Big Decision

This is a long story, but bear with me...

About a month ago, Madison's school nurse stopped me in the hallway of her school. She explained that during their annual vision/hearing screening, the attending physician noticed a "foreign object" in each of her ears. We were concerned, naturally, and asked her about it. She said that she remembered putting a small stone from the school playground into the opening of her ear, and that it "fell" the rest of the way in.

Anyway, I took her to her family doctor, who tried very hard to remove the objects herself, but ended up referring us to an Otorhinolaryngologist (ENT) in the area. On our way there, I called Seth to meet us at the other clinic, as Madison's Dr. and Nurse had a tough time keeping Madison still for the attempt at the objects.

To make this long story a little shorter, Dr. M. (The ENT) retrieved the objects, a small stone in the right ear and an even smaller yellow bead in the left, (What?!) not without a little pain, screaming and blood from Madison.

But she's okay now. Her ears have healed nicely, and she's presumably learned her lesson.

But, the point of this post is this:

While in the Procedure Room with Dr. M., he mentioned noticing that Madison's ears protruded a little. We, of course, said that it didn't bother us ;D and that Madison had never complained about them, but that we'd talked briefly here and there about having them "fixed", not realizing exactly what that entailed. He explained that Madison's ears were a little underdeveloped, the fold hadn't fully formed, which is what causes them to stick out. He said that he could do an Otoplasty, a procedure where he would cut a football shaped piece out of the cartilage of her ear and stitch it back, closer to her head, creating that fold. Dr. M. said that they generally like to do these surgeries before the patient turns 5, so that the cartilage is softer and more pliable. After the surgery, which the patient is asleep for, the patient would wear ear-muff type things for a week, and head bands to hold the ears back for another six weeks after that.

Our dilema is this: Madison is turning 6 in a couple of weeks, so we've passed our "deadline". We feel the crunch to make a decision soon. My concern on the one hand, is that even though Madison has never complained about her ears, or anyone teasing her as a result of their protrusion, she one day may develop a complex. But on the other hand, one adult I've spoken with, who had the procedure as a child, complains that her ears are still sensitive to any touch.

Seth and I have been in prayer about this many times in the past few weeks. We would appreciate any input on this situation. If anyone knows of anyone who has had an Otoplasty done, or anyone who maybe wishes they would have ;D, we'd be curious to hear their story. And of course, we'd appreciate everyone's prayers on this matter. Thanks!