The really sucky part....

Post-op sucks.

Kelley went to recovery at a little bit after 2:30, and she woke up almost immediately after arriving in the recovery room. The tough part is that she opened her eyes and started crying that she was hurting. I almost lost it. The nurse, Sara, was wonderful, and gave her a little more pain relief. She drifted off a little bit and a few minutes later woke up again asking for something to drink. She was allowed ice chips initially, and we slowly started giving her some sips of water during her recovery.

Sara, our recovery nurse, was very kind and helpful, and to make her smile she blew up a glove and drew a princess face on it - it's really cute.

She was quite woozy, but after some water and some time, we got her up and went back to the hotel.

Of course, Ryan starts freaking out at this point for a snack (mommy's on duty), and so we had a lovely ride back to the hotel with one kid screaming and crying for food and the other one of the verge of throwing up. Poor girl, she was totally green.

We've had trouble tonight with her keeping food down. She's thrown up nearly everything we've given, and has only started keeping food down in since about 8:15 or so. She's sleeping right now.

As you can see by the pictures, she has a large sock-type headband bandage on, and it is keeping an ear cup that protects her new ear in place. She has two suctions coming away from the surgery site to keep the fluid from collecting around the site. We have to drain it occasionally. (Not for the faint hearted.) She also has a marcaine pump attached to her muscle graft site on her stomach (where they took the graft from). Marcaine is a topical anesthetic and it is keeping her tummy skin comfortable. She will wear the pump for two days.

She's such a trooper. She was sitting on the couch tonight watching The Little Mermaid (we completely reinforced the Princess obsession this last weekend) and while she was feeling really sick she said "Mommy, I don't like this surgery." I asked her why and she said "I don't know, I'm just sad. This doesn't feel very good." But she rallied and her spirits perked up until she finally drifted off to sleep at around 9:15.

The good news is, that the surgery went very smoothly, and Dr. Reinisch was cautiously optimistic that we wouldn't have to have a second surgery for refinement. That remains to be seen, however, but we certainly hope that is the case.

Thanks again, everyone!

We're waiting.....

Everything went smoothly this morning. We had to be at the surgery center at 6:00 am. Those of you who know me understand the pain involved in that for me, but I was anxious enough that it was a tad easier than any random Tuesday.

We arrived, got settled, and surprisingly enough, at 6:15 in the morning had our first Beverly Hills celebrity sighting. Anyone remember Craig T. Nelson from Coach & Poltergeist? He was there this morning with his wife having a procedure done. I was filling out paperwork at the same time.

At any rate - Kelley played in the kid's area (smart!) until they called us back, where she layed down and got some "milk of amnesia" - Verced. She has had this before, and she is quite humorous once it hits. I really hope this isn't a preview of the teenage years and college functions. She giggles, slurs her words, tries to talk and we can't understand her - she's very funny. The anesthesiologist, Dr. Jumper, was wonderful. He established a rapport with her right away and made her giggle, talked to her about Princesses (the Disney Post will follow shortly) and made us all feel comfortable.

When it was almost time for her to be taken back to the O.R., she asked me to snuggle with her. Of course I complied. It seems like everyday she gets a little bigger and a little more mature, and so I really want to take advantage of those times when she needs her mommy.

Even in her groggy state, she wanted Ryan to take a ride with her in the gurney - so he rode with her, she hugged Ryan and kissed him, and then she was taken back to the O.R.

And now we wait. It will be probably later in the afternoon before we can take her back to the hotel. More to follow!

Thank you all so much for your thoughts and prayers. We are doing ok while we wait, trying to keep busy.

Some background while you're waiting......

This is Kelley's "before" picture:

This is commonly referred to as Grade III - a rather severe manifestation of the birth defect. (Called Atresia/Microtia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aural_atresia )
This particular birth defect can be indicative of other syndromes - Treacher-Collins Syndrome http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treacher_Collins_Syndrome )
and Hemifacial Microsomia ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hemifacial_Microsomia ) and Goldenhar Syndrome: ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Goldenhar_syndrome )

Fortunately, we determined that Kelley's incidence of Atresia/Microtia seemed to be isolated - a random developmental event in utero that caused her ear not to form quite correctly. We feel very fortunate that Kelley was born with her inner ear anatomy - auditory nerve, cochlea, etc all in good function. Her ability to hear on her right side was given to her via a procedure called a canalplasty in July 2006. Her surgeon's name was Joseph Roberson of California Ear Institute in Palo Alto, California. I love these people. Please support them....they have a non-profit branch that brings this awesome surgery to children in countries where medical care is difficult to obtain, and to children in this country who may not have insurance, or are denied the surgery by their insurance carrier: http://www.californiaearinstitute.com/ and http://www.letthemhear.org/

Ok, done plugging.

So, we have been anticipating these surgeries since Kelley's birth, and after meeting with doctor's in Portland, I stumbled on a Yahoo message board comprised of parents and individuals who are managing this condition. It was a wonderful connection to make because it has led us to these wonderful doctors. We are currently in Los Angeles seeing Dr. John Reinisch, a reconstructive surgeon who, as we speak, is performing surgery on Kelley to give her a new ear. Here's all about him and his work: http://www.hopeforkids.com/body_microtia.html

Here we go!

Welcome to Kelley's blog! This is to keep everyone in touch while we are in California seeing Dr. Reinisch for Kelley's cool, cutting-edge ear reconstruction. We're so grateful for all the love, support, and prayers we have received. We wanted to create a way to keep everyone up to date on what's happening, so voila! Blog.

Kelley was born with a birth defect called Atresia/Microtia, where she was born without an ear canal, and without an outer ear. In July 2006, at the age of 3, we travelled to Palo Alto, CA where an awesome place called the California Ear Institute and a wonderful surgeon named Joseph Roberson performed something called a canalplasty. Shortly after this surgery, she could truly hear out of her right ear for the first time in her life. Exciting stuff.

Now, we are headed to the Los Angeles area to see a man named John Reinisch, of Children's Hospital Los Angeles. Kelley will be receiving something called a Medpor Implant, which will create an outer ear for her. This part of your anatomy is called a pinna. Traditionally, this reconstruction has taken place with a surgery called rib graft - where a part of your own rib cartilage is used to construct the outer ear. With Medpor, this invasive surgery is no longer necessary, and the child has a shorter recovery. We were keenly interested in providing this for her, as the idea of having to surgically open up her chest and take out some of her rib cartilage gave us what I call that "uh oh" feeling. Thankfully, through the Atresia/Microtia Yahoo! message board group, we connected with other parents and subsequently other surgical possibilities.

So, here we are! We are leaving in the morning on March 16th, and this weekend we are taking a little side trip to Disneyland, where my princess gets to meet some princesses (she's a *tad* obsessed with them. This is going to be the highlight of her little life so far.)