Ever since we adopted Annalise, we knew her hearing/ears were "off." We have done all the easy fixes, all to no avail. After meeting with a pediatric ear specialist, it was determined she needed surgery. It was going to be either a 30min quick patch, or a 3hr major rebuild. If you know Annalise, she is full throttle, 25-8 (yes, MORE than 24-7). She needed a totally new ear. She was a champ and did really well during and right after the surgery! The biggest challenge has been keeping her calm (no running, climbing, jumping) and no water in her ear for 3 weeks.
In the end, when the doctor went into her ear, he discovered the ear drum had totally collapsed. Behind it, there were large cysts in the space (the same cysts had filled her ear canal when we first adopted her). The bones inside her inner ear had collapsed. The doctor cleaned out the cysts, put in a titanium brace to support the bones and to act as the hammer, and put in a grafted ear drum! He fully expects her to regain about 80% of her hearing back in that ear- she essentially had none before the surgery!
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| Waiting.... She was the first surgery of the day |
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| Ready to go back to the operating room |
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| Her titanium brace/drum |
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| So sad- sad that the ear covering doesn't match her PJ's.... She is 100% a Diva! |
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| She just wanted to watch movies- all day- which if you know Annalise, is saying something! |
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| A few hours after surgery and she's happily coloring! |
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| She just wanted Mommy to read her new books to her! |
She's such a trouper! We hope that this is a big step towards her hearing better, which will hopefully help improve her speech! Here's to a better future, sweet girl!
