On Monday 28 September 2020 A Current Affair shared the story of Harriet Sanders and her family. Harriet has Bilateral Microtia and Atresia and I am working with them to fulfil Harriet’s wish to wear earrings!!
One of my other microtia kids Sebastian made a confident appearance in the segment, stealing the show and demonstrating how much his new ear means to him. Watching these children find new confidence and flourish is my motivation for this work.
You can watch A Current Affair’s story by clicking on the image below, or read about it here on the Channel 9 site.
More About Harriet
Harriet has Bilateral Microtia and Atresia. Microtia literally means little ears and it results in the external part of both her ears, known as the pinna, being malformed or absent. It is common for children with Microtia to also have Atresia, meaning that their ear canal has also not formed and they are unable to hear through that ear, as sound waves can not travel to their inner ear even though it is usually working normally.
While Microtia affects between 1 in 6,000 and 12,000 babies born per year, Bilateral Microtia is even more rare, affecting about 1 in 10 of those children. In cases like Harriet’s, there is no ear canal on either side, so it’s really important to take steps to restore hearing. Thanks to early interventions from Hear and Say, Harriet was fitted with hearing aids when she was just 3 weeks old and has been hearing and speaking like every other little girl.
Harriet’s wish is to have her ears pierced and her parents are determined to fulfil this wish, and to ensure she can enjoy all the other simple pleasures of life that most of us take for granted, like wearing sunglasses or pushing the hair behind our ears. We’ll be designing Custom 3D ear implants for Harriet, but unlike Maxim and Sebastian who received their ears last year, we’ll have to use the ears of her mum or dad to act as a model for her and shape her ears carefully to suit her face.
We are looking toward 2021 to perform these procedures, when Harriet will be 5 years of age. She’ll receive these implants along with a bone anchored hearing device in two separate procedures, completing her treatment before starting school.
Thank you to Hear and Say for continuing their amazing support for Microtia and Atresia families. I encourage people to join their wonderful community, and I look forward to sharing more about Harriet’s journey over the coming months and years.
Update July 2021
We are so excited to share the results from Harriet’s first big ear surgery. For those following Harriet’s story you will know Harriet is the first child with bilateral microtia to undergo custom 3D ear reconstruction in Australia. Despite the impending risk of lockdowns, we managed to perform Harrie't’s first surgery on schedule. Here are some photos from her procedure. We used a 3D scan of her mum’s ears to help design and 3D print Harriet’s new big ears so they will match perfectly; another amazing example of the boundless potential future impact of personalised medicine.
Update August 2021
I believe it is really important for parents and patients to be prepared for the possible different colours and degrees of swelling that can be present in the early stages of healing after custom 3D ear reconstruction.
These images show Harriet’s progression from pre-surgery to 1 week after surgery, then to 4 weeks after surgery. You will see the colour of her ear has become much more natural and the swelling will continue to improve, showing more and more detail of her beautiful new big ear.
Absolutely heart melting…
The only way we can describe this cuteness. The message from Harriet’s mum said “Harriet showing off her new ear to her friends 💗”
We are so happy for Harriet and loving being part of her journey. Hard to believe this photo was taken at only 4 weeks postop!
We can’t wait to complete her a "matching set” of ears (and to also give her ear piercings!) when we complete her second big ear reconstruction in 6 - 12 months time. During that surgery we will also implant hearing devices, called BAHAs, that transmit sound from the outside world directly to the hearing nerves of her ears.
Note: just as no two individuals are alike, no two surgical results will be exactly alike. Seek surgical advice from a FRACS qualified professional.