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Hello, our names are Jessica and Jeff Housaman. Our son
Aiden, was born
with a condition called Microtia with Atresia. It’s a
condition when you’re born without an ear canal and a
peanut of an ear. A “peanut” is what we call his little
ear. It has affected the left ear. Aiden can hear 100%
out of his right ear. With this condition, you can have
a lot of other issues, like, droopy jaw, kidney
problems, and so on, but Aiden does not have any of
these issues. Thank God.
We have been going to Johns Hopkins to meet with Aiden's
ear doctor (Dr. Tunkel), and to test the hearing in his
good ear for any hearing loss that may occur. We weren’t even sure if Aiden was going to be able to hear even if we did any
type of surgery. Before Aiden was a year old, there was
a program on TV about a doctor in California that does
surgery on kids that have this condition. His name is
Dr. Reinisch and is the founding doctor of this
remarkable surgery. When Jeff and I saw this procedure,
we knew this is who we wanted to perform the surgery on
our son. |
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In November of
2008, I contacted Dr. Reinisch’s assistant and we started
discussing the surgery and what we can do to help our son hear.
First, we had to have a CT scan to see if Aiden had the
components to hear. To our surprise, we got a phone call about
a week later from California stating that Aiden had the
necessary bones to hear and that they could build him an ear
canal and ear drum and also do the outer ear procedure that
will give him 80 percent of his hearing at a 30 decibel rate,
which is just under normal.
Jeff and I were so excited when we found out that he
could have the surgery. We called everyone we knew.
Johns Hopkins told us that we would have to wait until he was
five years old to have any type of surgery. Now don’t get me
wrong, they were great to us but we wanted to get this done
before Aiden goes to school. Dr. Reinisch and Dr. Roberson
(canal doctor) said we can do this surgery when Aiden turns three
years old. The only down fall about all of this is that we have to
pay for the surgery in full because the health insurance
company won’t consider paying for any part of it until the
procedure is completed. The procedure itself costs $45,000 and
we have to pay in full before going to California and the
insurance covers less than half the surgery. This will
also require a 2 1/2 week stay in a hotel with other expenses
that is in addition to the cost of the surgery. We are trying
to raise the money so our son can hear. This will give Aiden
the opportunity to hear from both ears. We will need some help
with the financial part of this. That is the reason for the
website. If you could possibly help, please go to our
donation page.
Donations that exceed our financial needs will be forwarded to
a Microtia Foundation. |
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In closing, Jeff and I would like to say Thank You for
taking the time to look at the website and making a donation.
We really appreciate all your support and prayers.
Oh, before I forget, Aiden's surgery is scheduled for September 14,
2009. If you have any questions, please feel free to
contact
us.
During our stay in California, we will update the site with
his progress.
Thank You again,
Jeff, Jess, and Aiden |
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| We would
like to thank everyone that has contributed to
Aiden's Surgery fund and give a Very Special
Thanks to the Fairfield Lions Club, Thurmont and
Arendtsville Lions Club, Amvets Post 172, Dresses
for Dreams, Hanover Eagles, Hanover Eagle Riders Group, Candles for Kids,
The Prayer Child Foundation, and American Legion Post 14. |
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