Every now and then at work I find myself mysteriously (assigned to) sitting behind a desk, alone. As a result I am immediately reminded why I chose the profession that I did, to avoid sitting behind a desk. I listen to the hum of all the machines within my reach; three phones, a computer, a printer, a video monitor etc. The most interesting part is dealing with yes, the public. I know, I did sign up for that but remind me some day to tell you some desk stories and you will understand. When I'm not dealing with these variety of "issues", it's quiet, which doesn't come that often in my line of work. It's these times when my mind is silenced that it starts to take a journey to what's in store in the coming months.
I realize that is has been a while since we have updated everyone on what's going on with Brennan's scheduled surgeries this coming year. I don't know how many people read our blog but it is nice to refer people to something to keep them updated. Plus, it is a good form of therapy for me to talk (or type) about it.
Brennan's CT scan results from November show that he is a candidate for Atresia Repair (ear canal/drum formation). He scored an 8 out of 10 meaning that the inner ear structures are formed enough to go forward with surgery. The doctor (Dr. Roberson- Palo Alto, Ca.) who is going to perform the surgery is the one who read his scan and provided the score based on what is present inside our little guy's head. No one scores a 10 and an 8 or 9 is very good in respect to results of the surgery. They will drill a hole in his mastoid bone and use a skin graft from his scalp to create an ear canal and ear drum. In other words, pray pray pray, even as I type this I am terrified.
If it would be possible for B to have better hearing following surgery for the sake of going through school and improved sound localization, then it seemed like a clear choice. Even if he didn't qualify for the surgery based on the CT scan, a future step would have been a surgically implanted hearing aid which improves sound as well.
Kim, who somehow makes every phone call and writes every email, scheduled this surgery for May 27th, 2010 with the Microtia (ear reconstruction) surgery to follow in October 2010. So it eventually came time to start asking some more questions with a major surgery approaching in May. How long is recovery? What is involved in recovery and healing with the new ear canal and large skin graft on my son's head? Another topic that was of major interest was how long B had to stay out of water. Ya know, the pool, the beach, the sprinklers, etc. After all the surgery is at the end of May, prime time for So Cal heat and lots of swimming. The verdict? 8 weeks out of water. Yup, 8 weeks. So all of June and all of July. Ouch. Anyone else see a problem here. We did too. If you know B you know that kid is a fish. He LOVES to swim or should I say jump into anything with water including puddles (of any size), swimming pools, the ocean, lakes, sprinklers (anywhere) and if you're not careful, large decorative fountains. So this posed a problem. We are already trying to think of ways to make this whole experience as painless and forgettable as possible. Now after this major surgery we would have to deny him one of his loves, water. Summer birthday parties, time at Grandma's house at the pool, running through the sprinklers and the list goes on and on. Oh yea, and "you can't go in the water buddy, but your sister can." Can't even go there.
We weren't even sure if we could even re-schedule the surgery and if we couldn't then OK, we would make it work. But if it was possible to do so then great. The Lord answered yet another prayer. Brennan's Atresia surgery is now scheduled for October 7th, 2010 with the Microtia surgery in the books for February or March of 2011. I put this in bold so that you can all put it in your calendars and remember to pray for us as a family during this time. We know the Lord will be watching over us and we appreciate everyone's prayers.
Two surgeries in two different calendar years brought into question the cost associated with our insurance company . Kim checked on that as well and we learned that a carry-over would be in effect and both surgeries would be counted as taking place in the same calendar year ultimately saving us some money. We think re-scheduling will make his recovery much more bearable with respect to his water adventures and he will be all healed (with a new ear) by summer of 2011 ready to splash into a pool near you.
It's important to mention that we went into the CT scan not really knowing what to expect and were really, truly trusting God with what He would have for B since his little ear was God's idea in the first place. You see, when you have a child born with an abnormality of any kind, big or small, you are quickly reminded after their birth that God is, and always will be, in complete control. There are a lot of things, present and future, that are just not in your hands including test results of this nature. We don't have a say, as much as we want one, we just don't. We didn't know what his scan results would be but God did before he even laid down on that table. In this case the outcome would determine where we go next. It was merely what determined the left or right turn in the road, one not necessarily being better than the other. The decision was made for us in God's design of B. If he didn't have the qualifying score, everything is the same and B is still B. We would be going down a different road and our blog posts and prayer requests would be a little different but it's all in His plan for B. It's comforting to know that regardless of the condition or abnormality for anyone, it is God's design and He always has a plan, however difficult it may be. What God created in my little boy's head he did for a reason and He reminds me every day when I look into B's eyes. B is just another one of God's little miracles flawlessly made in His image and the best part is I get to be his daddy.
In the meantime B is a talker. He shares new words and phrases daily and he's growing like a weed. He loves to hang out with mommy and do puzzles, play games, color and of course go to the park. One of his new favorite things to do is whatever his sister is doing. They are gonna be best buds in the coming years and it's fun to watch except for when he is taking away anything she is playing with or she is wanting to do the same to him. She's almost walking so the warning I've been giving him since before she was born is about become reality.
Stay tuned for more surgery updates (from "the desk") and thank you for your prayers, they are greatly appreciated.
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13 years ago
