8 month check up with Otolaryngologist

So we made another trip to Iowa City today.  It has been 7 months since the nerve graft surgery.  Dr. Gantz was hoping to see improvements by now and he sure did.  First we were visited by a resident and he did some tests on Ellie and looked in her ears and stuff. We got to see inside Ellie's ears while he was looking in them with the camera.  I was nervous we'd see a bunch of wax but we didn't, her ears were clean! Her ear drums are looking healthy also the doc said.  Anyway... Ellie was in a goofy mood so she decided to hide from Dr. Gantz behind me in the chair.  So Dr. Gantz found her and she hopped up in the chair to make all the silly faces he asked her to make.  He was so happy to see her progress.  He was smiling, excited and so happy! He went to get Dr. Mowery, the lady doctor that has a fellowship with him now, to show her Ellie's progress.  It was nice to be at an appointment where a doctor was celebrating about how well things are going instead of talking about what needs to still improve.  It was really neat to see a world renouned doctor celebrating over one of thousands of successful surgeries he has had.  I could tell he has his heart in his work. It's really heart warming to see a doctor this way.  Praise God for a wonderful appointment with wonderful progress!

Now Monday we got to a stressful appointment.  Ellie has to see the eye doctor.  This one isn't as good news because her eye sight in her right eye hasn't been improving like we hoped so we are going more frequently to address this issue.  Her poor eyesight has hindered Ellie's learning we think.  The teachers think this because she isn't picking up on her letters, reading and math as well as they would like to see.  She also has trouble hearing sometimes which hinders her learning also.  She has started going early 3 days a week to get one on one help with reading. It hit me hard again when after conferences we learned Ellie was having trouble and it was due to her health concerns.  They got the tumor out and all, I can't be more thankful of this, but now her hearing loss and eye sight is hindering her learning and she is going to have to deal with this for years I'm afraid.  I just wish she didn't have to deal with this. It's hard to hear her say she doesn't like school because it's hard.  It's hard to see her not want to try to read with us at home.  She wants me to spell things for her instead of her figuring it out.  She is struggling and this hurts.  She is only in her second year of school and this is the foundation of her future years of school.  I fear if school is too hard for her now and she struggles every day she is not going enjoy school in the future which will only keep her behind.  The doctors said they can work on her eye sight weakness until she is 9 years old until they just give them glasses and live with the sight she has.  I can't do this for three more years of fixing her eyes, 3 more years of her having blurred vision and risking her learning.  That would be five years of school and too much of a foundation to loose interest and I'm afraid it will affect her for the rest of her life.  I want a strong foundation where she can see well and hear well so she can learn well and enjoy school.  So this is what we will be talking to the doctor about next week.  Please pray for us as parents to have the insight needed to make decision for Ellie's best interest.  Please pray for insight on the part of the doctor's to offer the right solutions to work toward Ellie's restored eye sight.  Pray for improved eye sight for Ellie so we can stop dialating her good eye which makes her see out of two blurry eyes.  I can't imagine the blurry life she lives and it makes me sad thinking about it. This has got to be hindering her learning of her letters, words and math.  No child deserves to go through this and Ellie's condition isn't even that bad compared to other kids. 

Well this was a good day and this started out a happy blog but now thinking about the appointment coming up where we always get news that there needs to be improvement it's ended in a bit of sadness for me.  Thanks for giving me a chance to process my joys and my sorrows with you.  Thanks for letting me be vulnerable and supporting me/us after you read my thoughts.  I am so grateful for Ellie's health but seeing your child be so healthy and still have problems that's affecting her learning, which then affects her whole future school life, due to the health issues is very hard for me some days. 

In January on the 25th we have another follow up MRI and we return on the 26th to get the results and see her oncologist Dr. Bautti and her otolaryngologist, Dr. Gantz, again. Now we have to do the MRI on one day and get the results on another because Dr. Bautti changed his clinic days, which are not days they do children's MRI's with anesthesia.  Do they realize this means families have to wait 24 hours to get results of their child's MRI's.  I foresee this being very hard.  So we have to miss two days of school which further puts her behind which stresses me out even more so I'm going to stop now.

Good night.

Here is a picture of Ellie's standing by a huge Christmas Tree in the Coralville Mall today after her appointment.  I like how well you can see her smile coming back.  I love it!!

Anybody want to spend some hours each week with that pretty face, Ellie, during the summer days working on reading and math skills to get her caught up to second grade level? We have fun games and activities for her to practice with.  :) Yes I'm thinking way ahead... sorry.