Miata Has Hearing!

Thursday after school we started our trip to Virginia. The drive was smooth and uneventful and we arrived at Ellen’s parent’s house around 9:15 pm. After showing us around their gorgeous home we sat and enjoyed about 1 ½ hours together. Mary and I sat and talked while Miata and Claude spent time singing songs together. We felt most comfortable there and I am so very thankful for this wonderful gift!! It was nice to get a good night’s rest and then leave the next morning at a descent time plus it broke up my driving time! I would have had to leave about 3:45am and drove 5 ½ hours to the appt. and then after the appt. got right back on the road for the 5 ½ hour trip home! So this was a huge blessing! Thank You... Thank You... Ellen, Mary, & Claude for your kindness and hospitality!! It is/was greatly appreciated!!

As for Miata...

After waiting 1 ½ in the waiting area, due to all the doctors having to learn a new computer system that was implemented throughout UVA, we finally saw Dr. Kesser. He removed the packing from Miata’s ear (which took about 10 minutes) and then he asked her, “Can you hear me?” She said, “yes and your loud! That was definitely a good sign!! After checking down in her ear a little more and also removing some stitches on the outside he then tested her hearing with a tuning fork. She was able to hear the sound for quite some time even when I could barely hear it when he held it next to my ear. This too was a good sign! Next he placed some antibiotic drops inside her ear and then some ointment. He showed me where to apply the ointment because I will again have to do this for the next month. When I asked about going to Audiology next he said normally he does not test the children until their one month post op. This is to allow for more healing as well as complete the series of ear drops and ointment. But he did go ahead and send us to Audiology for a quick rough hearing test. This test showed that she had moderate hearing. Normal hearing falls in the range from 0 – 25 across all test frequencies and Miata’s showed the range of 35-45! So this is a huge improvement from her not hearing at all from that ear when tested through Air Conduction (from outside the ear.) Now she tested just a little below normal depending on the frequency. There are certain frequencies that she will never hear really well but that was to be expected and is not the frequency that people speak at so it isn’t that important. This quick test was also performed with ear drops in her ear as well as with quite a bit of ointment packed in her ear! We are very pleased with everything and are so happy for Miata! Please keep praying that her ear will continue to heal with no complications and for the next in-depth hearing test to reveal as good if not better results!!

1st Post Op Appointment

Miata has her 1st post-op appointment on Friday at 9:45am. This is when Dr. Kesser will remove the packing from her ear! After that we will go to Audiology where they will perform another hearing test on Miata. Please pray that the results will be good! After the hearing test we will return to Dr. Kesser's office for more evaluations.

My original plan for this trip was to wake up very early and be on the road by 4:00 AM BUT amazingly the Lord has again blessed us when we least expected it! I had someone I work with approach me last week and ask me what my plans were for this trip. I explained that Miata's appt. was early so we would head out very early to make that appointment. Well she told me that her parents lived about an hour away and that we were more than welcome to stay there the night before so that we could get a good night's rest and then wouldn't have to leave until about 8:30 the next morning to make the appt. After talking more with Ellen (friend I work with) about this generous offer and then talking with her mom, that is now what we are going to do!! So tomorrow right after school/work Miata and I will begin our trip to VA!

I will update hopefully Friday night after we get back home. If I am too tired it may be Saturday!

A Quick Update...
Last Wednesday morning when I went to apply the Bacatracin ointment on Miata's ear I noticed a small spot that hadn't been there before. Well I didn't think much about it and just applied the Bacatracin and headed out for school/work. Then the next morning when I went to apply the ointment I noticed that same spot but now it looked like a tiny opening (hole.) I was a little concerned but thought I would just keep an eye on it. That same day (Thursday) me and the girls headed to Lexington, VA to take Kasity to see Zach at VMI. We didn't get there until late and we were tired so we went right to bed. The next morning (Friday) I again went to apply the ointment and by now the hole was even larger. So I decided to take a picture and text it to Dr. Kesser's assistant because Dr. Kesser was out of town at a medical conference (which is why I didn't try and contact him when I first noticed the spot.) Anyways, I asked Ronny if he could have another physician look at the picture and tell me whether I needed to bring her there or not, since I was in VA. Well, after the doctor's evaluation they wanted me to bring her in. So, I had to cancel the plans we had for Kasity & Zach and Miata & I headed to UVA about an hour away. Once there... the doctor that saw Miata said that it was time for the stitches in that area to dissolve which was normal but that that part of the incision hadn't healed together so when the stitches did dissolve this section re-opened. I was hoping he would put a stitch or two back in so that it would close and heal nicely but he didn't. When he was evaluating that opening/hole he was able to squeeze something out of it and he was afraid it might be a little fluid. I told him it was most likely just the Bacatracin that I had applied this morning but he said he would feel more comfortable to just leave it and let it heal the way it was to make sure there was NO fluid inside that hole. Of course I agreed even though this meant it would not heal as nicely and would now leave a much larger and uglier scar:( He also placed a strip of Steri-Tape on her ear to keep it pulled back so that the opening/hole would not get any larger (this would stay on a couple of days and then come off.) The doctor also wanted to keep Miata on her antibiotic for another week just to make sure there is no infection. Anyways, we then made our hour trip back to VMI which by this time was around 4:00 in the evening. We stayed in Lexington two more days visiting with Zach and we returned back to Wilmington Sunday night about 8:00.

Girls at VMI