RE: children's recovery

[Guest guest]

I'm not sure how much help I can be because I can't quite remember a

lot about my recovery. I was seven when I had my first surgery and

that was almost eleven years ago now.

Regarding the surgery, I remember being put under and counting down

from ten though I only remember getting to seven or eight. Then I

remember waking up in recovery and being moved to a room for overnight

observation. I was kind of out of it but I remember my mom got in bed

with me and we watched Born Free and the orderly brought me vanilla

ice cream and orange sherbert. I didn't like the orange sherbert at

the time but I actually love it now. It's one of the more vivid

memories of my childhood. I slept pretty well that night and I wasn't

really aware that anything was different. I was kind of out of it that

entire rest of the afternoon and night and fell asleep pretty easily.

The next morning was when it was really weird. My parents got me this

Playmobile toy that played music and it sounded different than it

should have. But it wasn't that big of a deal. It didn't really phase

me. I was pefectly fine that morning because I remember wanting to

walk out to the car but having to be wheeled out in the wheelchair and

that I convinced the nurse to let me wheel myself around and that I

wheeled myself down a ramp really quickly and found it amusing as all

get out.

I also remember getting the bandages off and how the doctor kept

telling me that it didn't hurt when it really, really did. That's

something that as a child I really hated. Doctors kept telling me that

my ear wasn't hurting as bad as I thought it was before the surgery

and then after the surgery they kept telling me that it didn't hurt

when they were cleaning it (up until my second surgery when I was

fourteen I had to have my ear cleaned out every three to six months).

But, over all, I just remember staying the night and then wanting to

run around and play tne next day and being told I couldn't because I'd

just have surgery.

>

> Please... tell me about the recovery for your children. My son is

> scheduled for c-toma surgery 12/29. I posted a few days ago, but no

> responses. I am trying to prepare myself as much as I can for what to

> expect.

>

[Guest guest]

My daughter had her first surgery (in

Sept. 2002) when she was 5 years old to remove a congenital cholesteatoma and

it lasted about 3½ hours. They made an incision behind her ear and

removed a 2 cm cholesteatoma.  It had eroded most of her ear bones and she lost

most of her hearing.  Surgery was on a Wednesday, she stayed home from school

Thu/Fri, and finished recuperating on Sat/Sun. She returned to school on

Monday. She took Tylenol the first day after surgery and that was

it. No pain, no dizziness, very little drainage…she bounced right

back.  Popsicles, ice cream, soup, and rice were her favorite foods for a few

days.

She had a second surgery (4 hours) in July

2004, but this time they went through the ear canal to remove a small “pearl”

that was visible on the eardrum and attempted to insert a prosthetic, but the

footplate of the stapes was fixed so it did not happen. She was ready to

go outside and play with her friends within 2 days…again no pain, no

dizziness. It seems that the children recover much more quickly, but I imagine

it varies from case to case.

The third surgery was this past September

and it lasted about 2½ hours.  An incision was made and a small residual 5mm cholesteatoma

was removed from behind the eardrum and they did reconstruction of the ear

canal and put in a titanium ossicular prosthesis.  She was nauseous from the anesthesia

for a few hours, which was the worst part for her.  Once it wore off, she was

feeling much better.  She was showing off her stitches to her friends the very

next day.  She rested for the weekend and returned to school on Monday.  The

incision area was very tender, so she couldn’t lie on that side for a few

days.  The incision seemed to be sensitive to the touch for a couple of weeks

(unlike before) so I had to be careful when I was helping to wash and comb her

hair.

Your son will most likely fare well…it

will probably be much more difficult for you.   As a parent, it was tough for

me to watch my daughter get wheeled down the hall and pass through the doors to

the OR where I could not be with her…and then it seemed forever as I

waited to join her in the recovery room a few hours later.  However, we have

had nothing but caring nurses and doctors that are great with young children. 

I just felt so helpless…but at the same time I was very proud of how

brave my daughter was the entire time.  Just reassure your son that you will be

right there waiting for him.  I will send good thoughts to you and your son on

Dec 29th.

From: cholesteatoma [mailto:cholesteatoma ] On Behalf Of wilderroberts

Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006

6:57 PM

cholesteatoma

Subject:

children's recovery

Please... tell me about the recovery for your

children. My son is

scheduled for c-toma surgery 12/29. I posted a few days ago, but no

responses. I am trying to prepare myself as much as I can for what to

expect.

[Guest guest]

THank you so much for your words of encouragement. We have our 2nd CT tomorrow and then we wait until the 29th... I am hoping it's not too involved, as I believe I caught it in the very early stages.Rosenow <rosenows@...> wrote: My daughter had her first surgery (in Sept. 2002) when she was 5 years old to remove a congenital

cholesteatoma and it lasted about 3½ hours. They made an incision behind her ear and removed a 2 cm cholesteatoma. It had eroded most of her ear bones and she lost most of her hearing. Surgery was on a Wednesday, she stayed home from school Thu/Fri, and finished recuperating on Sat/Sun. She returned to school on Monday. She took Tylenol the first day after surgery and that was it. No pain, no dizziness, very little drainage…she bounced right back. Popsicles, ice cream, soup, and rice were her favorite foods for a few days. She had a second surgery (4 hours) in July 2004, but this time they went through the ear canal to

remove a small “pearl” that was visible on the eardrum and attempted to insert a prosthetic, but the footplate of the stapes was fixed so it did not happen. She was ready to go outside and play with her friends within 2 days…again no pain, no dizziness. It seems that the children recover much more quickly, but I imagine it varies from case to case. The third surgery was this past September and it lasted about 2½ hours. An incision was made and a small residual 5mm cholesteatoma was removed from behind the eardrum and they did reconstruction of the ear canal and put in a titanium ossicular prosthesis. She was nauseous from the

anesthesia for a few hours, which was the worst part for her. Once it wore off, she was feeling much better. She was showing off her stitches to her friends the very next day. She rested for the weekend and returned to school on Monday. The incision area was very tender, so she couldn’t lie on that side for a few days. The incision seemed to be sensitive to the touch for a couple of weeks (unlike before) so I had to be careful when I was helping to wash and comb her hair. Your son will most likely fare well…it will probably be much more difficult for you. As a parent, it was tough for me to watch my daughter get

wheeled down the hall and pass through the doors to the OR where I could not be with her…and then it seemed forever as I waited to join her in the recovery room a few hours later. However, we have had nothing but caring nurses and doctors that are great with young children. I just felt so helpless…but at the same time I was very proud of how brave my daughter was the entire time. Just reassure your son that you will be right there waiting for him. I will send good thoughts to you and your son on Dec 29th. From: cholesteatoma [mailto:cholesteatoma ] On Behalf Of wilderroberts Sent: Sunday, December 17, 2006 6:57 PM cholesteatoma Subject: children's recovery Please... tell me about the recovery for your children. My son is scheduled for c-toma surgery 12/29. I posted a few days ago, but no responses. I am trying to prepare myself as much as I can for what to expect. __________________________________________________

[Guest guest]

Hi, sounds like you've had success with your daughters surgery. Our

daughter had surgery last week, she's 8 years old. She seemed to recover

quite well herself. They did find damage to two bones and will require

another surgery in about 8-10 months. Would you happen to know is the

bones they replace will be the last she have to have? In other words, as

she grows, will the bones need to be replaced? Also, can the C-toma be

totally eliminated? From what I've read, some have more success than

others. More of the people, who seem to be older, have had more than a

couple of surgeries. Maybe since thet caught it at an earlier age, it

will hopefully only require the two surgeries. We had Dr. Slattery of

the House Ear Clinic in Los Angeles do the surgery. We would highly

recommend him or the other Dr.'s from here. Thanks.