Hudson’s Microtia Ear Reconstruction Surgery
https://lewinear.com/surgery
My name is Amber, my husband Wes and I are the lucky parents of two amazing boys, Hudson and Cason. Cason will be 11 in March and Hudson will be 5 in July. Hudson, the youngest of our two sports loving boys is a very spirited kid who adores his friends and family... with his biggest hero of all, being his big brother.
Hudson has been a trooper from day one...arriving 6 weeks early, and as any baby boy - ready to take on the world! However, unlike any baby boys, Hudson was born with a few extra hurdles to overcome. Born with some bilateral facial abnormalities, Hudson has "hemifacial microsomes" (misalignment of his cranial bones and jaw), and had a lateral cleft lip on his right side, accompanied by a large skin tag on his cheek. On his left side, Hudson has "Microtia Atresia" of his left ear (malformed outer and inner ear causing severe hearing loss from his left ear). Due to feeding complications, we were fortunate to have Hudson's mouth repaired at 18 months old, at which time they also removed the skin tag. As well, Hudson, from a young age has been fitted with a bone conducting hearing device to correct his loss of hearing.
As any loving parent would, we immediately began researching options for his outer ear reconstruction which, in Canada is limited to only a couple of surgeons who perform a well established repair using the patients own rib cartilage. This procedure is a two part surgery which is quite painful, can be prone to fractures, and usually not offered until 10 years of age when the patient has sufficient cartilage material to harvest.
Fortunately friends of ours familiar with Microtia Atresia directed us to a Microtia Surgery Specialist from California USA, Dr. Sheryl Lewin. Dr. Lewin specializes in Microtia, using a far more advanced PIER (Porous Implant Ear Reconstruction) technique which utilizes a polyethylene material commonly used in many other facial reconstruction procedures. This material has the benefit of allowing the patients tissue to infuse and bond with the porous material ensuring sufficient blood flow, and improving the overall health and durability of the implant. Thanks to our friends, we have been communicating with Dr. Lewin and her staff for about 6 months now, and considering everything we know about the two surgical options, we are confident that Dr. Lewin's PIER is the most suited and timeliest option for Hudson - so in January 2021 we contacted her office to placed him on the 1 year wait list for January 2022.
Covid has carried a dark cloud for everyone over the past year, but sometimes that dark cloud presents a silver lining. Because of many of the travel restrictions and fear surrounding the Covid virus, we were shocked to receive an opening for surgery as early as April of this year. After a short discussion, and considering the many unknowns that may present roadblocks for Hudson's surgery in the future, we made a calculated choice to make sure Hudson would not miss out on his opportunity to get a big ear.
The news of fast tracking Hudson's surgery comes with excitement... but with it a lot of stress. Not only is this surgery only offered out of country at a significant personal financial cost ($53,500 USD) - which none is covered by OHIP, but with it comes the continuous shifting goal posts of Covid travel restrictions, including testing before and after boarding in both the US and Canada, and the impacts to the time we are required to be off of work for quarantine. I will be travelling to California with Wes and Hudson for the surgery and will return to Canada after the 1st post op. to begin my 14 days of quarantine before returning to work. Wes will be staying with Hudson for the remaining 4 weeks for 3 final post ops before returning to Canada to begin his 14 days of quarantine. At this point we don't know if we will each be required to stay at a quarantine facility on our respective returns to Canada, at an additional personal cost of up to $2800 each - but are hoping for some leniency from the Canadian Government based on the conditions.
Many have told us we are crazy to attempt this trip and procedure given the surmountable hurdles and cost - and losing an entire year to save for this is certainly problematic. However, lately Hudson has been increasingly aware of his "special ear" and has been very emotional, asking to have his "broken ear" fixed. We all know how mean kids can be, and to fathom the emotional heartache he will feel when teased (which we have witnessed), we didn’t want to wait, especially with the thought of 2022 not being any better with mandates or travel restrictions.
Having accepted this earlier surgery date we are humbled in asking for a generous $13,000 CDN ($10,000 USD) to help with travel and accommodations.
Sincerely,
Hudson and family ❤️
(ps. On a special note, Dr. Lewin has noticed some left over scaring which protrudes on Hudson's cleft repair, and has offered to repair it for Hudson at no additional costs - this doctor is a true blessing).
