Ella’s progress continues. The trick seems to be just having her stand as much as possible. It is not easy because she needs constant support. I can put her into the gait trainer (or the laundry basket contraption) but she can sit down in that. The gait trainer is so bulky she can’t go far without running into things and then you have to straighten her out. She hasn’t got the directional piece yet. But she is getting stronger and stronger. Balance will take more time, but just being able to stand her up while you put her coat on makes things much easier. We now have a date for Ella’s surgery in Chicago. It will be on February 10th and we’ll get there a few days before. This is a big deal with three of Children’s Memorial Hospital’s top surgeons: Dr. Bauer for the soft tissue, Dr. Patel for the bone and possibly Dr. Tomita who is head of neurosurgery. I spoke with Dr. Patel at length on Friday. He explained the risks to me and more or less what needs to be done. He will see Ella over the weekend before the surgery and at that time he will show us the skull model and explain things more thoroughly. The main dangers are the loss of teeth, possible damage to one branch of the facial nerve and loss of sensation on inside of the mouth on the enlarged side.
The other important thing that he said was that from previous experience with hemi-hypertrophy patients they always found that they had to be agressive early on with the surgery to make a difference. This is exactly what Dr. McCarthy said in NY. So, its clear. I’m always wondering whether this surgery will work and if it is worth the risks. I have become used to Ella’s assymetry. However, I also know that at puberty things will get much worse if left alone. As it is, we wonder sometimes how Ella can even chew. Even her teeth and tongue on that one side are huge. I can’t say how happy I am that we are working with the team in Chicago. Of all the plastic surgeon teams we’ve met so far, they have been the most personable, available and caring. Makes us feel much better about making the effort to go there and also lucky to have found them.