Can You Hear Me Now? YES!

Monday Daryl went back to the ear surgeon, Dr. O'Malley at Shands. First the doctor did a physical examination. The inside of Daryl's ear looks great. The hole is completely closed up with the patch. All of the swelling is gone. His incision behind the ear is healing well. All of the things that he has been experiencing lately are completely normal: parts of the outside of his ear are still numb - that could take a few more months to come back fully; sometimes he experiences really loud noises and sometimes everything seems really soft - that is because the artificial hearing bone is still settling in as the scar tissue forms to hold it in place; sometimes it seems like there is wax paper rattling in his ear - that was because he had some wax forming and Dr. O'Malley removed it.

So then Daryl was sent off to have a full hearing test and the audiologist told him that there was significant improvement in the hearing in his left ear. Then we went back to see Dr O'Malley for the full interpretation of the report. He said that of the 8 hearing frequencies tested, Daryl now has 7 in the normal range in his left ear, and the 8th one is borderline. The surgeon told Daryl this was a better outcome than he had been hoping for! He told Daryl he didn't need to see him for four months and that he can now consider his ear and his hearing to be normal - no more drops, no more ear plugs for bathing or swimming.

We are so appreciative for all of the prayers on Daryl's behalf with his surgery. This is such an incredible outcome and we are so very pleased and thankful.