If she’s not looking at you, there’s a pretty good chance that she can’t hear you. But she’ll get the gist of what you’re saying if she can see your mouth. I don’t know if she can read lips or if she’s actually getting some sounds…
She wasn’t a bit nervous about the surgery. She was only concerned about her rear end! Last time she came out of surgery with a sore bottom, I guess because she laid prone for about 7 hours. I asked if they could hook up some magic fingers to give her a booty massage during the surgery, but they opted for a gel-pad. It seems to have done the trick!
The doc said described the surgery as “beautiful” and was very pleased with how things are going. She worked on both ears this time, and told us that there’s a good chance that Josie will be practically deaf for a while, at least until the swelling goes down and things begin to heal. There was no re-growth of the bad cells that were attacking her right ear. The doc placed a tube in that ear to help things drain in hopes that the next surgery (Dec 23!) will be the one that allows her to place the prosthetic ear bones.
The surgery is officially called a lateral graft tympanoplasty (warning; bloody ear pictures)–they are creating a new ear drum for both of Josie’s ears and replacing the bones in her right ear with a prostheses. The bones in her left ear appear to be fine, so once the swelling leaves Josie might be able to hear pretty well. We’ll see what happens in the next 6-8 weeks. It really is amazing to see what the capable doctors are able to do with what God has created! Her first surgery was more complicated, and lasted about 7 hours. This one only took 4 hours or table time.
Josie’s doing quite well. She was up and moving today, and even ventured out for a tutoring session this afternoon. She wanted to go to school Friday, but we’re going to hold her out until Monday. She is so upbeat and optimistic, even though she can’t hear! I love that girl! She was back in the saddle less than 24 hours after a pretty major surgery, acting as though it were no big deal.
I can hardly believe the ways that God has blessed us through our children. Our family is far from perfect, but I’m blown away by the grace and adaptability of our kids, and even though it’s been less than 2 years since we started adopting (and about a month since Isaac joined Team Sublett) it feels like the most natural thing ever, like this family has been together forever. We’re still learning each other, and there may be some huge unforeseen twists and turns, but this family, this Team Sublett, is thrilling me!
Thanks for praying for us, especially for Josie’s healing!
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