So the surgery overall went VERY well. Everyone involved was fantastic. We did not have to argue or even push the issue of intubation. Every agreed upfront that it was not the way to go.
Casey and I got up around 5 to get her medications and stuff going. We got Tim up shortly after. We got to the hospital right on time. They were ready for us. They got us back right away so that we would not drain the battery on Casey’s suction. We got there at 8:30 and she was scheduled to have her procedures at 10. The doctors where both running a little late. They ended up getting there within a few minutes of each other. Casey ended up going back right around 11.
ENT went first to put in the tubes, then neuro followed with Botox. Ent came out to go over his findings while neuro finished up. Before he finished going over everything they were calling for me to go to recover for Casey.I was so happy that they got me back there so quickly. I actually got to the room before she did. It was about 11:30 when we were in the post-op area.
Casey of course was sound asleep. It took a little bit for the gas to wear off. All of the anesthesiologist came by to tell us how well she did. The nurses were ready for her too. The entire ordeal was just very well done. Other than starting a little late (which all surgeries do) everything ran like a well oiled machine.
There was a complication with Casey’s left ear. The right ear was no trouble. The doctor said it was retracted, and there was a lot of fluid, but he was able to get the tube in place. However, the left was not so good. The left had retracted too much and advanced into some bigger problems. The left retracted so much that it caused a hole in her ear drum. If that was all then no big deal. Instead in addition to the hole she had some dead skin getting into the hole complicating things a bit. Casey’s left ear has what is called a Cholesteatoma. For right now he wants to watch and see what happens. As Tim said “Play it by EAR“. He told us that Casey is not in pain. As long as the hold does not start to eat away the ear bones she is fine. He cleaned out what he could. He was NOT able to put in a tube. We will have to go in a little more frequently for a while for him to check on it, and probably clean it out. If things get worse we can discuss having to do the bigger surgery later.
No rush on major surgeries. The minor procedures done today were stressful enough. As long as she is not in pain and there it is not causing other problems we are good just waiting. We will have to research this new condition and learn as much as we can. For now we will just keep it dry (lots of ear plugs in her future).
We should see the Botox kick in over the weekend. We are anxious to see how she does with it. The doctor said she can give her more next time if we need to. We will keep everyone posted on how she progresses.
Thank you to everyone for all of your kind words and warm thoughts. It really means a lot to us to know so many people care. We hope everyone is doing well.