My oldest son (5) was born with grade 3 microtia / aural artesia which is basically a small ear in plain English. He does not have an ear canal in that ear and can only hear out of one ear. It is a condition that affects 1 in 10,000 children without any known cause.

Today he’s getting a prosthetic ear and flew to Tokyo with his mom and I’m staying with our youngest for the week. I’m bummed out I cannot be there with him but it was easier this way for all of us.

I just got a photo of him and emotions got the best of me. The prosthetics lab is matching the color of the new “ear” to his skin tone. He hasn’t said much and it’s probably a lot to process. I can’t even imagine what he’s thinking. At least they will stay for a week and do something fun. His first visit anywhere was earlier this year (to Tokyo, for the initial appointment where he had to take an imprint of his other ear). He was super excited to fly for the first time and to visit a larger city (we live in a rural area).

I thought I’d share since not many people are aware of microtia and what it is.

When he turns 10, he is eligible for ear reconstruction where they use cartilage from one of the ribs to shape the “natural” ear and put in place. It’s a series of surgeries and many visits to the surgeon’s office. We will have to move to Tokyo or Hokkaido for at least a month to do this. It’ll be up to him if he wants to go through with it, we cannot make that decision for him.

Otherwise it’s a typical Monday afternoon here. Back to being busy! 🫡

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