the boys

Matthew is now 18 months old and the two boys are just so full of energy and love to play with each other. Matthew is very independent and really has little fear which isn't a good thing at this age. I thought I would post a few pictures of the 2 of them being the cute little boys they are. I especially love the picture of the boys both trying to help their dad pull one of their balloons from the ceiling fan.

4 months post medpor

Wow has it really been only 4 months ago? I can't believe how well his ear has healed. I still admit I had my doubts, the hardest was the first few months, I just couldn't see how much his ear would change. I think seeing these monthly pictures has helped so much. Trey's ear is looking amazing and causing no problems at all. The sensitivity of his ear seems to have decreased, still has hair growing in places it doesn't need to on the ear but that seems to be a little less then a few months ago and really isn't as much as I thought. His hair has grown back as well all except for a spot about the size if a dime. Now we wait for Dec 3rd for stage 2 and to see if we can get a soft band BAHA for Trey.

3 months post medpor stage 1

We are 3 months out from Trey's surgery and his ear is healing very well. The scars are fading and the skin is evening out. His hair is starting to grow back with only 1 spot that has yet to fill in but I am optimistic that it will in the next few months. His ear is very sensitive which is surprising since there are no nerves there,. Sometimes I think he tells me it hurts so I stop touching his ear which I do a lot because I am so amazed at his new ear. :) He does have some hair growing on his new ear but thankfully only in 2 spots, right behind the ear and in the bowl of his ear. I was instructed by Dr. Lewin that I could take tweezers to pull out the hair, well I tried it one time and will never again. The skin just lifted way to much for my comfort so we found a very small electric shaver that can get most of the hair. The hair grows way to much for me to leave it alone. We are hoping during stage 2 that Dr. Lewin can laser the hair so we won't have to deal with it too much.

Right now Trey is in preschool and swim lessons. We hope to get him back to learning how to hockey skate this summer. Hopefully we can get him skating good enough that he can do a league this fall.

Matthew is a very typical one year old. He is starting to talk more and more and tries to play with his big brother all the time. He also is taking swim lessons and loves the water more then his big brother so he maybe our little swimmer.

8 weeks post op

We are now 8 weeks post medpor stage 1 surgery. His ear is looking better everyday. It is getting more natural looking though it will never look like his right ear. We figured there will be a scar down the front but as the skin coloring evens out and the ear has more definition it isn't as noticeable. I have to admit the past 8 weeks have been hard, it is a long wait for the ear to really take shape and look good, I was afraid it never would but I am now not so concerned. We are now more concerned with his hearing loss and will be looking at softband bone conduction hearing aids soon.

1 month post surgery

We are one month out, and Trey is doing well. The ear is healing but still has a way to go. He has a patch of hair that has fallen out. I think this is normal since I know others have done the same. Now I just try and remind myself that it will take months for it to heal up nicely and for the hair to grow back. But it is an ear and looks great. The ear does change on a daily basis, the color keeps changing it is interesting thing to watch. But the scabs are all off. He no longer is wearing the ear cup at night or during the day. We are still limited to activities but with a 3 year old it really doesn't matter much. We have another 4 weeks before he can do his hockey lessons or swimming but that is it for any restrictions. We do ask him to be careful with his new ear and so far so good. Trey says he likes it and tells me all the time not to take it off. He will do anything we ask if we just tell him Dr. Lewin told us to do it. :)

3 weeks out and talked to Dr. Lewin

We are 3 weeks out today and the ear is looking better and better each time we see it. Trey can finally go without the cup during the day but needs to wear it at night to keep him from sleeping on it. The dark colored scab came off today, looks like some little fish took a bite out of his ear where the scab was. Dr. Lewin expects it to have a scar but one that she can fix during stage II surgery. Most of the stitches have come out. We are cleaning it with soft soap and Q tips which is working nicely. I did add some antibiotic cream to the place the scab was just to make sure it heals nicely now. The ear is looking nice and pink. Trey doesn't like to touch his new ear yet. I think he is getting used to it and not sure what to think about his new ear right now. Not looking forward to a stressful day trying to keep the ear safe from Matthew who likes to grab it or Trey who is an active 3 year old who can quickly band his head on anything.

3 weeks out dressing change/cleaning

We cleaned Trey's ear this time all on our own today. It is looking great. Stitches are coming out, the dark spot is shrinking and healthy looking skin is seen. I know as time goes it will get more definition but it definitely looks like an ear. Now just waiting to hear back from Dr. Lewin as to what we do now with the ear cup and cleaning procedures. Hopefully the cup can stay off, it is starting to cause hair loss and sore spots but all those will heal up on their own. Then again I want that ear protected so maybe the cup should just stay on until Trey is 18.