Let the healing begin!!

On July 13th, 2011 Corbin underwent the stage 1 ear reconstruction with a medpor implant.  It was one of the longest days of my life. We woke our sweet boy up at 5:30 and dragged him to the car. He was in his usual cheerful spirit and remembered that it was his big day. He said several times that he was ready to get his new ear.  Corbin's bravery throughout the morning in the pre-op/ admissions prep room was impressive.   He was cooperative and very curious about the monitors. For the first time his blood pressure was taken and the sweet nurse told Corbin it was an arm-hugging machine. I felt anxiety rising when the anesthesiologist came over.  She reassured us that anesthesia was perfectly safe and that children did well with it. Sweet Corbin drank the sedative and we parted ways. After hugging and kissing our lovely boy, we embarked on an almost ten hour day in the waiting room of the outpatient surgical center. Every task was painstaking as my thoughts were on Corbin in that operating room all day long. Sudoku never felt challenging, hours never passed so slowly, and phone calls never excited me so much... The nurses would call us about every two hours with updates. When we got the call that all the skin grafts were done, I had a wave of panic.  I pictured my son's flesh being cut in my mind's eye and it was almost too much to bear. Sporadic tears and tight hugs from Matt peppered my afternoon. My mom, mother-in-law, and I walked to Melrose Avenue to grab some lunch. For a moment, I put negative thoughts out of my mind and imagined Corbin as a ten year old boy with two healthy ears and I could spend thirty minutes in hopeful peace.  The night before the surgery we ate dinner at P.F. Chang's as a family. Corbin's fortune cookie said, "Be thankful for the experience you will have tomorrow." Very fitting. Back to the surgery day. We were anxiously waiting. Alone. The staff had closed the reception desk and nurses were trickling out for the evening. Then the door opened and we saw Dr. Reinisch. He looked tired. As I'm sure we did too. He gave us the great news that the surgery went well and that he was able to make a tragus.  This was especially good news because patients with grade 3 microtia do not have the cartilage readily available/ in position. Dr. Reinisch is a wonderfully talented doctor and artist if you think of what he is doing from the perspective of designing body parts! He created a fabulous tragus and he feels confident that Corbin won't have to come back for a second procedure. Fingers crossed that his healing goes great and the swelling decreases in about six to nine months leaving a beautiful new ear.After speaking briefly with Dr. R we were allowed to sit with Corbin in recovery. Seeing Corbin in pain and confused was easily the hardest moment of parenting I have had. Tears were streaming down my face as he writhed around with a swollen face and unable to speak understandably.  He cried and whined from pain around his navel. I cuddled with him and sang to him as he drifted in and out of sleep. Eventually he calmed down. After his nurse had flushed out his i.v. and had given him tylenol, he scarfed down four graham crackers and two juice boxes.  The poor buddy was starving.  He seemed so delicate and broken, but I was immensely relieved to have him in my arms. As soon as we took him out to the lobby, I broke into tears again (probably because I caught eyes with my mother's empathetic look). Sweet Corbin mustered out the words, "Hi Nana. Look. I have wings. Did you know I can fly?" It sounded muffled and his words were thick, but I just kissed all over him as he spoke. SUCH A SWEET BOY! He requested goldfish in the car. He chowed down and for the rest of the evening he was pretty groggy. He had one crying fit from pain and he was really upset about the "boo boo" on his tummy (the site where fat was taken). At 1 a.m. we gave him his codeine and put him in the bed with us. Matt, Corbin, and I toughed it out through the night drifting in and out of light sleep. We rubbed his back, reassured him, and I prayed. A lot. He woke up and wanted to take a bath. His tummy was really hurting. And the incision on his skull had leaked a bit of fluid through the night. He looked pretty rough. He ate a little breakfast and immediately took a nap on the couch. When he woke, he watched a movie and colored a bit. He followed that activity with more napping. Then we noticed he was feverish. He sweated a lot through the second nap, and seemed really invigorated upon waking up. He ate, drank, played hide-and-seek with us, and wanted to go on a "walk" to the top floor of the condo building. We took the elevator up and stared at the hot tub. All the exertion left him pretty tired. On his own he asked for medicine. Poor thing was in pain again. I gave him tylenol and a bath. He is now sleeping with his cup,bandage, and skull cap covering his new ear. Tomorrow will be the unveiling and the first cleaning. We are so excited!!! Our son officially has two ears. It's truly a miracle!