The parent doesn't decide, the CHILD does!

MOST of the time, parents know what is best, and what is right for you. However I don't think this applies when it comes to deciding whether to go forward with ear reconstruction. The reason is that the ear is a big part of who you are, and what you look like.

If a parent choses a method of creating an ear (medpor, prosthetic or rib cartilage) the child may be very unhappy with the result and resent the parent. Also, both the medpor and rib cartilage involves a large amount of theatre time as well as a fairly lengthy recovery.

I think parents can help to guide a child in their decision, and can help by doing research on the various methods, as well as giv their opinion as to what will suit their child best, but the child should be allowed to choose. I also think that families should only start thinking about reconstruction after the child turns 9, as the rib cartilage procedure can only be done after age 9.

I first heard about reconstruction at age 5 while watching carte blanche. I think it was the first ear reconstruction done in South Africa. At the time, I didn't want to have the op because the girl shown had to have her entire face and head covered in bandages for 3 weeks. About 10 years later, I decided that I did want an ear, and we went to see the Doc featured on the program, Prof Anil Madaree. He explained that the ear featured on the program was a medpor ear, and he stopped doing them because he was unhappy with the results, and the risk of infection is quite high. He said that he did not do the rib cartilage procedure, but he felt that that was the way to go, and he recommended four doctors and said Dr Firmin was the best, so off we went to see her in April 2009.

I was very happy with her work and felt confident that she would do a great job............. until a plastic surgeon mentioned prosthetic ears. Which just involved a little operation to insert magnets under the skin to secure the ear. I then decided that this might be a better option as I had already had 21 ops and the big ear op scared me. I was stuck on wanting a prosthesis for a few months, but after a lot of soul searching, deciding I had enough foreign objects attached to my skull (baha implant and V.P. shunt) and also a lot of research, I decided I wanted an ear that was part of my body. So back to Dr Firmin in April 2011 where I asked a lot more questions and also got her to explain the procedures............ rib cartilage it will be!! I am happy with the decision I made and am positive I will be very happy with the results. My parents did give me some input, but the decision was ultimately mine.