Yesterday, Dr. Kip Robbins did a choleastomy on his L ear. Jack had a congenital tumor that had been growing since he was conceived. It measured 5.5mm. We had been told to expect that Jack would need to have complete reconstructive surgery in the spring to restore part of his hearing, with a potential of having a bone-anchored-hearing-aid (on his exterior skull). There was a possibility that Jackson's exterior ear would need to be opened if the tumor had gone into the attic of his ear (which could potentially push itself into Jack's brain).
Yesterday, the surgery was entirely successful, and the outcome was beyond our wildest expectations. Dr. Robbins discovered that while the tiniest bone was missing, only half of the middle-sized bone was gone, and the large bone was fully intact. He rebuilt Jackson's hearing with a prosthetic device for the tiny bone, and he added a bit to the middle bone. It is anticipated that Jack will hear again, probably for the first time in 2 years, within a very short time. His ear needs to heal (they lifted up his eardrum), and the prosthetic needs to grow into place, but it should give him some hearing (even if it's not as great as "natural" hearing may be.
Even better, a friend from work (Allison Wakefield--we had babies at the same time, 4 times!) mother-in-law was Jack's post-op nurse. It's a small, small world when you know good people. Aunt Shirley & Uncle Duane's oldest daughter Barbara Craighead was RUNNING post-op, so that was fun. John commented on how much she and my Aunt Kim look alike. I laughed. She is both my 2nd cousin and my 3rd cousin!
I'll post more picutres later.
