CI Surgery Date and Discovery of Mondini's

Holy Bejeezus!

Yesterday was another whirlwind visit at Chapel Hill, NC.  Everyone there is fantastic though, and I really can't think of a better place to take Butters.

Butters' CT scan went very well.  He didn't even need sedation thanks to his non-stop scream fest throughout the car ride on the way.  He had exhausted himself and by the time we reached radiology, he was out like a light.  I was holding my breath as he went through the circle like machine, just waiting for him to wake up and freak out.  Fortunately, it only took about a minute to scan and we were done with a still sleeping Butters.

We then met with our ENT to get the results, and found out that Butters also has Mondini's malformation of the cochlea, which often happens with EVA.   "Gee, thanks for that, EVA, and for making our lives more rare and interesting by the day (this line said with much sarcasm)."

I was worried about this affecting Butters' candidacy for implants, but our ENT informed us that it only affects implantation in the number of electrodes that can be implanted.  There's a chance that when they get to the cochlea on the day of the surgery, they may find that they need to use a smaller implant (not sure what this means exactly) or they will only be able to implant a certain number of electrodes.  This worried me a bit, but our ENT also informed us that he had implanted some kids with Mondin's and they are doing well.  Armed with this info, we decided to go ahead and book our implant date.  Our ENT assured us that we had the option to hold off and wait a while, or go ahead and book surgery for early next year.

In short, we have a date set for February 21st, soon after Butters' first b-day!

We will be implanting his worst side first, and then we'll figure out when the next implantation will happen.

Lots of stuff going on, a flurry of prep time, phone calls, Tricare authorizations - in addition to all the stuff that's been going on - A/V therapy,  hearing booth tests, ENT visits, beginning physical therapy.  

We're both excited and nervous, we know that Butters' implants might not be as great as other implants due to his cochlear malformations, but this is our best chance to have him hear as normally as possible.  We'll take it.

Some other stuff:
 
Yesterday morning as I was preparing Butters for the CT scan, getting the roast in the crock pot, getting stuff ready for Halloween, I was putting the Halloween candy into the bowl I use every year when I noticed an out of place candy.  I had opened the first bag - "Crabby Patties" - when I noticed that a "Body Parts" candy was mixed in.  I did not buy a bag of "Body Parts" candy so I thought it was odd.  What was even more strange was that we got the ear!  Out of all the body parts they include for that candy, we ended up getting the ear mixed in with our "Crabby Patties."  Was that an omen?

The "Ear" that mysteriously ended up in our Halloween candy

Because Butters was so tired after his adventurous day, he did not feel up to entertaining trick-or treaters (after our long day and eventually getting home after 5, we put him to bed and I fortifed myself with a glass of wine in between the trick-or-treaters),   I was a little disappointed, but I just couldn't force him to dress up.  Besides, he hated his lobster costume anyway.  I managed to take pictures of him a few weeks earlier...

Butters as a Lobster - in our boiled peanuts pot

Butters also had a back-up pirate costume which he wore to get his second flu shot this past Friday.  Might I add that despite his fabulous behavior at his doctor's appointment, he bit a chunk out of the bill that I was supposed to hand to the receptionist at check-out.

I hope everyone had a great Halloween and that you all are recovering from the sugar coma!