We saw the doctor today for Chloe's ear. We had been told to just "wait" by the pediatrician, but that didn't sit well with us. We decided to make an appointment with an ENT who is very well known in town without a referral from our pediatrician. We showed up with a list of questions for him and were anxious to find out what he would say about her "special" ear.
We could not have received better news. The doctor told us that he wanted to remove the extra skin flap TODAY and he would be right back to do so! WOW! We were not expecting that, but were excited he thought it should be done at such a young age. He told us that waiting to remove it would only make things much harder in the long run. He said that getting babies (3 weeks old) to sit still for a surgery is much easier than trying to get a one year old (or a 4 year old, as one doctor advised us) to sit still! Praise the Lord.
Being the "great" mom that I am, I could not stand the thought of holding her while she was being cut. Greg volunteered to hold her and within a half hour of arriving at the office she was all stitched up and the skin was removed. The doctor used a scalpel to cut around the base of it and then used a tweezers and a scissors to cut through the cartilage. The doctor also told us not to do anything with the small abnormality that is on the inside of her ear. He feels that if we start messing with that, her ear will look more "abnormal" and that the small bump on the inside of her ear will look rather normal as her ears get bigger.
Chloe did well. She screamed when she got the shot, but after that she fell asleep and we think she was asleep during the entire procedure. We couldn't see her face because the only part of her head that was exposed was her ear.
We are so thankful today went the way it did. We could not have asked for a better outcome. Now, she will have to heal. The doctor guesses it will take about two months for it to be totally healed, 48 hours until it can get wet and about a week or so for the stitches to dissolve.
These pictures are off of Greg's phone so the quality isn't fantastic, but you can get the idea. After Chloe got numbed up, the base of her ear turned white and the extra flap seemed to grow!
We could not have received better news. The doctor told us that he wanted to remove the extra skin flap TODAY and he would be right back to do so! WOW! We were not expecting that, but were excited he thought it should be done at such a young age. He told us that waiting to remove it would only make things much harder in the long run. He said that getting babies (3 weeks old) to sit still for a surgery is much easier than trying to get a one year old (or a 4 year old, as one doctor advised us) to sit still! Praise the Lord.
Being the "great" mom that I am, I could not stand the thought of holding her while she was being cut. Greg volunteered to hold her and within a half hour of arriving at the office she was all stitched up and the skin was removed. The doctor used a scalpel to cut around the base of it and then used a tweezers and a scissors to cut through the cartilage. The doctor also told us not to do anything with the small abnormality that is on the inside of her ear. He feels that if we start messing with that, her ear will look more "abnormal" and that the small bump on the inside of her ear will look rather normal as her ears get bigger.
Chloe did well. She screamed when she got the shot, but after that she fell asleep and we think she was asleep during the entire procedure. We couldn't see her face because the only part of her head that was exposed was her ear.
We are so thankful today went the way it did. We could not have asked for a better outcome. Now, she will have to heal. The doctor guesses it will take about two months for it to be totally healed, 48 hours until it can get wet and about a week or so for the stitches to dissolve.
These pictures are off of Greg's phone so the quality isn't fantastic, but you can get the idea. After Chloe got numbed up, the base of her ear turned white and the extra flap seemed to grow!
Chloe held so still...UNTIL the needle went into her ear! At that point, she screamed.
Look at her little hand popping out. It breaks my heart, but I know she wasn't feeling anything at this point. I also know that she will be very happy we got this taken care of when she was so young.
Chloe's new ear. It is hard to see, but she has two stitches and a pretty normal looking ear! Yeah! God is so good.
