesthesia much better this time, and they gave her an extra dose of Zofran, so she didn't get sick. She slept a lot, drank a couple cups of apple juice, and devoured a serving-and-a-half of meatloaf. They removed the IV and released us. We had a hotel room already, so Audrena had even more comfortable sleep. After a couple hours, she woke up dancing and smiling at her cousin, Brady, who came to see her.
It breaks our hearts to think about putting Audrena through another surgery. We had high hopes that this would be the last of them until she was into adulthood. Six months seems like such a long time! However, in keeping a positive attitude, we are thankful that Dr. L. found the cholesteatoma when he did. If left to grow, it could cause facial nerve damage, and we could lose that beautiful smile. We are also thankful that Dr. L. chose to implant the right ear first. We could otherwise have faced this setback before she ever had a CI, putting her speech and language behind even more. As it is, she does still have one implant, and her speech and language will continue to develop. So we are not being set back in that respect.
We will get the cute zebra print hearing aid back from USD, and she will get a new earmold to go with it. She will wear that to continue auditory nerve stimulation until Dr. L. is able to finish the implant. He did make a reference to retirement today, and I was quick to ask, "You're not planning to retire any time soon, are you?!?" He smiled and said something like, "Not before I get her implanted!" Just remember that promise, Dr. L! We have faith in Dr. K., but we love you!
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