***Clarification on last post***

The first picture on the last post was her "good" ear that cartilage was removed from. Those are dissolvable sutures. Here is a close up of the new ear! The dark section will heal. It is where Dr. Jones removed tissue to create the look of the canal, and hopefully where there will be a canal in the future!

Finished!

And we are finished! I cannot believe this was it! Both ears look great! They removed bandages, sutures, and packing. Then they rebandaged, leaving her good ear uncovered. We can remove everything for good on Saturday! I will post more pictures as the healing process begins!

And her mouth is blue because of a sucker :).

Sorry!

I completely apologize this post is so late. Since it was just me and Carolyn, I was a little preoccupied with the patient! She is doing great and we are back home. She was a lot more groggy this time, but actually it was probably for the best, because she got some great sleep in the car.

Dr. Jones said they were able to graft skin from the back of the ear instead of the groin, so that was great news! I also got to meet a very sweet family in the waiting room that was about to have their second stage completed! I'm praying everything went well for them!

For now Carolyn has on her "earmuffs" since both ears are wrapped, and we are doing lots of resting. Post-op is 12/26! Can't wait to see Dr. Jones' work once again!

In the OR

Carolyn went back about 830 EST. I got to walk back with her and she was all smiles! Partially due to meds of course, but also because she is a pro at this by now! Dr. Jones said this surgery typically lasts 3 1/2 hours. They will "pin" back her left ear and use that cartilage to make the tragus on the right (the bump in the front of the ear). They will also take a very small skin graft from her groin. Carolyn said "they are taking stuff from all over my body!" And they really are piecing everything together! She will not have a canal, but they do remove some tissue and along with the shadow from the tragus, it will look like there is one. Eventually we will go see Dr. Kesser in VA and hopefully he will be able to restore hearing in that ear! But that will be another journey :)..... We are taking a little surgery break for now!

I will update as soon as she is out!

Can't believe it is here!

The last reconstructive surgery is here! This has been a tough year for this tough girl, and we are so thankful it is winding down. Although I think we are going to miss the many Atlanta vacations! Today we went to Legoland and had a great time! Carolyn got to sing a little karaoke, ride some rides, see a 3d Lego movie, shoot some evil pirate legomen, and build a life size Lego castle!

Now it's time for bed, since I just set my alarm for 4:30 :)

Updated pictures by request!

I tend to show pictures of the reveal and then... Life goes on... And I COMPLETELY forget to add new pictures to the blog to show how the ear changes as the swelling goes down. So I will try to keep this updated with new pictures. It is also nice being able to look back myself and show Carolyn the progress. Here are a couple taken tonight, and you can definitely see how it is taking shape! It was difficult getting her to stand still for a close up, so excuse the fuzziness!!

Officially two ears!!!

We removed the bandages this morning!! Words cannot express my amazement and gratitude!!