Plastic Surgeon

After a year of searching the internet, on the phone, & e-mailing all over the country we finally found a surgeon...or rather, one found us. Dr. Chariker has been under our nose in Louisville. On a trip to Kosairs Hospital to remove a piece of stuffing Lash had shoved up his nose (ahhh, toddlers) one of the doctors asked us out of curiosity if we had considered reconstructive surgery. We looked at each other in exhaust & replied "Yes". Once the wad of cotton had been removed we were given Dr. Chariker's name & contact info. A month later we were sitting in his office. After meeting with him we are relieved to know that Lash will be in good hands, & will surgeries will take place before Kindergarten. While there, we saw several photographs of before & after reconstructions. After only 2 weeks, all swelling had gone down & a complete ear was already visible.

Dr. Chariker is confident only one surgery per ear will be necessary. He came highly recommended, is very picky, a perfectionist, & we were elated to get the ball rolling. They will get started summer of 2010. The first will have to heal over 6 months or more before the second ear will begin. We tell Lash he's getting an ear for his birthday. Then, if he's good, Santa will bring the other.

What the heck is Microtia?

this information comes via the The National Craniofacial Association in Chattanooga, TN

What is Microtia?
Microtia is an incompletely formed ear. It ranges in severity from a bump of tissue to a partially formed ear. In most cases, only one ear is affected. In that case, it is called Unilateral Microtia. If both ears are affected, it is called Bilateral Microtia. Unilateral Microtia occurs in 1 out of 8,000 births and Bilateral Microtia occurs in 1 out of 25,000 births. (Lucky us!)

Why did this happen?
At this time, no one knows why Microtia occurs; however, there is nothing to suggest that the mother's actions during pregnancy caused the Microtia. There have been correlations to its appearance along with either Goldenhar Syndrome or Trecher-Collins Syndrome.

Here is a diagram of a normal ear.

Microtia patients' outter ear (Pinna), external auditory canal, eardrum, and much of the middle ear are most times severly underdeveloped.

In most cases, the Inner ear & Cochlea are not effected.

So, How Does This Effect Hearing?

~ microtia patients are not technically "deaf" , their inner ear (in most cases) is not effected.

~ those with Microtia will experience Conductive Hearing Loss, meaning that the passage soundwaves travel is obstructed.

~ About a 40% reduction of hearing in the affected ear
~ Problems locating the direction from which a sound comes

~ Speech Development is expected to be delayed

So What Can Be Done?

~ reconstructive surgeries are available for both the outter & middle ear depending on the severaty of the microtia

~ an external bone anchored hearing aid (BAHA) is suggested at earliest of age

~ regular speech therapy

Some Hope (posted by Cass)

The hospital where Lash was born could give us no definite answers of WHAT or WHY. After a few days of having him home a relative brought over a gift. Nothing unusual. But when I opened it my stress & fear broke through my calm facade. I had to remove myself from the crowded room to the nursery. I was angry & scared looking down at the CD of Classical music. Actually after only a moment I could see nothing due to my tears. Todd, my husband, slowly opened the door. We quickly made a decision. A few bags were packed, phone calls made, & we were on our way to the Louisville Kosairs Children's Hospital Emergency Room.

It was the first of many to come, but while there we spoke to several compassionate doctors & nurses. We were given names, referals, answers, but most of all....HOPE.

The Day We Met Lash

Lashley Alton Davenport was born to us on the hottest day of the year in 2006. Minutes after the euphoria of a new life in my arms set in, fear & uncertainty quickly swept over me. I noticed that instead of 2 normal ears there was a pair of wadded flesh in their place. I raced through the last 9 months of my life looking for some reasoning behind this anomaly. Did I eat sushi before I knew I was pregnant? Did I overexhurt myself at work? Was I ever near a nuclear reactor leak? Weird stuff that now make no sense was courseing through my thoughts. While still in the hospital through the broken English of an inconsiderate pediatrition we heard words like "microtia", "atresia", "syndrome", "spinal bifida", and more. We were scared & fearful for our son's future. Would my child ever enjoy music, fall asleep to the rain, cringe at nails on chalkboard, smile at his grandfather's signiture laugh? Or would he not? Instead, would he be trapped in a confused world of deafening silence?