Brody was born on Saturday, November 28^th, 2009 at Berlin Memorial Hospital.  He was born with two rare birth defects, called Microtia(small ear) and atresia(no canal)– only about 1 in 15,000 children are born with this condition. Out of this 1 in 15,000, only 3% are bilateral and only 3% of these children have no outer ear, also known as “anotia”. Brody is bilateral. As to no surprise Brody failed his newborn hearing test, his Doctor referred us to a Ear Nose & Throat Specialist at Children’s Hospital in Milwaukee. Brody’s Doctor wanted him to get a cardiogram also to make sure that all his inside organs were healthy and functioning, especially his heart. All test results cleared Brody of all other syndromes.

At Children’s Hospital of Milwaukee the audiologist gave Brody many hearing tests. The results were that he can hear 50 decibels in one ear and 60 in the other ear. Normal everyday conversation is at 20-30 decibels. Brody has a moderate-severe hearing loss. At two weeks old he was fitted for a BAHA (bone anchored hearing aid) on a soft headband. Brody wears the BAHA all hours of the day so that he can develop speech and language skills. Brody is enrolled in the birth to 3 program to monitor his speech and all other milestones.

After much research about surgical options with Doctors and specialist locally and out of state, we have decided the best option for Brody’s ear construction is the California Ear Institute in Los Angeles, where these doctors specialize in surgically correcting this rare birth defect. First he will have a CT scan to check the function of the middle ear and to see if he is a candidate for atresia repair. Brody’s first ear surgery will take place when he is 3-4 years old, with other surgeries to follow. As of July 1, 2011, the surgery costs $73,300 per ear, so a total of $146,600 for both ears. This is an estimated cost as they cannot predict any other complications after they start surgery. The family will have to stay for an estimated 3-4 week stay per surgery for post operation care.

With the help of the community, family, friends, and prayer we hope to raise enough money so Brody will be able to have these surgeries. Thank you for the continued support, all your thoughts and prayers are greatly appreciated.  Brody is truly a blessing to our family and we thank God everyday for him.

UPDATE: Brody's first surgery took place on April 4th 2013 in Palo Alto, CA. The first surgery opened his left ear canal and to create an eardrum. Following this surgery, Brody had a second surgery to open his right ear canal on June 20th. This surgery went well, his middle bones were not connected properly so the Doctor placed a prosthesis connecting his stapies and his eardrum. On September 5th Brody had his 3rd surgery and received his first 'Big Boy Ear'!!!  This procedure is called"medpor" which is the outer ear construction of his left ear. January 2014 he had his right "medpor" ear surgery.  We traveled back out to California in February 2014 for an additional surgery as some of the skin grafts on his right medpor ear, were not healing properly.In July 2015, Brody needed a revision surgery to repair a weeping ear canal and adjust prosthesis in his right side. July 2016 needed a revision surgery as his prosthesis punctured his ear drum.

For more info on MEDPOR check out this website;

http://www.drjohnreinisch.com/