“My ears is better…”

You can probably tell by the title, but Maggie’s surgery went phenomenally well.

We celebrated Maggie’s fourth birthday two days before surgery. We granted her request for strawberry cupcakes with strawberry frosting, and her siblings put on quite the performance of roller skating skills with a finale of a birthday present drop off parade. It was a lovely birthday with lots of smiles and laughter, which made the surgery goodbye a little more difficult than usual.

God’s attention to details on Maggie’s surgery day helped us walk along in faith and hope. Her prep room before the surgery had a little crocodile magnet on the patient board, Maggie pointed at it and then at her ear. The tube surgery would finally get rid of that silly crocodile that she claimed was making noises in her ear. Also on the board was a note, “Strawberry Cake”. We came to find out, it was the flavor of the day for anesthesia. (Who knew?!) The surgery went very well, and they managed to do a scope of her nasal passages while she was under. The good news is that the ear tube placement was easy, and they managed to clean out a lot of fluid from her middle ear. The not so terrific news is that her nasal passages are extremely narrow, which is what causes her positional apnea. Our team will chat about what treatments can be beneficial for Maggie in the short term and long term.

When Maggie woke up from anesthesia, she was feeling pretty great, which isn’t her usual M.O. She did so well in fact she was discharged very quickly. Maggie and Carlos were home by dinner, which was a really wonderful surprise. Maggie was presented with her own little crocodile, and we got in some good snuggles before “bedtime”. I say “bedtime” because Maggie was pretty wired from anesthesia and her nap on the ride home. 9pm…10pm…11pm… I finally gave up tucking her back in and snuggled her next to me in our bed and gave her some books to read while I worked on a presentation. I glanced over and I saw her place her hand over her left ear and then remove it. She did this a few times and then looked at me with wide eyes. “I can hear. My ears is better!”

Since her surgery she has told us repeatedly that we are too loud. She has asked us what various noises were… church bells, the wind going past our car on the highway, the washer in the basement, the clicking of the stove turning on… all of it is new. Sure, she was “hearing” everything, but she wasn’t experiencing it in any clarity.

With this improved hearing, Maggie is a lot more comfortable with her surroundings, and a lot more confident in her communications. She is getting better at jumping with two feet, she is riding a tricycle, she spins in circles for fun, and, despite the spinning, she can balance so much better. Her speech is quite a bit clearer as well. Previously, Maggie wasn’t putting endings on her words, I realize now that she wasn’t hearing the ending to words. Since the surgery she enunciates more and, she speaks in longer sentences. Her clarity in hearing and ability to communicate is the best blessing of Maggie’s surgery, because we get to experience/understand more of Maggie’s sense of humor.

On Holy Thursday, we went to Church in the evening to remember Jesus washing the feet of His disciples. The deacon sung the Gospel account much to Maggie’s amusement. Maggie decided it was pretty hilarious that deacon was singing about washing people’s feet. So any time the phrase “washed their feet” was spoken, Maggie would turn around and sing, “WASH FEET!” with an arm held high. Just to give you an idea of the length to her amusing antics, the phrase is used 8 times in that short reading.

Later during the Mass, Maggie saw the seminarians walk to the front of the altar to take off a shoe and sock. She watched intently as the Bishop knelt down in front of them with a towel and bowl. Perplexed Maggie turned around and said, “Is he going to tickle their feet?!” In short, Holy Thursday was a blast.

Thank you again for your prayers. It brings my heart so much joy when people comment on Maggie’s magnet being a helpful reminder to pray for her. We will only know in heaven all of the beautiful things you all offered and prayed for Maggie. I pray those blessings on you and your loved ones 100 fold.

Christ is Risen! Alleluia!