De ja' vu

Apparently blogger has changed some things and the dates are now off so I am going to start each blog the date I wrote it.. With my crazy schedule, I don't always get things posted right away.

Written: March 22, 2012

I could just direct you to November 15, 20011's blog entry. Today was pretty much the exact same day for us, but earlier in the day.

Hollister had his second tympanoplasty/mastiodectomy surgery on his left ear to get rid of a cholesteatoma. To those of you who just skipped over those big words, he had ear surgery.

This is the second one and hopefully the last on his left ear. This was supposed to be a "clean up" surgery and then the Dr. would reconstruct part of his ear to help with his hearing. When the doctor left us, he said, "It'll be about an hour and a half." The first surgery was 3 hours. It was traumatic! He did great, but it was a really tough day for Trevor and I.

His angry bird went with him this time.

Another tattoo from the Dr. This makes sure he does the surgery on the correct ear.

Of course, he had to play with the toys again.

The nurse told him he could play angry birds while he was breathing in the anesthesia. He was totally pumped.

After he walked back to play "Angry Birds" on the ipad with one of the nurses, we went and had breakfast and figured we'd be home by noon. (We were the 8am surgery this time). Well, over THREE hours later we were paged. We did get a few phone calls in those 3 hours that things were fine, but we knew something had to be up since it was taking so long.

The moment we saw the doctor he said, "Wow, that was longer than the first time." He proceeded to explain how he found more and deeper rooted than originally thought. He was amazed at how big this thing was. He did the reconstruction as well which took time. We now have a card that explains about this small titanium adjustable micron that is in his ear. We are supposed to keep in our wallet should we see another Dr. or at the airport he sets the alarms off. HA!

Seriously, what does all this mean? Well, Hollister shows signs of hearing when he has hearing tests, but he doesn't have hearing in that ear and he probably never will. The doctor wants to move on to tackle the right ear since it is small and he does have hearing in that ear. There is really no need to keep putting him through the surgeries for the left ear.

Its the worst news for us. He can't hear in his left ear. But, its the news we expected. Our doctor is still optimistic and hasn't ruled anything out.

This was him afterward. He matches his angry bird. He isn't mad, just out of it. His face is red because of the medicine they gave him. 

              Because of his surgery he got a special bracelet for being a fall risk.

Apparently he was too tired to even hold his Popsicle. He had two of them while we waited to be discharged, This was a good sign he was feeling better.

This made me so sad, but I do know he was asleep before they put this in.

Finally, a smile. His face was already less red. He started getting back to himself around this time.

Hollister has been fantastic. He is so brave and all the nurses talked about how sweet he is and what a big boy he is. We were prepared for the nausea that comes with this type of surgery, but he didn't get sick this time. Whew.

He has spent the afternoon, laying down on the couch, watching TV and playing his new obsession, "Angry Birds". For those of you who don't know, its a crazy obsessive iphone game. (Think the Pac-Man craze from the good ole days). He hasn't napped though so we are thinking he will sleep well tonight. At least we hope he does. He is eating and drinking. He still needs assistance to walk, but is so much better this time.

What's next? Post op in  a few weeks and then we will turn our attention to the right ear. Stayed tuned for another installment and that "de ja' vu" feeling.