Whales. Giants. Road Trip. Planes.

Brody is feeling very well, you would have never guessed he just had surgery!!  We ventured off to Half Moon Bay on search for sea shells and whales, and man were we lucky! We were amazed at all the humpback whales we saw just off shore. There were too many to count. We couldn't keep our eyes off of them. They were coming so close to shore to eat. It was a really neat thing to see! We also scavenged the beach for many shells, one of brod's favorite things to do. In the afternoon we participated in the California State Parks Junior Ranger program. It was a one hour fun, educational session with the park ranger and other kids. At the end, Brody was named an official junior ranger! Way to go Brod!!! 

Saturday we went to see the Redwoods. We drove to Big Basin State Park and hiked a little bit and sat and took in the sites! The trees were beautiful! After we got back to the hotel for the night I asked Brod about his hearing. I was curious if he could tell a difference between now and before surgery. He told us that his hearing was never like before. He could already tell a difference with packing still in his ear. This was very exciting to hear! 

Sunday we picked up Paul and Haiden at the airport and headed to Fishermans wharf. We ate  lunch and then went on boat cruise of the bay, under the Golden Gate Bridge and around Alcatraz Island. It was nice for all of us to see some familiar faces! Even though we face time almost every day with either grandma or Rilyn, somehow Brody still is home sick! 

Monday we headed to see some more whales and get out of the hustle and bustle of downtown San Fran. We also were able to hang out with Paul and Haiden again for the whole day! 

After the beach we headed off to the Giants game. We had some nice seats along the 3rd baseline thanks to Paul. 

Tuesday we had our first post op appointment with the Dr. He took out some of the packing and said things looked good. So we started on our road trip to Beverly Hills to see Dr Renisch ( the outer ear, medpor, doctor). Our 7 hour road trip  filled with, cows, pistachio feilds, grape vines, and huge hills! 

It was nice to see Dr Renisch and have him check out Brody's ears. He said they looked good! We spent a few nights in West Hollywood and then road tripped it back to Palo Alto for our final appointment with Dr Roberson. He took all the packing out of the canal. After we discussed all the final instructions with Brody's post care we were off to our final hotel. 

We fly out at 6am Friday. Thanks all for all your thoughts and prayers. We are all very happy to be heading home in the morning!  I hear I have some zucchini calling my name! 

Pre op. Surgery Day. Beach.

Wednesday: Our Travel day.

 Traveling this time around went very smoothly. We arrived at the airport in time, check-in and security went quickly, flight  was shorted than anticipated, and rental car line was short( normally VERY long). Right after arriving in San Fran we had to hightail it to Palo Alto for our pre-op appointment with Dr Roberson. We made it there even with a few minutes to spare. 

Dr Roberson looked over Brod's ears and his right side was just what we thought. The prosthesis had shifted and was though the ear drum. So to repair it, he is going to go in and clean it up and take cartridge from his septum in the middle of his nose and place it in between the ear drum and the prosthesis. This will make it stronger. His left side looked pretty good and he did a minor cleaning of his ear drum. Dr Roberson gave us a few pointers to give to our ENT back home to help with the cleanings. Brody was not looking forward to any part of this trip (except his cousin Haiden coming to visit), but love how we are treated at the California Ear Institute. Upon arriving the receptionist gave Brody a gift card for ice cream at one of the best ice places in Palo Alto. Dr Roberson and Kinsey are great with Brody, they just have a way with him. Thank you for your patience and understanding! While hashing over the details for the next day's surgery. Brody was able to pick something out of the toy treasure box. 😊

Following our appointment Brody met with an audiologist for a hearing test. It was a very extensive test and was kind of hard for Brody to stay focused after his long day of traveling and with his nerves running very high with his upcoming surgery. But after a few different techniques and games he was able to finish it. The results weren't exactly what we were hoping for. His left side, (the good side), had a decline of 5-20 decibels in some the pitches. And the right side was the same as it was back in March. We were surprised that they were declining. After thinking about the various ways of why and how it was declining. We were thinking maybe the airplane affected it or he just wasn't paying attention and listening to all the props. We would know more once we talked to Dr Roberson.

Thursday:  SURGERY DAY! We were to arrive at Waverly Surgery Center at 6:30 am. We went back in pre-op room to get ready. Being Brody's 7th surgery you would think that he would have it down. Well if anyone remembers from all his previous surgeries, he doesn't take well to anyone giving him anything! He was given his sleepy medicine and after only a few minutes of convincing he drank it! He actually drank it! Mom and Dad were besides themselves and were sooo happy! Mind you that in all his previous 6 surgeries he has never drank the juice! Once he had his sleepy medicine he was comfy in his puppy gown and watching Netflix with his teddy bear. Once they came to get him he was as content as could be! We gave him our love and off he went. We were so proud of him!!!!

When we talked with Dr Roberson about his hearing decline in his left side he would check it out during surgery.

Surgery only took 1.5 hours. He found exactly what he thought on the right side, and fixed it up. He looked at the left side and found some fluid on his middle ear. Not sure exactly where it came from. Maybe a left over cold, combined with the airplane. He said that is why his hearing has decreased some. So with some over the counter decongestants it should clear up and hopefully improve his hearing in that side. Which was wonderful to hear!

Once Brody was in recovery, he woke up and was ready to go home. He doesn't like to stick around. So off we went to Carl's Jr. for a vanilla shake and French fries! He rested for a little bit and then was ready to rock n roll! Wanted to go and do lots of things! Recovery on your 7th surgery must be way faster because we have never seen him up and at it this quickly!! Now to restrict him from running, jumping, falling, anything high impact! So we went to Whole Foods for some dinner.

Friday. Today Brody wanted to head to the beach to find some shells and look for whales. So we are off to Half Moon Bay.

Thank you to everyone who has thought and prayed for Brody! It truly has helped! God has a funny way of doing the best things for us. But with everyone's support we are on they road to recovery again! Thanks soo much!

The Past year.... LUCKY #7

Well it appears that it has been almost a year since i have updated everyone on Brody. Sorry about that i guess sometimes life gets in the way of taking the time to write things down!

Following our last trip-surgery to California, which was July 2015, we had high hopes that everything would have healed properly and we would have been good to go. Well we were headed down a different road. Through out the next few appointments and cleanings, we realized that the Prosthesis was starting to show on the ear drum. Somehow during the last year, the prosthesis slowly  shifted and punctured through the ear drum. While this all was happening, Brody's hearing was also decreasing. We started noticing his hearing wasn't as good as it should be, we were hearing a lot more of the 'what' and the 'huh' response to almost everything.  As a result to his 20 decibel hearing loss, on top of his already not normal hearing, he needed to wear his hearing aide to school as well as at home. Sometimes at home was more of a struggle.

We stayed in contact with his surgeon as to what was happening. Finally they decided that Brody will need a surgery to repair his ear drum and figure out what happened so that it can be fixed. Which leads us to today, we are preparing for Brody's seventh surgery! Or as I like to call it LUCKY #7!!! We are hoping and praying for  Brody's sake that this will be his final surgery. We will be heading out to California next week,  from July 20-29. This time around we will be visiting both of Brody's surgeons. Dr Roberson is in Palo Alto which is where we will be staying for a few days for the initial surgery. There they will fix his canal, ear drum, and prosthesis. they will be taking some cartilage from his nose to help make the ear drum stronger, this is something that they have never done before. Then we will be heading to Beverly Hills to see Dr Renisch, who did Brody's outer ears (medpor),  to look at and do a minor procedure to fix a spot on his right outer ear. Then we will be heading back to Palo Alto for our final post op appointment and back home again.


So if you are reading this please pray for Brody and that all goes well with our travels, surgery, healing, post-surgery care. Brody isn't looking forward to this surgery, let alone a surgery and a minor procedure all in the same trip. We could use all the prayers we can get. Thanks!