Here we are on the way back to San Antonio. During the last two surgeries we had to leave our son Griffin at home. It was really hard to be away from him. For the third and final surgery, we knew we'd be down there for nearly two weeks, and we decided to make it a family trip. It felt so nice to have us all be together in Texas. I should mention that I am a special education teacher, so I tuto
More time with the amazing Truett family before our last surgery. It was important to us to try and balance a little fun with the stress. We just felt like Cate deserved some fun after nearly 4.5 months of surgeries and recovery. She was even able to wear goggles - the perk of having two ears!
Here we are driving to the surgical center for Cate's last surgery. We had no idea what to expect as far as recovery. All we knew was that her ear would be elevated, meaning it would be surgically separated from her scalp, and that a skin graft would cover the newly exposed tissue. It felt truly unreal that we were near the end of the road. I have to admit that I was super scared about how the
Cate's ear had healed beautifully from the lobe surgery. He would remove the blue stitching during this surgery. Cate's lobe is actually mostly firm cartilage, and very little of it is pliable as a normal lobe would be. Her ear shape and structure looks simply beautiful.
Cate was strong and really kept her composure until the last few minutes. I don't know how she was so brave. She felt terrified and anxious. Spencer and I did too, but I also just wanted it to be over. My heart hurt that this little seven year old had been through so much. You can see the fear and pain in her eyes in this picture.
Here is our sweet girl! She is completely finished! Waking up from the anasthesia took her about 45 minutes. The surgery itself was about 3 hours. I was curious and nervous to see her ear and the skin graft site. The skin graft bandage was pretty big and it was on her left side at her bikini line. It was bigger than I thought it would be.
Her sweet brother, Griffin, was waiting for us when we got back to the hotel. The Truett's watched him while the surgery was happening. What amazing friends!
Here is Cate soaking up all the love and attention from Amelia and Vivienne. Cate was obviously in better condition than after the first surgery. However, she was in more pain, and far groggier than she felt after the second surgery. The same medications and medication chart were utilized by us.
Seeing the giant sponge, and the painful looking stitching on the top of the ear attached to the sponge was jarring to say the least. These kind of surprises are why I started this website. I hated not knowing what to expect and how to best prepare and then care for my sweetie. The truth is that the sponge emanates an odd antiseptic smell, and looks kind of gross. However, she wasn't in pain an
Here is Cate the day after her surgery. I wore my surgical gloves and took the opportunity to clean up the surgical site. I felt like it was important to keep the hair off her sponge and used lots of alcohol wipes on anything that came near her ear. As you can see there was a ton of neosporin/antiseptic cream everywhere.
It was made very clear to us that Cate needed to be kept cool. It was imperative that she not be outside and/or sweating. Well - that's not the easiest thing to do in nearly 100 degree Texas heat. We stayed inside, pre-air conditioned the car, and used this neck fan anytime we walked outside. It was awesome and very helpful! They're 15 dollars on Amazon!
You can see the swelling and stitches really well in this picture. It just looked so painful, even though Cate said she felt totally fine. The part that was most annoying and aggravating to her was the tape that secured her ear cup to her head. She said it was uncomfortable and pulled at her skin sometimes. We still hadn't seen the skin graft site, and wouldn't for at least another week. And j
It was truly incredible how quickly the swelling was decreasing! In this picture you can start to see the beautiful shape of her ear begin to reemerge. The red lines from the stitching from the first and second surgeries are visible, but look really good. There is definite thinness along the lobe in comparison to her other ear. This is a friendly reminder that alll of that varies depending on t
Progress Pic - decreased swelling and here we are airing it out. We're using our neck fan to keep it cool.
We made the best of things... here we are with the Truett family again. They really saw us through some of our lowest moments. They offered us prayers, laughter, and endless support. I wish for all of you to have a support system to help you on the hard days. I also want to mention that my sisters and our families were constant sources of strength.
Saying goodbye to dear friends is really hard. The silver lining of all of this was that we made lifelong friends! Here we are the last night in San Antonio saying goodbye. It was so bittersweet. San Antonio will always be special to us! It's where my baby girl got her ear!!!
A Cate cuddle between sweet Cheryl and me!
A week of waiting for the sponge removal was finally behind us. We went to Dr. Bonilla's office first thing in the morning and Cate was very emotional. She wanted to be done, and was scared there would be pain.
Dr. Bonilla has the steadiest and most gentle of hands. He calmly and delicately cut the stitches that attached the ear to the sponge. Cate reports that she felt no pain at all! Beware - the upcoming skin graft pics are very graphic.
Seeing the newly exposed tissue behind her ear was shocking. I had no idea what it would look like, and frankly, I was just glad that Cate couldn't see it. I think it would have freaked her out. There were two lines of stitches that connected the skin graft to her ear and then her scalp. Elevation percentage is about 30 percent at this point; however, will decrease while the skin shrinks and ti
The symmetry and sizing of Cate's ears are nearly identical. Except for her lobe which is smaller and more narrow (due to her small Grade 3 tissue availability), her ears are almost identical in size and shape.
That is what you call a look of relief!!! I was and will always be so proud of Cate's strength and resilience. Being a mom and watching your child struggle and always have to be brave is really hard. I know just how you moms and dads feel. It's hard to see your baby suffer. However, it is all worth it. Keep going, keep praying, and keep on the path. Your child will be so thankful that you wer
The skin graft is approximately 3.5 inches, and had a double row of dissolvable stitches. Cate hated seeing this part - it scared her and she didn't understand why this had to happen. I didn't give many details; just tried to comfort her.
This section is just for you, Dr. Bonilla. You are a gift, an absolute blessing, and you change children's lives. You make them whole. Cate could have gone through life with one ear, and she would have been fine. However, the confidence that has shone from her since that final day is hard to put into words. She is happier each and every day because of you. You give children immeasurable joy a
You can see the tissue shrinking and slightly contracting with time. The ear is pink and healthy. Wound care treatment was done consistently.
Healing continues 12 Days post operation
The rawness and sore appearance decreased rapidly. The skin graft tissue takes on a yellowish and almost jaundice appearance.
Elevation percentage has decreased a small bit and the tissue is still yellowish. We still did twice daily hydrogen peroxide.
The textures of the two incisions are very different. The rib scar is very smooth and soft. The skin graft scar is obviously much newer at this point, but raised ridges within it were evident. I didn't touch it for obvious hygenic reasons, but the texture is more noticeable. I was happy that most of this should be able to be hidden (if she so chooses!) when she is older. Her confidence is more
In the picture on the right, the stitches and scars are barely noticeable from surgeries 1 & 2. Scabbing has started on the back of the ear. This will continue for about 6 months. Skin tightening continues, compressing the ear closer to her head.