1st Post-Op Appointment with Dr Lewin

Well Mollys first post-op appointment is in the books.  Everything looks great with her new ear and Molly seems to be cautiously OK with them.  Her little ears were all she knew up until now.  She is fascinated with the whole process, asking Dr Lewin a lot of questions.

What is the tape on my eyes for?
What is that tube coming out of my mouth?
Why is the tape white?
What are the blue towels for?


Dr Lewin answered each question, sometimes many times over until Molly was satisfied.  Molly's perseverance throughout all of this has been nothing short of remarkable.  We're so very proud of her.  She's had to wear a black head band with an ear cup since surgery, along with an incision on her waist line for the skin graft.  She's taking it in stride and really shows a lot of character in her.  She does milk it a bit, but that's totally ok with us.  Here are some new pictures from today's appointment.

Molly was ready for the bandage change and a nice hair wash.

Black head band and ear cup off...

Our first look at her new ear...

Molly's first full look at her new ear, a little unsure...

Getting a nice hair wash...

Grumpy after mom combed the knots out of her hair...

Erin braided Mollys hair to keep it our of the way more...

Dr Lewin applying bacitracin to the new ear...

A little seaweed for the direct ear contact...

Applying the new ear mold for protection...

All ready to go home...

The ear will look purpleish for the next week or so, then should pink up around the next appointment, finally settling in to her natural skin color.  We'll keep this blog updated as we go!

5 days post-op

Wednesday Feb 13th,

Molly had MedPor surgery on her right ear and is recovering quite well.  The surgery lasted about 10 hours and it took a lot out of her.  She has a black headband and a plastic cup covering her new ear.  She has her first post-op appointment tomorrow at 2pm with Dr Lewin.

I'm eager to see her new ear and Molly is eager to get this wrap off even just for a few minutes to wash her hair and see for herself what is happening.  Below is a picture of her newly created ear just after surgery.

All set for surgery!

Molly is all set for surgery tomorrow at 6:30am.  A mild fever yesterday has not returned so we're in the clear.  Molly is surprisingly calm and happy.  I would've thought she'd be nervous and anxious.  Maybe she's blocking, maybe she doesn't fully understand what is happening.  We've showed her videos of what is to come and she has seen pictures of other children that have had this surgery, so it's not a surprise.

Pre-Op Appointment

Molly's pre-op appointment was today and all went well.  Molly asked a ton of questions, mainly "why do I need big ears?" Dr Lewin was very patient answering the same question over and over again, she is so great!

Other than explaining the acoustics of sound being caught by your outer ear, my answers to Molly are...

1) You can wear sunglasses
2) You can put your hair behind your ears
3) You can get your ears pierced

She is still not convinced that she needs/wants big ears.  She's always had her 'little ears', just nubs.  It's all she's known until now.  She'll get through it with our help, support and love and hugs.

Posting again!

Molly's is scheduled for MedPor reconstruction in February for the left ear, and March for the right ear. As the dates approach I'll be posting more about the process.

Right now we're all about convincing her that this is a good idea.  She's had her little ears all her life that that's all she knows.  She has experienced some teasing about her little ears before and it makes her sad, but she gets over it quickly.  Mostly her hair is down and that hides them from sight.

Mainly she's concerned about 'the icky medicine' that she has to take to make her sleepy for the real. anesthesia.

Anyhow, more to come soon.  This is a picture of Molly and her sister Katie from a Radio Disney event in Burbank, CA yesterday.