Today Lauren is having her 14th surgery. She is have surgery to reposition her upper and lower jaw as well as her chin. This is a surgery that we wanted to have done last year but because of battling insurance companies through multiple appeals we have had to wait. We originally wanted to have the surgeon performed by Dr. Jeffrey Hammoudeh in California. We’ve been consulting with him since she was very young and we really were confident in using him for the surgery. However our insurance refused to cover his services because he was out of network and they said there were In-Network surgeons we could use locally. This was disappointing because of the trust we had in Dr. Hammoudeh. We started meeting with surgeons here locally that were In-Network. Many of them told us her condition was too complex for them to treat her and there were others that we were not comfortable with their diagnosis and surgical recommendations. We then met with Dr. Creed Haymond last fall. He examined her and almost gave the exact diagnosis and treatment that Dr. Hammoudeh had recommended. He is very experienced in treating Lauren’s condition. He has worked very closely with her orthodontist, Dr. Baugh, in getting her prepared for the surgery. At the time he wanted to have new scans and X-rays done. We were hoping to have the surgery in the same calendar year as her Ear surgery, but we just couldn’t get everything in place and approved. In addition my employer changed insurance providers so we had to resubmit all pre-authorization requests. However we got it all approved and scheduled the surgery for April. We then had a consultation with Dr. Haymond where he explained the surgery in detail and the length of her recovery. It was much more extensive than we thought. Lauren had a school choir tour she would have to miss if we did the surgery so we pushed back the surgery one month to today. She returned home late last night and is now able to spend her summer healing and recovering.
Today she is having a BSSO surgery on her lower jaw. Lefort 1 Osteotomy on her upper jaw. And Genioplasty on her chin. This will help provide more symmetry and functionality to her jaw and face. When completed she will have her jaw wired for 4-6 weeks. She will be on a liquid diet for most of that time. She will need to be well protected and cannot have any risk of being struck in the face until she has had time to heal. This is a surgery that will make you second guess your decision but once she has healed we are hopeful it will make a big difference for her. This is something she has wanted to do and we have left these decisions up to her now that she is older and understands the benefits and risks. Once she has recovered from this surgery we can then move towards getting her surgery scheduled for a bone conduction hearing device for her left side. She and all of us were very worried for this day but we are confident in Dr. Haymond and the hospital staff will take good care of her. She has many friends and family praying and supporting her today.
As far as an update on her ear. The new implant looks really good. She has always been one to build up a lot of scar tissue but we use the steroid cream Dr. Lewin prescribed and that helps smooth out the tissue. We also had a one year follow up to Lauren’s diag of scoliosis of her spine. She has a moderate curve of her spine we noticed a few years ago. When we went to the last follow up the Doctor said the curve has not changed and he felt it would not get any worse and she’ll be able to continue without any treatment. It does cause pain at times and he back will pop. We started doing physical therapy and that seems to have helped a lot. The Doctor recommendation she remain active and stay in shape. This will help her strengthen her muscles and core to aid her back. It was a relief to know it hadn’t progressed.
