Note: If you want a little bit of information of my history with Microtia and Atresia and how it affected me growing up, or you would like to hear about how I decided to pursue gaining hearing on that side, please refer to the story I wrote for Ear Community (click here). If you haven't read this or heard me talk about it, I encourage you to read it before delving into this post as I am, at this point, going to assume that you all know that bit of background...just so we're all on the same page!
Who: Me! My surgery is being performed by Dr. Russell Griffiths in Boise, ID.
What: Reconstructive Ear Surgery for Microtia of the right ear. I am NOT having an ear canal built (the atresia bit of things). When I first decided I needed to look into hearing on my right side, I only knew of one way to do it: 9 surgeries to open the canal, as per the doctors when I was young. When I started researching my options, I knew that the techniques would probably be better than back then, but I didn't know how much. When I started reading about Canalplasty (creating the canal), I started to think it was a bad idea. Here's why:
1) Not everyone is a candidate. Some people's inner bones aren't developed enough, etc. and many people's facial nerve is in the way, to put it very simply.
2) It doesn't guarantee any level of hearing gain once opened. And, the hearing usually fades faster than hearing loss of a normal ear.
3) There is upkeep. The canal has to be cleaned out by a doctor every 6-12 months. That is an inconvenience, but really, I just don't know what my health coverage might be like for the rest of my life, and I don't need that over my head.
4) The canal can close up and/or narrow over time. I've read about this happening to many people.
I can see why Canalplasy might seem like a good option for some, but for me, my age, and where I'm at in my life, I'm more concerned about hearing than having a canal. At the time, I also thought I was more about function than looks. I read about the BAHS's and went that route. (I will address how creating an outer ear came about in a bit.)
If you spend some time exploring Ear Community's website or Dr. Griffiths' website, you will know there are two methods of creating an outer ear. Medpor or Rib Graft. I will let you read up on those if you need to. I am still unsure of which method I will go with (Dr. Griffiths' doesn't require me to decide until the day before), but I'm pretty sure I will choose Medpor. For me, I can have Medpor and have much less pain but possibly less of a match to my existing ear and an increased risk of infection from rejection of the Medpor right after surgery, or I can have Rib Graft and potentially have a better match to the ear I have and less risk of infection following surgery, but more pain. At this point in my life, I am not too worried about exposing the framework/infections after the ear is healed. Again, as I will explain later, I'm not sure I care enough about whether the ear is a direct match to my other one, I'm more concerned about having AN ear, not that it's an exact duplicate. However, I also know that I only get one go at this, and I might as well do it exactly how I want.
Where: The surgery will be at St. Luke's Hospital in Boise, ID. I will be staying across the street at the Bishop Foote House. Dr. Griffiths' office is about a block away as well. After the surgery, I will spend 2 nights at the hospital, and then return to the Bishop Foote House for the remainder of my stay.
When: I fly to Boise Monday, November 25th. I have pre-op Tuesday, and surgery all day on Wednesday. I should be out of the hospital on Black Friday. In order to monitor healing and 'settling' of the ear on my head, I will stay in Boise until around December 19th.
Why: And this, I think, is the burning question on everyone's mind! I've never been teased, even with my short hair no one even notices, I'm an adult, I can already hear on that side, why in the world would I want this done?! Especially when I said I didn't care about looks, but just being able to hear, when I went with the BAHA back in 2011! Things change. Since that time, I'm more aware of my options and what they entail. I have met SO many supportive people online and in person dealing with Microtia/Atresia and/or BAHS's over the past couple years. I feel very blessed to have the opportunity to learn from them and share my experiences to help them as well.
About 8 months after I got my BAHA 'turned on', as we call it, I started noticing something funny. Now that I could hear on my deaf side, there was less of the thing we call a 'head shadow'. Interestingly, however, this made me start to notice my lace of external ear. Basically, I feel like I'm missing a body part, which, prior to having a BAHA, I never noticed. I'm not sure if it's completely related to the fact that I can hear over there, or if part of it is just that I'm much more aware of my lack of ear/condition than I was before, but in any event, it's there.
I wanted to look into surgery before I lost coverage under my Mom's insurance (January 2014), because I figured anything I got wouldn't be as good. I met Dr. Griffiths in late summer 2013, and decided to look into it to see what I could find out. I worked with his office and surprisingly, my insurance covered the procedure! Because of my benefits, my deductible, etc., the cost was very minimal to me. They also have affordable lodging at the Bishop Foote House, so the length of stay wouldn't kill me either. I planned surgery for this time of year, but due to other health problems, ended up cancelling the surgery in August 2013, with no plan to be able to reschedule before losing my insurance coverage. However, by some miracle, three weeks ago, in the matter of 7 days, his office and I figured out a way to make it happen. I feel so blessed to be given this opportunity, especially since I know if I don't do it now, I will most likely never be able to afford it again.
I have continued to research the surgery and my choice in surgeon and in the last few weeks have been feeling more and more comfortable with my decision. I am really not doing this for the looks (although that is an added bonus!), but instead I am doing this because I notice the lack of ear and feel kind of 'empty' on that side of my head. It's more of a feeling than a sight thing. And, the coolest thing is that the new ear with have some feeling in it! Through all of my research over the last year, I somehow didn't stumble across that tidbit until about two weeks ago!
So, now you know a little about how this all came about. It's a long complicated story, and I'm doing my best to keep it short without confusing anyone, or getting a lot of questions for clarification. If you do have any questions, etc, please leave me a comment of email me at Katie@katiesews4u.com.
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