1 Year Anniversary

It was one year ago today that Lauren had Atresia repair surgery with Dr. Roberson in Palo Alto, California. She continues to do well and the surgery was definitely worth it for her. She doesn't have perfect hearing on her left side, but it is much better than prior to the surgery. We haven't had her tested in a while and would like to do that again soon. The tests that were conducted post surgery showed very good improvement in the higher decibel ranges, but she did decrease in some of the lower ranges. Overall, the tests have shown successful results. We are hopeful that she will not need a hearing device in the future. I have included photos from before and after the surgery. The Medpor surgeries were conducted in May and October 2009.


An update on Grandpa Ottley. He had Ulnar Nerve Decompression on January 13th. He has since recovered but has had limited improvements. The doctor says it may take up to two years for any improvement to take place. Nerve regeneration is a very slow process and patience is required. Grandpa attempted to go back to work today on a limited basis to see how well he could do. He is planning to take it slow and ease back into working full time again.

Grandpa Ottley and Lauren: Update 14

I apologize for not updating this in more than a month. Both Lauren and Grandpa Ottley have been continuing to recover. Lauren has been back in the swing of things and is still healing very well. She had her ears pierced during her last surgery. We kept the ear rings in for about a month. On her birthday, she received some new ear rings so we took the old ones out. She started to get a bit a swelling soon after that so we have kept the ear rings out since. Dr. Lewin says it shouldn't be anything to worry about and to just keep an eye on it. I promise to add some new photos of her on here as soon as I can. 2009 has ended and it is overwhelming to think of all she had to go through last year, but all in all, she has handled it better than any of us could. We don't have anything planned for her this year. She is continuing to wear an expander that is placed on the roof of her mouth. We tighten the device daily to expand her upper pallet. She will have to do this for a couple more months. After that, she may wear another device to try and lengthen the jaw on her affected side.

As for Grandpa Ottley, he has not gone back to work yet. He is doing much better after the bypass surgery but he has had some lingering effects in his arm and hand. He has been diagnosed as having nerve compression in his left arm. The doctors say this was probably due to the arm placement during his surgery and/or recovery in the hospital. It compressed the nerve near his elbow and it has caused pain, tingling and numbness ever since. The solution, we hope, is that another surgery will fix the problem. It is an outpatient surgery and recovery time should be short. They basically reposition the nerve so that it is not compressed. It may have immediate improvement or it may take some time. If he is able to this ailment fixed, he should be able to return to work.

Grandpa Ottley and Lauren: Update 13

Lauren celebrated her 5th birthday this week and she was very excited. She has been healing very well and there have been no problems so far post surgery. She got some new ear rings for her birthday so that she can show off her pierced ears. She is still wearing the upper retainer in her mouth that we have to turn each day. It has come loose a couple times now and we have had to go in and have it repositioned. She will have to have it tightened for another month and then keep the device in place another couple of months afterwards. I hope to post some new pictures of her ear on her soon.

Grandpa Ottley hasn't been back to work the past few weeks. His shortness of breath is gone, but he has had pain in his arm and hand again. He visited the neurologist this week and he seems to have some nerve inflammation that can only be improved with surgery. He meets with a neurosurgeon next week for a consultation. The surgery is an outpatient surgery and shouldn't be much of recovery period. Sounds like he should feel improvement immediately.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 12

Grandpa Ottley returned to work last week after being cleared by the doctor. By Thursday, he was feeling pretty worn down and that night he started having shortness of breath. Friday morning he felt like he should go to the hospital. We went to the emergency room and they put him through all the standard tests. They think that due to his high activity that week, he started to build up fluid in his lungs and it caused the shortness of breath. They ruled out another heart attack and just felt like his working that week was a bit too much for him. Since then, he has not worked this week and has been trying to get his strength back. They prescribed medication for him to take to help get rid of the fluid and also started him back on regular breathing exercises again. Hopefully he will rebound soon and be able to get back to work if even on a limited basis.

Lauren has been doing wonderful. She is healing well and hasn't been slowed down at all. We had the expander fitted back into her mouth and she'll have to wear that for another month or two. We are planning to have a CT scan done here locally for her jaw in the upcoming month. We want to send this to Dr. Urata in California to get his opinion of her jaw distraction. He did see her in his office when Lauren was having the surgery last month. He felt that he would probably wait to distract again for a couple years unless we are able to fix it orthodontic ally. Other than that, things with her will slow down a bit. We will continue to post photos of her to show the progress of the healing to her ear.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 11

Grandpa Ottley met with Dr. Jones today. He is the surgeon that performed the triple bypass just over a month ago. The checkup went very well and he said he is showing very good signs of recovery. He removed many of the restrictions that were given when he was originally discharged from the hospital. He feels he should be ready to go back to work as soon as he feels strong enough to do so. He has still been having pain in his left arm and fingers. The doctor feels this is not from the stroke as we first thought but rather the nerve near his elbow was irritated during or after surgery and it has become inflamed. He recommended taking anti-inflammatory medication for the next few weeks and if it doesn't improve, he would like to set up some rehab therapy for him. His vision is still limited in his left eye and that is a result from the stroke. We are hopeful that it improves over the next few months. He is continuing to get stronger and is trying to walk each day. The doctor gave us the impression he is ahead of schedule in his recovery and left it up to him to gauge his limits.

Lauren had an appointment with Dr. Yamashiro at Primary Children's Hospital so that she could be fitted for another expander device that will be put in to place next week. I am not sure how long she will have to wear it this time. This is the same device she had to wear earlier in the year. It is a bit uncomfortable for her but she adjusts pretty quickly to it. Her ear is healing nicely and we will continue to monitor it and send pictures to Dr. Lewin so she can evaluate them.

2 Week Post Op Photos: Stage II

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 10

Both Grandpa and Lauren have been recovering. Grandpa Ottley had a doctor appointment this past week and was given a good report. However, that same day he was experiencing extreme discomfort. He woke up that night with pain in his back and arm as well as felt lightheaded and cold sweats. The doctor wasn't sure what the issue may have been but by later in the day it seemed to go away and hasn't happened since. Lately he has been feeling tired and has not had much energy. The doctor feels like he should be able to make a full recovery and also be able to go back to work. It will still be many weeks or months before that happens however.

Lauren has been doing great. She has all her bandages off and is back to school. She had a field trip today to the new hospital in Riverton. I don't think it was too exciting for her given all the hospitals she has been at this year. The teacher wanted to take the class there so that they would know that it isn't a scary place. As for now, we are just going to be sending photos to Dr. Lewin every few weeks and make sure that she is healing well.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 9

Grandpa Ottley has been resting since coming home from the hospital yesterday. It has been much more comfortable for him at home versus the hospital. He has a lot of medications he has to take daily and is limited in what physical activities he can do. He is glad to be home. His vision in his left eye is still poor from the stroke and we are hoping that it will heal itself and he will be back to 100% again.

Lauren returned back home last night and is doing well. The doctor examined her yesterday and felt that everything is looking great. She has a protective cup over her ear that she must wear for 5 days. She will probably be able to go back to pre-school tomorrow. This should be the last surgery for this year. She may need additional jaw distraction in the future and will also have some orthodontic work done to help with the jaw as well.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 8

Looks like Grandpa Ottley will be coming home today from the hospital. He will need 24 hour care for the next little while as well as have a therapist visit with him to continue his rehab.

Lauren is going to Disneyland today. Mom doesn't want to overdue it with her so we will see how she does.

Grandpa and Lauren: Update 7

Another good day for both our patients. Grandpa had the remaining of the tubes removed and has been eating well. He does physical activity each day and is getting stronger. He may be discharged as soon as tomorrow. This is amazing considering where he was at a week ago. He will be able to rest at home and they will be provide some therapy sessions at home for him.

Lauren is also doing well. She is still a bit gimpy after the surgery but she was able to go to a movie today with mom. Tomorrow they are going to try a day at Disneyland. Friends of ours are down there so it will be good for them to meet up. They will be coming home Wednesday night. She has one more doctor's appointment on Wednesday afternoon in Beverly Hills.