Whew...we're back!

We've been back from California for 2 days now, and I have to say I'm still dizzy from the trip. So much information to process, and still so much more information to gather. I thought it would all slow down once the conference was over, but NO!

Our trip started on Thursday (Aug. 19). We drove down to my sister's place, who not only offered to take care of our 1 year old daughter, Ella, but offered to drop us off and pick us up from the airport. (I do, indeed, have the best sister EVER!) B was fascinated with the airport. The security check-point, the restaurants and cafes, the moving sidewalks, the planes flying in and out...I don't think he even blinked the whole time we were there. He was great on the plane, which I was grateful for (I didn't want to be the one with "THAT" kid who gave everyone a headache!). Friday was the conference, which lasted all day. B was in daycare all day, which he enjoyed. The presentations were great, the information was useful, and the doctors were all very helpful and eager. Both Nathan and I took many notes and asked a lot of questions.

Saturday, we had our individual appointments scheduled for the afternoon, so we took the opportunity to take B to Disneyland in the morning. Unfortunately, we traumatized him right off the bat by going on the "It's a small world" ride. He screamed and cried the whole entire ride. He didn't want to leave the comfort of the stroller for a long time after that. We did coax him onto some more rides that were "Bennett-friendly", meaning no singing puppets or tunnels. And I got my picture taken with Mickey...I think you can see a tear in my eye in the picture.

Our appointments started at 1pm and went all afternoon. We talked with doctors who do the rib graft surgeries (using a piece of rib to shape an outer ear) and the Medpor surgery (using an artificial material for the outer ear). We also talked with a surgeon who does jaw distraction. All of these gave us oodles of information. But the appointment that sticks out in my mind the most was the appointment with the doctor who does atresia repair (building an ear canal). He looked at B's CT scans and said he is NOT a candidate for atresia repair. To make a long story short, he doesn't have the air pocket that is needed for an ear canal, and his facial nerve falls right where they would put the canal, making it too risky to attempt. This was heartbreaking news, since we had our hopes up so high after the CT scan results. He does have the inner ear, so he is a candidate for the Baha hearing aid (or something similar), so that is a road we need to explore further.

After all of the appointments, we went back to Disneyland and that put a smile back on our faces. We saw the parade, met up with some dear friends for dinner, then fell exhausted into our beds.

Sunday brought another day of Disneyland, but we were all so beat we didn't stay long. We met up with some more dear friends, and then relaxed in our room and pool the rest of the day. Poor B fell asleep in the restaurant, a first in his book!

Monday was an early day, catching the shuttle bus at 5am to go to the airport. We made it safely home without incident (we even received compliments on how well behaved B was) and were greeted by my sister and Ella in hot, steamy Minnesota. The drive back to Duluth was a bit long but we made it safe and sound.

Like I noted before, there are still a lot of roads we need to explore. This conference did indeed give us answers, but it also gave us a whole new set of questions. We are now leaning more towards the Medpor implant (you can google it for more information), which would mean another trip to CA, plus a ~3 week stay in CA...eek!!

On a side note, Ella started walking while we were away. Actually, it was about 3 hours after they dropped us off at the airport. Luckily, they got it on tape so we can see it. I'm glad my sister and brother-in-law got to be the first ones to see the event!