Scroll to the bottom of this page and watch the videos of the exact surgery he performed on Miata (but these are of another child.) Also go to the left side bar and click the links to read more about Dr. Brent. Especially the 1st link: The Alamnac - Article on Dr. Brent!!!! (pages 12-14)
We arrived at El Camino Surgery Center at about 6:00am this morning. After a short wait in the lobby we were then taken to the prep area where they had Miata change into her gown. Next they took her vitals and then just talked with us for a few minutes while we waited for Dr. Brent to arrive. Once Dr. Brent arrived they proceeded to give her the "sleepy medicine" or in her case the "silly medicine" because shortly after drinking it she did become a bit silly! But that is to be expected when you are in such "la la land." I kissed her and told her she was doing great and that I would see her as soon as she woke up. They then rolled her back to the surgery area (about 7:10am.) I proceeded back to the waiting area where I saw the little girl from Saudi Arabia now waiting too. Dr. Brent will perform surgery on her after he completes Miata's surgery. He performs surgery Mon. - Thurs. and many days performs 2 a day! This is the only type of surgeries he performs verses other doctors who also "try" to perform the same type surgery at times but also performs most other "cosmetic" surgeries on their daily schedules. It is amazing to see just how many children, all over the world, who are born with this deformity! Dr. Brent has a map, of the world, in his office that shows all the surgeries that he has performed on children per their location in the world. The map is covered in pins that point out these locations! (Hopefully I can add a picture of this soon!) Anyways, close to 11:00am Dr. Brent came out and told me that Miata did wonderful during surgery and that everything went great! I was very relieved at this point that is was over, at least the surgery part of it. The nurse took me back to the recovery area to see Miata. When she woke up she was in pretty good spirits but also in quite a bit of pain. The really cute part is that when she came out of surgery her stuffed bunny, that she took into surgery with her, also came out with her ear all bandaged up just like Miata's! During the next 24 hours we stayed in the recovery area in Miata's room/cubical. Miata did rather well but was also still dealing with pain during this time. She didn't have any pain in her ear area but rather in her chest area which is where they cut her open to remove a section of her rib cartilidge that he uses to sculpt and create her new ear. Dr. Brent had told me that she would be very sore in this area for about 5 days. They kept her on morphine up until close to time for her to be released and then they switched her to Tylenol with Codiene. That is what I will continue to give her for the next week to help control the pain in her chest. Dr. Brent came back and checked on her in the evening hours and then would come back in the morning to check on her again (before beginning yet another ear surgery) so she can be released. It was a rough night, not for her but for me. It is hard to sleep in a reclining chair! Anyways, around 8:00am the next morning she was released and we left. She was saying she was very hungry and wanted to go to McDonalds so of course I agreed! After McDonalds I took her to Target to buy her something special because she did so great during her hospital stay! We later proceeded back to our "home away from home" where Miata continued to rest throughout the day. Later Jenny (Arlene's daughter) and her family came by to eat dinner with us. They were so sweet to bring Miata a gift for doing so well during surgery!
Overall Miata did great as the pictures (hope to post more pics soon) will show. During her 24 hour stay she colored, drew, watched dvds, etc. The pain meds took care of the pain when it would come.
Thank you all so very much for praying for Miata! Your prayers are most appreciated! Please continue to pray for her healing.
Tomorrow I will take Miata back to Dr. Brent's office for him to check and rebandage her ear.