The following story was written by a young patient of mine back in 1987 about his experience with Otoplasty (ear surgery). This story has always meant a lot to me and I thought I would share it with you at this time. I recently saw his parents and they told me that their son is doing very well and that he was finishing pre-med in college and still had the ambition to become a plastic surgeon.
Peter T. Pacik, MD, FACS
My Operation
On Monday, April 19, 1987, I went to see Doctor Peter Pacik to see if I could have my ears “pinned back”. My Mother said, “You shouldn’t get your hopes up, because I think ears have to be fully grown.”
When we got to his office at 57 Bay Street, we sat in the waiting room for about five minutes. Then, this lady came in and said, “Is __________ here?”
I said, “Yeah, I’m right here.” “Good”, she replied, “Come with me. Your Mother can come, too.” My Mother and I followed her into a little room. She asked me what I was going to have done and I told her. After I told her, she said, “OK. You can go and sit down in the waiting room and I will call you in so you can see the doctor.”
We sat back down in the waiting room. I started reading a Sports Illustrated, when the same lady came in and brought my Mother, my Father and me into another room that was fairly big. Dr. Pacik was at his desk and he told us to have a seat. I again said what I wanted to have done. He stared at my ears and said, “Well, it’s certainly a possibility, __________. Your ears have a very nice fold and usually, with other kids, I have to create that. I won’t have to with you.”
After that he told us everything he was going to do and how he was going to do it. He said I could use local or general anesthesia. He also said that local would be easier. My parents and I decided I would use local anesthesia. After he told us a little more about what he was going to do, he turned to my parents and went over the costs.
Dr. Pacik sat down at his desk again and asked my parents and me if we wanted to my operation done before or after the summer. Of course, I wanted to have it done right away. My parents asked me, “When do you want to have it?” “I’ll have it as soon as possible, “I said. Dr. Pacik looked in his little book and said, “How does May 19 at about 10:00 in the morning sound to you?” “Good,” my Father replied. “Great, I’ll see you then,” Dr. Pacik said.
We walked out of the room and went downstairs to see the receptionist. She gave us a little card that said the date and time I was having my operation. The next day, the word spread around school. By the end of the day, people I had never seen before were asking me questions about my operation. The excitement lasted for a few days, but then it blew over!
After a while, I sort of forgot about it. There were a lot of things between then and May 19th; my party, Fun Fair, Mother’s Day, my Grandmother’s birthday were all before my big day. The night before my operation, I had a soccer game. I spaced out at the game about five times, because I couldn’t stop thinking about the operation.
When the day finally came, I woke up at about 8:00. I was nervous, of course, so I put on my favorite clothes and decided to make them my lucky ones! I went downstairs and gobbled down my breakfast. I watched some TV and then left with my parents. We got to the office about 8:55 a.m. The nurse came out of a room with some little booties that I had to put on my feet. The she and I walked into a room with three beds in it. She propped me up in one and put an IV into my arm. It hurt going in, but I could take it! She then gave me a pill that was supposed to make me drowsy, but it didn’t.
I waited for about 45 minutes before Dr. Pacik came. When he did come, he said something to the nurse about blocking out a main nerve. I thought I was going to get a shot in my back, but as it turned out, he was talking about the main nerve to my ears. He took out a needle that was about 2 ½ inches long. The nurse sat down on my bed and held my hand. Then Dr. Pacik slowly put the needle into my skin just about ½ inch below my right ear. It hurt a little bit more than the IV, so I made a sound sort of like I was sucking on a Popsicle. He took out the needle and the pain was gone instantly. He then did the other ear and the same thing happened.
Dr. Pacik and the nurse left the room. Five minutes later, the nurse came back and walked me into the operating room. She sat me up and washed my hair. Then she and Dr. Pacik laid me down, put a blanket over me, put a towel over my head and started the operation. About an hour and a half later, the operation was over. I had bandages over my head, so it felt sort of weird. The nurse gave me a mirror, so that I could see what I looked like. I looked like a warhead with a hole for my face! The nurse propped me up in bed again and gave me a Coke. My parents came down and started saying, “Oh, __________, you look great,” and “Oh, what a wonderful job.” I said to myself, “What are you talking about? I look like a Russian warhead.” After about another half hour we finally left and went home.
The next day we met Dr. Pacik at CMC. He decided to take off the bandages. I looked in a mirror and while I don’t mean to brag, I looked great! I really did. I looked awesome and I told Dr. Pacik how I felt about it.
When we got home, I was so excited that I was ready to jump 50 feet into the air. I didn’t only because I was afraid that I would rip out the stitches. I was very pleased with the job that Dr. Pacik did. He was very nice and so were the nurses. When I grow up I plan to be a Plastic Surgeon.
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