Our Bear

Since I am no good at calling people (sorry) I am attempting to keep you all informed. Most of the time parents are quite sure that their children having hearing problems. It is the most logical explanation for not obeying the first time, and our kids have not been any different. Maren, however has been different. With her it wasn't just an exacerbation but a consistent need to repeat instruction, even when it wasn't related to less than desirable activities. She has had more than a few ear infections in her life, and due to the cattle call clinics that we were using during the time we were on medicaid, we weren't always super excited to take her to get looked at. So, now that we have actual insurance and she seemed to be having some issues, we finally decided to take her in. The pediatrician said that there was an infection and she was on some antibiotics for a while. He also put her on a antihistamine to help with the allergies worsening the symptoms. Once her ear cleared up he asked to see her back and consequently, he recommended we head take her to see and ear nose and throat specialist. The ENT said she had mild to moderate hearing loss in one ear (the left), and her ear drum doesn't vibrate. Further hear ear drum is completely retracted. After 2 cat scans, he is pretty sure she has something called a cholesteatoma (spelling?). So for everybody besides Abe, that means there is supposed to be an area just below the inner ear that has just air in it. In Maren's case that space that is supposed to be empty is filling up with skin. That skin is causing the retraction and starting to erode some of the bone tissue in the inner ear. So we have Maren scheduled for a surgery on the 4th to remove the extra skin. They will make a small incision behind the ear, pull the skin back, remove a section of her bone and remove the skin and rebuild her ear drum. They will also put a tube in her other ear. If we don't do the surgery then hearing loss is certainly going to happen since the bone that is eroding is necessary for hearing. There are a few possible complications. The biggest worry is a result of nerves in the area associated with facial movements. But, we have a good doctor and we are confident everything will go well. That being said we would definitely appreciate your prayers in her behalf since it is still a little scary to have our baby girl going in for surgery. I think I have covered everything. I hope you are all doing well.

~Josh