We got home last night at 10 p.m. Nicholas was quite disappointed we were home, he wanted to stay in NYC and said that when he gets big, that's where he's living. Good luck, dude!
Saturday afternoon we toured the city a little bit. We took the subway (yikes!) to The Empire State Building, where there was a 2-hour wait to get to the top. Zachary said "no way" so the lady was kind enough to tell us about The Rockefeller Center. You can go up to the 72nd floor and there is never any wait. That worked perfect for us! Then we watched people ice skate and Nicholas wanted to try it out. He told us that he knew how to ice skate. This little guy is always up for an adventure! Then we took a cab to F.A.O. Schwartz and killed a couple of hours there (and surprisingly got out of there very cheap). Someone told us that the subway was only a couple of blocks away to get back to our hotel so we began the walk. And we walked. And walked. At one point Nicholas got tired of walking, went to the edge of the sidewalk, and threw up his arm and yelled "taxi!" (This was, by far, my favorite story of the trip!) His speech teachers, Miss Deb, Miss Betsy, and Mrs. D., would be so proud! We finally found the subway and made it back to the hotel. And the boy's refused to go anywhere else. Thankfully, there was a good pizza place recommended to us just a block away, so Scott went and grabbed a pizza and brought it back. Nicholas and I were asleep before 9:00!
Sunday morning we headed over to the conference and to meet the doctors. Dr. Brent, the doctor from California that does the rib-graft reconstruction, is such a kind and caring person. His presentation was very informative and gave us a lot to think about (rib-graft vs. Medpor). We saw a lot of fantastic-looking ears that he had done (and one that didn't look so great, but we don't know the specifics of that person's case) and I think Nicholas was surprised at the amount of children he saw with hearing aids just like his. He came up to me at one point and told me he saw a baby (he loves babies!) with a hearing aid just like his.
We met Dr. Kesser (and also Dr. Jarhsdorfer, the pioneer of this surgery) that will be doing Nicholas' canalplasty in 3 weeks, also a very kind and caring person, and he advised us to repeat a CT Scan next year for Nicholas' left side, as things may change in a year. He said that as Nicholas grows, the fluid may decrease and the nerve may stretch and thin, allowing them to do the surgery. Scott and I didn't realize that, so that is good news! His presentation was also very good, and included video clips of an actual surgery. While I had to watch it through my fingers, it was good to get a better idea of what they will actually be doing. It is such a very detailed and delicate surgery. I'm so thankful we have the resources to go to one of the very best surgeons for this. The surgery will last 4 to 5 hours. The skin graft they use will be taken from Nicholas' upper arm, and Dr. Kesser said that it is such a small, and thin, piece of skin, that after it heals it will be hard to see a scar.
So, all in all, it was a good trip. It was nice to meet the doctors and learn more about the surgeries. Zachary fell asleep on the way home last night, and Nicholas managed to stay up and talk to us the entire way home (2 hours). Before we had even got off the airplane last night he was telling us he wanted to go do something fun tomorrow. Our little adventure-seeker!
What's next? Getting ready for Nicholas' surgery on April 12th, and deciding what's best for Nicholas, Rib-graft reconstruction or Medpor reconstruction. Thank you for keeping us in your prayers.