Brodie's Surgery

Brodie's Surgery went well! Dr Lee was amazed at how there was not as much damage as we had thought. The Surgery only took about an hour and a half instead of 2 to 3 hours.

The Cholesteatoma was not fully formed, therefore there was not near as much damage or clean up as anticipated. The Mastoid never fully formed so they did have to drill a hole through it so Brodie gets air in the ear passages. The eardrum was repairable and did not have to be reconstructed. They will not have to do the second surgery right away now! Brodie will still be deaf in the right ear for two months while the eardrum hears. Apparently they put gel around it to help it heal and stay intact. The only rough part was the affects of the anesthesia, he had a lot of nausea and had to throw up a few times.

Today we took the bandaging off and the incision looks great. It looks much better than I anticipated! We had Brodie's hair cut rather short, so Dr Lee did not have to shave any of his hair. The incision is in the fold of the back of his ear. So, I don't think the scarring will be very noticiable, Dr Lee did a fabulous job, and was wonderful with Brodie, and great at explaining things to us!

Thank for all of your prayers! We believe in the power of prayer!

Brodie's Surgery

is set for Thursday Jan 22nd. It will be a 2 to 3 hour surgery. He will be deaf in his right ear for two months. Then they will do surgery on the left ear. Please pray for Brodie. We pray that it will only be two surgeries, and that it is only cholesteatoma and nothing worse.

Brodie's ENT Visit

Well...it did not go well at all! I was praying that it was not going to be in his mastoid. Brodie has cholesteatoma in both ears. It is a tumor/cyst that can develop from repeated ear infections and or the ear drum rupturing. The doctor has assured us that it is not cancer tumors/cysts. We had the CT scan today and all of his nasal, sinus, eye, ear passages are blocked with junk! Brodie has never complained about any of this... Also, the cholesteatoma has destroyed his mastoid or the mastoid never developed and it is still bone marrow. We will not know until he has his first surgery. Brodie will need at least two surgeries. Both surgeries will cause complete deafness in the one ear for at least two months. The other ear will be tubed while the other ear heals. Then when his that hearing is restored in the one ear, he will have surgery on the other ear. For now, we are looking at least two surgeries. We pray that will be all. We pray that the cholesteatoma is not what is clogging all of his passages. There is a lot to pray about right now. Please keep us in your prayers. Love Beckie

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone had a safe and happy New Years Eve Celebration! 2008 was challenging for my family this year, but we got through it!

Our first challenge of 2009 is Brodie's CT scan on the 5th to see how big or how much the Cholesteatoma has spread in Brodie's ears. I feel at peace that it is small and we will be able to take care of it in one surgery. I have been doing a lot of praying for him. I feel at peace that this will be our biggest challenge of the year and we will get it over with quickly! Thank you for all of your prayers! I do believe that the power of prayer can create miracles!

The best part of 2008 was finding a church family. The kids and I have been regularly attending Bluegrass Baptist Church in Hendersonville. It is truly a come as you are place of worship willing to take on any problem you may be facing. I am so thankful that my children have had a comfortable introduction to Jesus. Brodie especially really embraces it and loves learning more about Jesus! I am proud of myself for not caring what people think if my husband doesn't come with me! That had always been my reasoning for not taking the children in the past. My best friend, Nicole and her girls have been attending with us, and it is a site to see! The two mama ducks and the five ducklings that line up behind us to go learn about Jesus! I want to thank my friend Natalie for inviting us to BBC!

I hope everyone has a happy and healthy new year!

Please Pray for Brodie

Brodie has been having some behavior issues at school. We finally narrowed it down to a hearing issue and saw Dr Lee today. Well, Brodie has no eardrums, he has had so much damage that his eardrums are completely deflated and may not be repairable. He has at least a 50% hearing loss as of today. He has a CT scan scheduled for early January to learn more about the problem. We need to pray that there is no damage to his mastoid and that there are no bone fragments floating around in there. Please keep Brodie in your prayers!

Julia's Art Award

Julia won an Art Award in the Keep Nashville Beautiful Contest! She was one of the two students chosen from her school to have her recycling picture feature on a red river recycling truck! These masterpieces will be featured on recycling trucks around Nashville for the next six months! She met Mayor Karl Dean and got her photo taken with him! She also won Children's Theater Tickets and Frist Center Tickets! We are son Proud of Julia!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Obsession

I am hooked on The Twilight series! Is it possible to be in love with a fictional character?? I have read book one and two since Saturday! I plan to start the 3rd book on Wednesday! I can't wait to see the movie! I was going to go see it by myself on Sunday but Jason freaked and said I was crazy! Well yes honey, I am crazy! LOL!

Update...

I am feeling better...I was really down and headed into a depression rather quickly. Thanks to those who reached out...it really does help! I hope that anyone else that feels the blues will reach out to me or someone! Sometimes that is all it takes is a pep talk from a friend to help pull you out.

I don't get depressed too often, but I do on occasion. I think it surprises people sometimes that I get that way. I do, and I am not ashamed of it. I have had some very dark times in my life. Dark times that I hope I will never revisit.

Luckily, I can recognize when I am headed in that direction and I not afraid to reach out.

Thank you for being my friend! love, beckie