Grady's Cholesteatoma Surgery: Update 1

This is the email Joe sent from the hospital....

From: "Gallagher, Joseph P" <Joseph.P.Gallagher@p66.com>

Date: December 19, 2013 3:35:33 PM CST

Subject: Grady Gallagher Update 1

All –

Thank you for all your thoughts, prayers, phone calls, emails, & texts!  Grady just went back for surgery.  He is such a brave little guy.  I was able to be with him while they put him under.  The procedure should take about 2 hours, so Mom and I will be pacing the hospital for a while.  As soon as I get news on his condition, I will send a follow up.  For right now, it sounds like we'll be re-growing an eardrum after surgery – and possibly having follow-up procedures to put in artificial bones (the little bones that vibrate and conduct/interpret sound).

Some pictures attached.

Thanks!

Joe G.

From: Gallagher, Joseph P 
Sent: Tuesday, December 17, 2013 6:39 PM
Subject: Grady Gallagher

Hi Family –

Grady is going in for surgery Thursday, so we would appreciate your prayers for our little man.

This all began with a regular check-up, at which point the pediatrician noticed an undefinable irregularity in his right ear, so Grady was referred to an ENT (Ear Nose & Throat) doctor for further examination.  The ENT concurred about there being an anomaly and ordered a CT scan of his head to get a three-dimensional view.  The scan revealed a mass (i.e., 'benign tumor') growing behind his ear drum.  Given that this was happening right before our Washington/Alaska vacation, we elected to schedule an appointment with an Otologist/Neurotologist while in Seattle. Thankfully, we were able to find one who could see Grady – there are only about 300 of them in the country.

We arrived in Seattle last night and took Grady to see the specialist today.  I was expecting to hear that he would require a "routine" procedure to clear the mass before it caused any damage; unfortunately, we learned that the mass behind his ear drum now fills every open space within his inner ear, abuts the ear drum, and surrounds some of the tiny bones inside the ear that enable hearing.  If the mass has permeated the ear drum and/or damaged the tiny bones, they may need to be removed, causing significant if not total hearing loss.  To date, his hearing has only been mildly affected, which is attributable to the fact that the mass is artificially conducting sound, but since this particular mass (aka, cholesteatoma) eats away at bone, it has to come out to prevent further damage. 

The area inside the ear is a tiny little place, but it is Grand Central Station in terms of physiological functions – the obvious being hearing, but there are also nerves controlling balance and facial muscles in there.  Not to mention the fact that the carotid artery borders the area – as does the dura matter (lining of the brain), which not only protects the brain, but is the area from which spinal fluid originates.  With all this going on in such a small space, there is very little margin for error.

We just found this out this afternoon, so we're still a bit uneasy (to put it mildly) – especially with surgery happening the day after tomorrow (note – they have to perform the surgery by entering through the external auditory canal and through an incision they'll make behind the ear.   Again, I would appreciate you lifting up our little guy in your prayers – and pray for the medical team performing the surgery.  …and maybe a quick one for Mom & Dad as well!  : - )

We'll keep you posted!

Love,

Joe G.