I learn something new every day...

As I've been weighing out the whole ear reconstruction thing, it occurred to me that I should check to make sure that having soft-tissue reconstruction of the OUTER ear won't cause any issues if Shae needs surgery for her INNER ear later. So, I sent an e-mail Friday afternoon to Dr. Brad Kesser in VA, who is widely regarded as one of the top surgeons in the country for atresia repair. He obviously has a very busy practice, but when I got into work this morning, I had a response from him! I am very impressed, to say the least. He said that soft-tissue reconstruction won't pose an issue if Shae needs her ear canal opened up later. But the most important piece of information that he gave me was regarding ear canal cholesteatoma. Apparently, children with ear canal stenosis can develop a cholesteatoma, which is basically a tumor formed by the accumulation of the skin cells that a normal ear canal sheds on its own. This can become a dangerous condition that requires surgical intervention. I've heard of this, but I didn't realize that Shae's stenotic canal put her at risk for it. Dr. Kesser recommended that we have her checked for this by the local ENT and said that we might want to get a CT scan sooner than age 4-6, which is when it's normally recommended. So although I felt kind of silly sending this very busy doctor an e-mail out of the blue with a bunch of questions, I am glad I did. And super impressed with Dr. Kesser for his speedy reply. He's moved to the top of my list for any inner ear surgeries that Shae may need.