Jan 4, 2010

Pre-Op Brow Prosthetic Surgery

After having to reschedule Ainsley's T&A surgery twice (sb in Feb) I was very nervous that something would go wrong with our date for the brow prosthetics surgery on Thursday. After weeks of good health she got a runny nose and with a runny nose lately comes an ear infection. Last Tuesday night she didn't sleep well and sure enough she had a 100.5 temperature the next day so I rushed in to see the doctor. We got Augmentin and thankfully the fever was gone later that night. Her eardrums were pink, not badly infected, so we caught it in the nick of time. She's been doing great since and today we had our pre-op appointment so things look good to go for Thursday.


The surgeon sent me home with pictures. Yea! I always tell the doctors "THANK YOU! I LOVE pictures!" (BTW did no one think my New Year's post was funny?) It might sound weird but it's true, I'm always excited to come home with printouts of the CT's. IMO a picture is worth a thousand words or more. Especially when you're talking about complex medical stuff. Having these pictures I can show you what they'll be doing ahead of time. Remember click on the picture to see it larger. So what you see above is Ainsley's skull on the left and her skull with her new snazzy custom fitted eyebrow prosthetics on the right. Same thing with the lower pictures. She is missing a bit of bone from the last reconstruction so they ordered a prosthetic for that too, which you can also see on the picture to the right. How amazing is that?

We will get a call tomorrow or the next day with the surgery time for Thursday. Likely it will be morning. The (big) kids'll go off to school and I'll take Ainsley to Children's and Steve will meet us there. The surgery will last about 3 hours and we're expected to stay two nights there (on the surgical floor), more or less, depending on how she does. They will do a zig-zag incision from ear to ear just like her previous 2 cranio-facial surgeries. This will give them access to the area. The prosthetics will be attached with titanium. Post surgery there will be swelling, bruising, lots of stitches and bad hair for awhile.

The surgeon does not expect the surgery to help with the ptosis. If it did that would be a bonus. After discussing things further today he thinks that her ptosis was worsened by the forehead reconstruction because they moved the bone that is connected to the levator and tarsus and that it was the repositioning of that bone to which the tendons attach that was the problem, rather than the opthalmologist's opinion that the muscle was stretched or damaged due to swelling. He does not believe that there is any chance of this surgery making the ptosis worse, which has lately been a concern surfacing in my mind. Regardless of whether the ptosis improves, her appearance will change because her brow area will look different. It will be hard to get used to a new look even if it looks great to others. Mommy's always love the way their babies look and it is startling to have your child's appearance change overnight even when the surgery is considered a "success".

Why are we doing this? This surgery provides the foundation of "bone" needed to do the tarsal switch surgery where they remove some of the upper lid muscle and use it to reposition the lower lid. Please pray that 1) nothing happens to mess up our surgery date 2) that the results look good 3) that it does in fact restore her lids to a better position so her eyes appear more as they did prior to the July 07 surgery. 4) that she fares well during the surgery and has a speedy recovery. I will update the blog as it unfolds. As always thanks so much for your support!

9 comments:

  1. Ok I am praying for ALL of the above as always where surgery & Ainsley is concerned. The pictures are great. In the next few years we will be in the middle of back to back surgeries too...it is a scary place to be for sure.

    BTW the NY post was hilarious but my computer is fickle and sometimes I cannot leave comments on blogs with word verification.

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  2. Hello! I'm one of the new followers of your blog. It's amazing and so sweet to see the love that your children have for each other! Ainsley Rae is a beautiful child with a fantastic smile. We'll keep her in our prayers and hope that the surgery will be a success without any complications.

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  3. Susan praying for a healthy positive surgery for Ainsley on Thursday.

    All the love and support in the universe going out to your family.

    Lisa

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  4. so glad she is feeling better and the surgery is still on the books!!! We will be keepoing her in our thoughts and prayers thoughout her recovery and sending our love!! let me know if you need anything!! wyndi

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  5. Fingers crossed, lots of good vibes and thoughts, and all my love to all of you, Susan. Rock on, Ainsley.

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  6. I follow your blog regularly and I have always found Ainsley truly amazing. Will keep Ainsley in my thoughts and prayers.

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  7. Susan - I have been thinking so much about you - even though I can't always comment. Your New Year's post was hysterical. And it proves why kids should not be left to make any decisions on their own. I always regret "letting" Harlie make her own clothes decisions, as I am NEVER happy with her choice!!! So - keep taking those pics (as if you'd stop). Your kids will thank you later.

    Ugh is all I have to say about Ainsley's surgery Thursday. And so many hugs to you and your husband. Okay, well maybe I have more to say than I thought! You are so right about your child's changing faces. Everyone has told me that Harlie looks so "great." And I have to say it pains me every time I hear that. For once I would like to hear the truth - that she looks different. I know we'll grow to love however she turns out - but how freaky is that???

    Anyway - know that I understand and if you ever want to be brutally honest about your feelings you know who you can turn to!!!

    Good luck on Thursday. I will be watching for updates. And you all will be in my thoughts and prayers - for a safe, successful surgery - with bonuses!

    Many hugs,
    Christy

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  8. So many prayers coming your way!! ((((((((((HUGS))))))))) to you all!!!

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  9. Between all this surgery facial surgery is also so much successful and good treatment. It can provide us so much beautiful face look up. It can be the cosmetic or surgical.

    facial surgery

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