Our journey to Griffin’s NEW LEFT EAR began on Tuesday, November 6, 2012 with another (and hopefully last!) flight up to Palo Alto, CA and Dr. Roberson’s California Ear Institute office. Kristin, Griffin, and I made the trip this time and our little gal Jillian stayed home with Grandma Lois Ott. (Thanks Grandma!) The hopefully last and hopefully final surgery for Griffin was going to also be his (mostly our) longest and most stressful as he was scheduled for a 3-part combined surgery lasting 10-12 hours with both Dr. Reinisch and Dr. Roberson. Here is the breakdown on the last surgery…

1. Right middle ear implant allowing for normal hearing with Dr. Roberson.
2. Left ear canal rebuild with Dr. Roberson if needed.
3. Left ear medpor construct with Dr. Reinisch

Griffin loved the flight as usual and after renting our car at the San Jose, CA airport, we checked into our hotel. We found out, in booking our hotel, that there was a google/facebook/ebay/yahoo/internet-ish convention in town that week and nearly every hotel was sold out. We were actually fortunate to find one relatively close to our usual spot for the low, low, price of $299/night. (Insert chuckle here!) Our pre-op appointment was scheduled for 2pm and went off without a hitch. We were actually given some REALLY GREAT NEWS when Dr. Roberson said he was pleased with the shape and size of Griffin’s left ear canal and wouldn’t need to reconstruct it in the morning. Both docs agreed that it was simply an ear infection that caused the shrinking of the canal prior to Griffin’s last surgery which caused Dr. Reinisch to call an audible and construct his right ear instead…YES! YES! YES!

After an uneventful night for our champion sleeper Griffin and a sleepless night for mom and dad, we were on the road at 5:15am for our 6am check-in at the Waverly Surgery Center. Griffin was his usual brave, cool self in the waiting room (see pic of him hiding by the coffee) and we were greeted by Dr. Reinisch and Dr. Roberson at about 6:30am. Kristin and I felt a huge sense of calm come over us after seeing both Dr.’s together as they are both truly miracle workers to be able to give Griffin the gift of ears and hearing. Going through surgeries is never easy and it was a great comfort to us to know that Griffin was in such good hands. They are both so very, very awesome and we can never thank them enough!  After some knucks 0()()()(), a squeeze hug and 4 kisses for our brave little dude, they took him back for his 8am surgery.

After about 3 hours, Dr. Roberson came out to the waiting room to tell us that the right middle ear implant was a success! The implant itself is shaped like a flat-head nail, roughly 5 mm in length, with the round flat part attached to the back of Griffin’s new eardrum and a tiny loop/hook on the other end that connected through to where Griffin’s stapes was supposed to be but wasn’t. Being that the stapes is the smallest and weakest bone in the human body, it doesn’t surprise us that Griffin didn’t have one as he is neither small nor weak:) The stapes itself is literally as big as the loop portion on this —–> p)

After a successful implant, it was Dr. Reinisch’s turn to work his magic. The medpor construct itself is typically an 8 hour surgery so we knew we were in for a long day. We were given updates every few hours and even managed to get out and walk around Stanford’s campus, one at a time, as one parent always has to be present. Kristin and I both felt a little nervous throughout the day but nothing as compared to the first few surgeries. It went as smoothly as it could have gone and we were given the GREAT NEWS that WE HAD A NEW LEFT EAR at around 6:30pm! We went back to see our little buddy who was already up and talking to the staff…such a cool kid! We found throughout the surgeries that Griffin bounces back to his normal self almost immediately. The doctors and nurses always tell us that Griffin is ONE TOUGH LITTLE DUDE with his great ability to recover so quickly with little or no pain or side effects from the medication. Griffin definitely gets his toughness from his mom:) As we were wheeling him out into the car about an hour after the surgery concluded, we asked him if he was feeling good enough for a drink of water (the nurses say it may take a few hours for him to get to that point) to which Griffin responded in typical fashion, “No, I want some french fries, orange tic tacs, green ice cream, and cartoons on the iPad. WE LOVE THAT DUDE! (See pic)

We’ll keep you posted on Griffin’s upcoming follow-up appointments and hearing tests. We’re hoping for another painless and smooth healing process and are already seeing great results with his overall hearing even after a short period of time! We are also happy to let you know that we have a few more FUN-draisers in the works for 2013 to help with some of the medical costs associated with these truly miraculous surgeries!

Thanks again for keeping Griffin in your thoughts and prayers. We love you all!

~Colin, Kristin, Griffin, and Jillian Oas