We took the girls in for a routine well child exam. It turned out Kara had a bad ear infection. But the Dr. kept saying it didn't look right. But not to worry about it because the ear infection is just really bad and that is why the eardrum does not look right. So sweet Kara was put on a heavy dose of antibiotics and we were to go back in two weeks.
Two weeks pass and Kara has an appt with her Dr. The infection is cleared but the strange mass is still in her ear. He thinks it is a cholesteatoma but he is not certain so we are given a referral to the ENT. He said maybe we would be lucky and it is a bead in her ear, but he does not think so.
Since it can takes weeks to get into Children's as a new patient I went to the local ENT to get an official diagnosis. We were seen two days later. They confirmed it was a Cholesteatoma. Kara had a hearing test in which she failed on the ear with the mass in it. I never even knew she had some hearing loss! They told us Kara would have to have surgery and they would send all the info into Children's so we could bypass having the tests done again.
I was able to get a pre op appointment about two weeks later. Kara and I headed to Children's Hospital. She was sporting her fancy white flower girl dress, a tie dyed Dora hat and her black Halloween cat :) The surgeon met with us and he hooked Kara up to "ear" tv. It was pretty cool that the tool they used to look in her ear had a camera on it so we could all see it up close on the tv. We had a couple dates available to us. One right after Thanksgiving and one a couple weeks before Christmas. I chose the latter of the two so Kara would only have to miss one day of school instead of a couple weeks.
Kara and I then went and had lunch in the cafeteria. I explained to her that she would be having surgery and she was pretty excited! She was going to "get" a surgery just like her brother and have a line! I let her pick whatever she wanted for lunch that day. It consisted fries and Doritos! Hey! It is not everyday your child will be having surgery and I want the kids to think of Children's as a happy place :)
After lunch we went to the play room where Kara played a little and painted. Her white dress ended up a little purple and red but nothing that wouldn't come out in the wash. We met with a child life specialist and she gave Kara a play Dr. kit and a gown for her kitty so she could practice on it. Kara LOVED it!! The kids have been playing Dr on their animals and each other for weeks now!
The thing Kara is looking for the most is unlimited movies, shows, and ice cream!!
