Daryls Surgery

This morning Grandmommy came to stay with the two littlest boys at our house (and all 3 boys after Parker got out of school) while Daryl and I headed to Shands Medical Center in Gainesville for Daryl's much-anticipated ear surgery. He was to checkin at 1pm for a 2pm surgery and they still would not let him after midnight last night. Talk about hungry! We tried to eat breakfast and lunch while hiding as much as we could.

This was Daryl in the prep room right before they took him back. And it looks like Dr O'Malley signed his initials behind Daryl's left ear to mark the site. 

Surgery lasted for 3 hours and 15 minutes, exactly what we were told to expect. When Dr O'Malley came out to talk to me I wasn't hard to find - I was the only family member left and even the front desk staff had gone home. 

The doctor said Daryl's surgery went perfectly from his perspective. He had a huge skin cyst behind his left perforated eardrum, most likely scar tissue that has built up in the last 27 years since his previous ear surgery. They cleaned all of that out and put in a new eardrum graft, taken from tissue behind his ear. They were successful in removing the damaged middle hearing bone and putting in a titanium replacement. So now we wait. His ear has to heal and the inflamed nerves settle down. It could take between 6-12 weeks for Daryl to notice improvement in his hearing. 

I was finally able to go back and see him around 6pm and we left Shands at 6:50pm for home. By 8:15pm we had prescriptions for ear drops and pain meds filled and Daryl was settled in at home in his recliner. The boys weren't sure what to make of the big bandage on Daryl's ear; Davis was super curious about Baba's boo-boo and wanted to get closer to investigate, while Wesley wanted to know if they had cut off Daryl's whole ear! And then there was Parker, crying because Daddy was also pale and moving slow and he was just sure that Daryl was sicker than we were letting on. Bless his heart! 

That protective bandage comes off tomorrow after 24 hours. 

We are so thankful for all of the prayers and concern and for a good result so far. We are also thankful for Grandmommy - we came home to completed homework, kids who had been fed dinner, warm soup waiting for the grown ups on the stove and boys who were just starting bath time. It sounds like the boys and Grandmommy had a great time hanging out today and it was a huge relief not to have to worry about them at home; they were in good hands! We'll keep you posted on how things are going with Daryl in the coming days and weeks. 

*And yes, I asked before Daryl got the happy juice if I could take and post pictures and he agreed. So next time I have surgery I guess I am fair game!