Update

Robbie had his fracture repair surgery on June 7th again in LA. Everything went well and he recovered and bounced back really fast. Things have been going really good and we are hoping for the best with this implant and continue to move forward.
Robbie goes to the ENT for his first cleaning since the surgery and a hearing test. Keeping our fingers crossed that his hearing is the same or better.
On another note Robbie told me yesterday "Guess what mom, one of my friends has a friend and he doesnt like me because my ear is different." I turned and asked him how does it make him feel. He replyed "I dont care."
YES!!! I must say that I felt much better hearing him say that. I told him good for you and of course ended the convo with its there loss Robbie. He said yep. LOL gosh I love him so much.

Oops I Did it Again!

Ok, title was pretty funny to me but this news is not. Robbie has a fractured implant again. I was pretty sure back in the month of November it happened by the change in the implant and the over hang. I chose to ignore this due to the fact he had the hole in his ear drum and was soon to have surgery with Dr Roberson to repair. The surgery on the hole was successful and appears to have worked.
 Hearing of other medpor fractures I emailed Dr Reinisch and it was confirmed broke once again. We are set for surgery #7 in June. This again is devastating news to our family but we will pull together, move on and support Robbie with love and positive vibes.

On another note, Robbie is a STAR!! He enjoys showing off by dancing. Music is one of his many passions. Enjoy link below to his solo performance in talent show March 2012!!!
http://youtu.be/Lzto78e7sOM

Down to the CEI

Mosquito bite didnt do any damage and as a precaution Dr Reinisch had me call the local dr to get him on an antibiotic. By the time Tom and I ran it up to the campsite last Tuesday night it all ready looked much better.
We had our appointment with Dr Roberson yesterday about the hole in the bottom ear drum. He used a paper technique to fix it where he cuts some of the hole and puts medicine and a piece of cigarette paper over the hole. He says 80% of the time that works and it heals. If not he will do a tissue replacement over it and its not as bad as I thought which was a whole revision. He didnt know how it happened and doubts anything was stuck in the ear because its around the corner in the bottom which would be tough to get to. Staying positive and will see local ENT at end of August to see if it worked.

Hole in Ear Drum and Another Mosquito Bite 7/11/11

Yesterday Robbie got stung by a mosquito above right ear and right on membrane behind. Its red and swollen of course but the ear is fine THANK GOD. All kids are leaving for there annual week camping trip with Grandma and Grandpa today and Robbie happened to have his first canal cleaning since his implant replacement surgery in March. Took him in and the doctor said its not that bad just a little wax do you want me to clean it and I said well yea since we are here. As soon as he looked into the ear he said he has an infection. Then came worse news as he pulled away the wax. He has a hole in his lower ear drum. I think my mouth hit the floor at that point. He thinks he has had it for a while because it looks like it is trying to heal. So strict orders to not get it wet and definatly NO lake swimming and drops 3 x daily for a couple weeks.

I barely made it out the door before the tears started and Robbie looking at me like im nutts saying whats wrong is it broke? No Robbie I said you have a hole in your ear drum. He looked confused and said is that bad. LOL I love him so much!!!! Got home and called CEI and asked for guidance on Dr Robersons assistants answering machine. I also emailed Dr Reinisch about it and pics of mosquito bites. Assistant got back to me within a hour and told me its ok just dont get wet and there is three things that can happen. It can heal on its own, Dr Roberson can do a 30 second procedure of putting a paper over it, or of course the bad word revision. Because we are around 6 hours North of Palo Alto its worth going there when the kids get home and will be doing such next Wednesday. They will also be doing a hearing test while we are down there to see if its effected his hearing.

Really there is nothing left to say :(

Spring Break

Robbie is healing very nice and all is pretty much back to normal (almost). We notice a thicker area around the spot of the fracture and informed Dr R but dont think its anything bad. Since we went south under circumstances that were out of control a few weeks ago we decided to grab the whole family for spring break and head back down south to aunt Chrissy and uncle Joes house for some fun R and R.

9 days post op

Home Sweet Home

Got home at 6:30am this morning and was surprised with snow. Doctors appointment yesterday went well and I think we were only there for 15 minutes. Dr R took out the tube and a couple stitches and basically since I am a pro at this now sent us on our way. I am to send pictures in a couple weeks unless I notice something wrong. Robbie told Dr R he likes him a lot and was so happy when we left to leave the tube behind. Attached are pictures of Sunday and Monday after his appointment. Swelling continues to look better daily.

Day After

Robbies surgery was just over three hours yestersay and everything went really well. We left LA a little after 1pm and headed back North to stay with my sister. Dr R said the membrane bled like crazy when he cut it which is a very good sign of a healthy one. Robbie was a trooper like always, once we stopped to eat about a hour or so after leaving his spirits picked up alot. He started running a 101 temp last night and woke up with the same and is moving slowly and carrying his drain tube ball around in his hands, he was very upset about having the tube again.

In the pictures you can see in the front of the ear were the blood has leaked and dried. That is wear Dr R cut and pulled the tragus foward to make the shape of the ear hole smaller and not so round. I think it looks great. He has yellow gauze over most the middle ear and the incision was made in the middle to take out the fractured and put in the new medpor. The ear is swelling as expected and the back has pushed out and Im sure will continue to for the next few days. Each surgery seems to produce a better result but I AM DONE as is Robbie and the rest of the family.

Today will be much needed R&R in Avala Beach. We head back south Monday to see Dr R at 2:45 then back to Oregon we go.

Surgery

We left Robbie about 7:45 for them to take him back and start. Dr R is going to cut through the middle and remove and replace the implant. He is also going to move the tragus a little in to make the middle of the ear not so big and round. Said it should take a couple hours and be pretty painless. Robbie was all smiles and pretty loopy when we left him. We had a really hard night getting sleep. DO NOT recommend staying on Sunset Blvd. I think we had American Idol kick offs staying next to us singing all night. They were still going at it when we left at 5:45am UGH!!

Heading South

We will be heading south this week to get to LA for Robbies preop on Thursday. His surgery will be Friday at the crack of dawn. I am staying positive and optimistic but the fear and doubt are lurking and trying to take over. I hope this is a quick, painless and successful surgery and we can just move on.

Fractured Implant

Well we made it to post op 10 months at least!!!!

I have felt what was like a crack in the rim of the ear weeks ago but didn't want to over think it or create something out of what I was hoping was just me being over paranoid. Last night when Robbie kissed me good night I looked at him and my radar went straight to his ear. Something looked different, there was a dent in the side. I ran my finger around it and sure enough I can feel the crack and where the implant has shifted so the top part over hangs. I immediately freaked out and cried of course and was in total disbelief.

I get a call from school about once every few weeks that a kid bumps his ear or Robbie bumped his ear but I never worried because these implant were to be pretty durable, RIGHT???? I cant pinpoint or tell you when, how, or where my little guy did this. How come these low odds of stuff happening don't happen in Vegas???? This will be implant #4!!

Dr R calls it a helical rim fracture and says its not an urgency to replace but to do so in next several months because the fracture end can cause a hole from the inside with time. We have decided since we are on the last membrane that this is urgent and are trying to makes plans to book as fast as we can. Plus we cant bear to go through an exposure again. Please keep my little guy in your thoughts and ill post as I get more news.

Milestone!! 6 Months Post Op

We have reached a milestone since Robbies surgeries, that being 6 months post op with no complications. The ear looks great and his hearing is good. I feel like I can breathe my sigh of relief now and just continue to move forward. He had an ENT appointment yesterday and besides some wax build up which was expected everything looked great.

Robbie seems to be having no issues at school and is hearing fine. No kids ever ask about his ear and scars and life is pretty normal for my little guy.

4 months post op

Things are still going great and we are on the count down to Robbie starting school.

All Better

Well the ear is not swollen anymore and is looking good again. Dr Reinisch did not give Robbie any antibiotics and told me to call him if the ear didnt look better by the next day. After about the 3rd day from being bit it looked fine. PHEW!!!!

Pics from camping trip.

Damn Bugs!

Well Tom and I dropped the kids off last Friday for a camping trip with grandma and grandpa. All precautions were took and Grandma dipped Robbie in mosquito spray daily but of course on his last day he got bit by one in the ear. We went through this last year so I am going to stay positive and not freak myself out. We will do the usual and send pics to Reinsich and wait to see if antibiotics are needed. DAMN SKEEETOES!!

13 weeks and 6 days post op

Things continue to go well as far as healing. Robbie got an ear infection Saturday in his left ear but the right is still good. It is so surreal at times looking at him and seeing this beautiful new ear. I couldnt be any happier.

9 Weeks Post Op

Things are going well. We are just going with the flow and letting his ear heal. Enjoy the pics!!!

Good News

I received an email from Dr Reinisch after sending him the weekly pics and this is what he had to say:
" I am very pleased with his recovery and think he looks very good for only 5 weeks post surgery."
That has officially made my day.

HAPPY 5TH BIRTHDAY ROBBIE!!!!!!

4 weeks 2 days post op

I guess I will just make it a habit to post pictures after I email Dr Reinisch. The one thing prior to surgery that I always wanted was to look at more pictures.

After bath time I pealed the brown thin scab off his ear. It was raised up so I took advantage. Most parents would of probably left it alone because they would be scared but not me,,,, I remember all about the healing process from the first time ;)

Everything is going well and we will have him stop sleeping tonight with the cup covering his ear. I will attempt to do the mold as shown by Dr R, but thoughts of it falling off at night and of it some how getting stuck on his ear are consuming me.