Discovery

Charlie had surgery this morning. We arrived at 7:15am and brought the ipad to keep Charlie entertained for the morning. He loves playing angry birds and it kept him busy up until he had to go back for surgery. They offered to give him some meds that would help with the separation for surgery. We opted out and said he would be just fine. Nope...he wasn't. It ended up with the nurse having to grab him kicking and screaming. I was doing great until that moment! The surgery went really fast and the doctor met us in recovery when we saw Charlie. The news he told us was overwhelming at the very least. I am still in a fog on what is going on. My Uncle Jim looked everything up online for me and sent it via text messages. Thanks Uncle Jim!!

Okay so here it goes...the doctor removed the tube and wax. He then discovered a cholesteortoma (skin sac) that had to be removed. Further investigation of the ear showed that there is possibly more behind the ear drum itself. Charlie has to have a CT Scan to see 1) if there is more to be removed 2) to see how much and where it is located. If it is lying low right behind the ear drum the procedure to remove would be simply slicing open the ear drum and cleaning it out. If it has grown up into the bone he will have to have a Mastoidectomy; which is surgery behind the ear and into the bone to remove the growth. The simple procedure can be done in Mankato. If he has to have a Mastoidectomy then he will have to go to Children's to have it done because there is a lot more involved with that. My questions went like this:

How did this happen? Was it caused by the trauma of a toy being shoved in his ear?
- This is caused from either the tube itself or a congential defect that develops at birth and grows slowly. Emma did not cause this.

Will this result in permanent hearing damage? (This is the million dollar question)
- Time will tell and we won't know until everything heals. If left undetected yes it can cause permanent damage.

Why wasn't it discovered until now?
- Your normal Pediatrician will not detect this type of development. He said that it can look like just scar tissue to a Pediatrician. This is something that a specialist notices and we should have seen him, Dr. Christianson, 6 months ago but he doesn't know when it developed. We were never told to follow up with him after he cleared Charlie at his 6 month follow up from his surgery in February 2010. He said to continue care with your pediatrician.

Do we have to worry about the other ear?
- The other ear is fine for now. We just have to watch it and Charlie will be watched by the ENT a lot closer now.

Needless to say it has been an overwhelming morning. Something as simple as just a tube removal has turned into a bigger ordeal. We are glad it was discovered now. Charlie goes Monday morning for a CT Scan. He has to be placed under anesthesia again for this procedure so it will be done at ISJ Hospital in town. After the scan is done Dr. Christianson will call us with the results and what needs to happen.

Charlie and I are just going to be hanging out watching cartoons this morning. He called his Nana from the Pool and asked for licorice! Sweet sweet little boy! He has done such a good job. Keep the prayers coming!!