Jack Is Feeling Better

Jack's surgery went well and he is feeling pretty good. His hearing did not change at all and I am sad about that. I am not surprised, just sad for him.

We had to get up before 5. Julianna was a trooper and got up and got dressed pretty quickly. I dropped her off at my friend Colleen's house. Colleen was great too and I am sure it was no fun for her to get up so early either.

We got there pretty early and then waited a long time. Finally each practitioner came in to speak to me. I expressed my concern about his intubation to the ENT. He said he might not have to be intubated. Then anesthesia came in and said he would have to be intubated and he might have to stay overnight. I asked her if she meant he might have to stay overnight if they were having trouble extubating him, which I would understand. She said they might keep him overnight either way. Ugghh.

When they took him in to the operating room I went out to the waiting room and my friend Cathy was there. She said she asked the nurse to tell me she was there about an hour ago. The nurse said she would but she never did. As we were waiting in the waiting room a giant mouse ran across the floor. This did nothing to bolster my confidence. This is the same hospital where I had my original breast surgery and there were a lot of issues. Jack was in the Children's building, but they do share some of the operating rooms. All of the waiting rooms are separate

After about an hour an a half the ENT and the audiologist came out to speak to us. They said Jack did very well in the surgery. The tubes went in without difficulty. There was a lot of fluid in his ears and it appeared that it was there for a very long time. They said the auditory brain stem response (ABR) hearing test had almost exactly the same results as he had last time. I asked Dr. Smith (ENT) if he thought Jack was deaf because the NICU gave him gentamicin along with lasix. He said he can't say for sure, but it is very likely.

Dr. Smith said I should make an appointment with the cochlear implant surgeon at Long Island Jewish (LIJ). I advised him that I already had an appointment with Dr. Roland from NYU. He said he thought their program was just as good and there was no reason for us to travel. He also said they know Dr. Roland and Dr. Roland was just at LIJ a few days ago lecturing them. It occurred to me that if Dr. Roland is at LIJ lecturing them about technique then I should absolutely go to NYU and see Dr. Roland. Dr. Smith really pushed the LIJ program but my research tells me there is no comparison. I also think I do not have a ton of confidence in LIJ in general. I did not tell Dr. Smith about the mouse.

Jack was pretty upset in recovery but relaxed after he had some tylenol, a bottle and a lot of hugs. He is the sweetest little guy. We were discharged at about 10:15. No one ever mentioned what the anesthesiologist said about staying overnight and of course I never brought it up.

He had a good day and a good night. He is getting tylenol and the ear drops. I am staying home with him today in case he has any problems.

Thanks everyone for all the prayers and well wishes!!