15 October 2008

Jackson's Hearing

Today Jackson visited the ENT. They have determined there is a growth behind his eardrum that is benign (Cholesteatoma:http://www.entkent.com/cholesteatoma.html), and it's probably congenital (it's been there since birth and has grown to the point where it no longer allows for sound conduction.) He will have a CT scan tomorrow (Thursday, 10/16) early in the morning. They are looking at how large the growth is, how far in they will have to go, and how much damage it might have done to the bones in his ears. 

Jack will have surgery (cholesteatomy) next Thursday, 10/23 at Utah Valley Regional Medical Center.

He will also probably have to have reconstructive surgery on the bones in his ear later in the year based on the damage the growth has caused. The growth is benign (non-cancerous), but it's acidic and can damage the delicate bones in the ear. If his bones need to be reconstructed, he won't have hearing until then, but his hearing should be restored at that point.

We'll know more as we go along, but this is our current update!

2 comments:

Steve said...

Jill, my prayers to Jackson and to you and your family. Hopefully, he will be able to come out of this with full hearing capability.

Having grown up with hearing loss, I know what a pain it is.

Steve Batty

Jen (momofmandm) said...

That is great news about being able to have surgery. That is way more than you knew of when they told you he couldn't hear. I'm sorry that he has to have surgery, but hey it could work and he could hear normally again. Although, what is normal anyway?