In and out

Mira's just wrapping up after a quick and easy surgery this morning. She went under anesthesia to have her ears cleaned and assessed for ear tubes, (yes, they put in ear tubes) and then a quick CT scan of her head to get a better look at those cholesteatomas.

She is doing so well. She's also *still* growing, even with taking her calories per day down a little bit after her last visit with the nutritionist. Our last weight on her was 36 pounds. She's now 38.5 pounds, meaning she's had just over a 50% increase since coming home at 25 pounds.

The tube insertion was very straightforward on the left, and a little more interesting on the right. Tubes go into the ear drum, a flat membrane separating the ear canal from the air cavity on the other side. The doctor who did the surgery said the left needed a lot of cleaning, but the ear drum looked good and the insertion of the tube was easy. On the right, he said that instead of the pocket of air, it was more like hitting concrete. (His words.) The first incision he made for the tube had no chance of working, so he had to find a place where there was just enough of an air space behind that he could make a second incision and sneak the tube in there.

She was given a different kind of tubes than the type you put into a 10 month old who's had one too many ear infections. Those are made to come out pretty easily; these are intended to stick around for the long haul. The danger with these is a higher chance of perforating the ear drum, but in Mira's case, the benefits of a slightly bigger tube, so better movement between for fluid to get out and any necessary medication to get in far outweigh the risks...particularly since her hearing may be gone already.

She's been well cared for, and we'll hopefully be heading home within the hour.

~~~

Oh! And as an added bonus, I figured it wouldn't hurt to ask, and sure enough - someone from adaptive technology was able to come down to the pre-op room, grab Mira's wheelchair, and bring it back a few hours later with a lengthened (by 4 inches!!) velcro safety belt so we can fasten it again! It's only been three weeks since she got her chair, but it's been long enough that we couldn't get it around her anymore because of how she's growing. Thankfully Rob also planned growth into the custom formed back support when he made it, so we can get some more room in the whole thing when we need that, too!

Old strap in my hand, new one in the chair.