A New Ear
Tison went to surgery yesterday. He was scheduled to have his right ear repaired. The outer ear was pulled over to a closed position. Due to the burn injury his ear was folded forward and was closed–you could not see his inside of his ear. It was a concern because it was very obvious when you looked at him. He was very self-conscious of it and wanted it to look better.
He has had several surgeries that addressed more functional problems–those are very important but to an 11 year old boy his appearance was also important. I think it turned out very well. His ear is now open–there was no damage to the inner ear. He definitely will be able to have improved hearing and looks. There is more work to be done but I am very happy to see this important step. I think Tison will be very happy once he recovers from the surgery.
He is a step-by-step project. He has so many injuries and even as he grows there will be more to be done just due to him growing in size. He wants to stay here in the U.S. but we have been reminding him of how much his family loves him. He really does love his family and we will be taking him home before his current visa expires. He will be much better than he was and will have a new look–a new ear.