My oldest son has an appt with a team of ENTs and plastic surgeons tomorrow.. He was born without an ear canal and his hearing in that ear is very poor.

He's been having trouble in school paying attention when someone isn't working with him (he's in 1st grade), so we took him to an audiologist. He's got scarring in his good ear which is affecting his hearing in that ear too.

So basically they said it'd be a good idea to see if surgery could be done on his ear to open it up, and if not, at least he'll need a hearing aide.

A representative from a school for the deaf and hard of hearing evaluated him in his classroom, and they've set up some sort of microphone system for him right now, which seems to be helping.

I'm nervous because when he was really little we took him to specialists and they said that the surgery was really risky... and that part of it involved harvesting rib cartilage. That's so scary to me!

Plus, my son is nervous and I cant blame him.. I've been trying my best to keep him calm about it, but inside I'm freaking out myself!



Ok... thanks for reading. I just needed to get that off my chest...

pray...thats all i can say. there is power in prayer

I was born with a hearing loss. The best thing my parents did for me was to not treat me any different because of it. They also were there for every one of my dr, audiologist, and hearing aid appointments. They showed their unconditional Love and support no matter what. I know it was hard for them and my Mom blamed herself for a long time. She thought she had done something to cause my hearing loss. She didn't. I was born that way, just luck of the draw I guess.

Best wishes for you and him. It sounds like you have a competent team of doctors facing the problem rather than one or two of them.



He should be fine.

I take it he is going to have some reconstructive surgery done on the ear without a ear canal to correct the problem??

one for you...
one for your son with best wishes...

Big deep breath and it will be over before you and your son know it.

Once he recovers then its peanut butter and jelly time!!!

GOOD LUCK to the two of ya's

Sending prayers your way...let us know please

I know it can be scary.

My son had open heart surgery at the age of 3. Just be there for him and answer all his questions

prayer for you and your entire family

Someone will be watching over him

Aww thanks...

He has microtia and atresia. His right ear is not fully formed..

Some of his pediatricians have pushed the surgery to reconstruct the outer ear so that kids at school wouldn't pick on him...

My ex and I were always of the opinion that if his condition didn't affect the way he learned, etc, then we wouldn't do it until he was old enough to be consulted on the matter. We would rather build his self esteem to deal with kids picking on him about it, etc, rather than 'fix' him as if he were broken. (And we did deal with that when he started kindergarten, but he was great and so was his teacher.)

Now it is affecting him and the audiologists say it will just get worse if we don't do something about it now.

I know he's going to be fine... I just hate the thought of him having to go through something so.. drastic. He's my baby... lol.

Thanks again to you all... <3

Sending prayers your way for both you and your son. I know how you feel, my son is 9 yrs old and has gone through many surgeries in his life. I am always a nervous wreck, but he always comes out of it with flying colors and he wants the IV out of his arm and wants to go home!

Sounds like your doctors are on top of everything and I know they'll do an amazing job. Keep us updated on your son's progress.

Think about second opinions, just to see whats available for surgical interventions. Is there a University Hospital near by where there may be new ideas about this?
I see surgery as not so big a deal because I am a surgical nurse. However I understand its scary for you.
If possible talk with other parents whose kids have had this type of surgery.

Good Luck.

It is a hard decision I know and one you have to make for yourself. My thoughts are that the longer you wait the more difficulty he will have catching up. It is physically exhausting trying to hear and understand what is going on around you not to mention scary at times. His speech will also be affected if not so already. Technology has greatly improved and Doctors have actually performed very delicate and complicated surgeries on ears with great success.

My heart goes out to you both. Hang in there!!

My youngest child had ear surgery in his second year and I well remember the fear over thirty years later.

I also remember that he breezed right through it and after a little nausea as he woke up was up playing enjoying the attention only a few hours later.

That it seem to rocket his previously struggleing developement was such a blessing.

The suggestion to talk to other parents is a really helpful suggestions. National Association For the Deaf is a good place to start looking.

K-Spin which is a program with Lexington Kentucky Red Cross could hook you up too. Ask for a lady named Gail Lincoln. She is pretty much an expert on maxiofacial stuff.

Will keep you on my prayer list. If you need more resources write at your leisure.

Im sure that you will do the best for your son.

Thanks for the resources Pacificstar, and the well wishes everyone else!

So the appointment went well. He saw three different sets of doctors, and they did another hearing test. They're suggesting going with an implantable baha hearing aid for him, and stressed protecting his good ear to prevent any hearing loss in that ear. The baha implants a screw into his skull behind his ear, and then the hearing aid clips onto it from the outside.

We also met with the plastic surgeons who could reconstruct the outside of his ear, to make it look more 'normal'. Brennen was so cute... He told the doctor he liked his ears just the way they were. It made me feel really good as a parent, because his whole life we've talked about his ears and that he was born that way, that it doesn't mean there's something 'wrong' or 'less than perfect' about him. He's special just the way he is. And for him to be so comfortable with himself is really just... I dont know. It makes me happy. :)

So no outer reconstruction there! (He did go over the surgeries, anyway. There'd be two.. First they'd remove some cartilage from one of his ribs, then they'd cut open his ear in two places, remove the skin, bury the ear into his head, sew on the cartilage and cover the cartilage with the skin they had separated.. Then they'd let that heal and do surgery #2, which would be separating the ear from the skull and skin grafting. That sounds scary to me!)

We were told we'd receive a letter in a month with all of the doctors' opinions and where they would like to go next.. And we were sent home with a file full of baha information.

So, thats the update! Thanks for the well wishes.. Much appreciated!

sounds like it went well.!!

I will say two extra prayers today - one for you and one for your son. Have faith, God bless.

Glad things went well. Hopefully the surgeries will go smoothly.

There is a community college; St.Louis Community College at Florrisant Valley. It has so many deaf students that it is called the Jr. Gaulledet.

If you want to know young adults that might give you some first-person feed back on hearing surgeries I would would send a letter of request to the student group there and/or the Special Student Services Co-ordinator. They can't because of privacy laws give you names but if you give them an email chances are good they would respond.

I wondered if you knew you could apply to your States assistance program for Disabled Children or the Hill Burton Fund to pick up the left over out of insurance expenses. Or the Lions club to help with the cost of the hearing aid? Know it is hard to worry about money but there are grants to help with these expenses.

Good luck!!