July 29th...Cholesteatoma Day

Before the surgical procedure. Of course I forgot the camera so I couldn't take a picture of her as she was being wheeled into the operating room. I did plan on bringing the camera but there was no one else in the prep room with a camera so I didn't feel so silly forgetting. I guess it's not something you would usually document photographically.

This was a little bit after we got home from the hospital.

Passed out on the bed...poor Grace.

This was Grace last night. She looks pretty glamorous with her ear cup on don't you think??? The procedure lasted about four and half hours. A fairly long surgery. The cholesteatoma was much larger than the surgeon expected and he had to drill out a lot of her skull bone and of course the little hearing bones were completely eroded so they were out too. He had to pack a bunch of gel/foam type stuff inside where the bone used to be. It will slowly dissolve as her bone grows back. Grace has been a real hero. Very little complaining and very little use of the pain killers that were prescribed for her. She's actually feeling fairly good considering how extensive the surgery was. No hearing in the right ear at this point but hopefully she will get some of her hearing back. Another surgery in 4 to 6 months to make sure there is no more infected cholesteatoma. At that time the surgeon will place some prosthetic hearing bones in her ear. She might need a hearing aid but he said she should have fairly normal hearing at some future point. You go Grace...