Two Down!

Levi’s palate repair surgery was just over a week ago, and he is doing very well.  I thought I’d give a bit of an update on how the surgery went, and how things have been going here.

We took Levi in for surgery on the morning of Thursday, June 19.  He had been fasting since midnight of the night before, and despite it being more than 12 hours since he was able to eat, he was still his calm, content self.  He amazes me sometimes with what a mature, laid back attitude he has at only 8 months old!  He is such a joy and we’ve really enjoyed learning more about him and his personality over the past few months.  Because of this though, we found that it was lot more difficult to give Levi up to the doctors to take him in to surgery this time.  Since we knew more about Levi and his little personality, it was going to be that much harder to see him in pain.  

The surgery took 2 1/2 hours.  It was a long wait, but finally we got the call that he was in the recovery room and starting to wake up.  We visited him in the recovery room, then they brought us up to our room in Pediatrics after a while.  Levi struggled for a bit with coming out of the anaesthesia and was groggy for a few hours, but he ended up handling it much better than his previous surgery.  They kept him on IV fluids for the night, but to everyone’s surprise he was actually able to drink quite a bit of milk that same evening.  He was a hungry little boy and we were happy to feed him!  We had also been told by his surgeon, that he would be able to be fed with the same bottle we had always been using.  That was so nice to hear, as I wasn’t really sure how we were going to feed him!  He did so well those first few times, and we were very impressed.

The night in the hospital was a bit rough, and Ryan and I didn’t get very much sleep (sharing a cot between the two of us, and waking up every few hours to give Levi pain meds does not equal much rest!) but it was still WAY better than our first experience in the hospital after Levi’s lip surgery.  This time all the doctors and nurses were expecting us, and it was much more organized.  By the morning, Levi was doing quite well and we were discharged by around noon.  After all was said and done, we actually ended up spending less time in the hospital than we did the first time!  We found this funny, since we had been told the first surgery wouldn’t require an overnight stay.  We felt this hospital stay to be much easier to deal with since we felt more prepared, and knew what to expect.  It was, and always will be, difficult to bring a child into the hospital for surgery, but since that is the reality for our family, it’s nice to feel prepared!  

Friday evening, the day we were discharged, was a bit of a challenge.  We had a bit of trouble keeping up with his pain medication, and all of a sudden he had no interest in eating at all.  Despite being on the maximum dosage of pain meds that he was prescribed, he would cry out in pain as soon as we tried offering him the bottle.  What we think happened, is that in the hospital the roof of his mouth was still frozen from surgery and he couldn’t feel any pain while he was eating.  Then, when we got home, it wore off and he noticed how sore it was.  It was a struggle for him to eat and sleep for a couple days and nights, but by the end of the weekend, we seemed to have everything under control.  

He has to wear the same arm bands that he did last time, to prevent him from putting his fingers in his mouth and pulling out the stitches.  He’s a bit more frustrated with them, since he’s learned a lot more about grabbing and holding things.  He’s also just trying to figure out how to crawl, and the arm bands do not help that situation, so he’s a bit annoyed by that.  All in all, though, he’s doing really well considering the circumstances.  We are still excited for this coming Thursday, which is two weeks from his surgery and the day he can stop using those silly restraints! 

We had a follow up appointment with his surgeon yesterday, and she said everything is looking good at this point.  She will see us again in a couple weeks, just to make sure everything is continuing to heal properly.  She did mention that there are a couple weak spots in every cleft palate repair that sometimes don’t heal quite as well and may cause a small opening, called a fistula.  She said that if that happens, it won’t be as big of a deal to fix as the original surgery.  He won’t have to wear the arm restraints and it won’t affect his eating.  That was good to hear, but we are still praying that his repair will continue to heal properly and there won’t be any fistulas that form.  

We hope that this will be his last surgery for a few years, until he has to have a bone graft to repair the little notch in his gumline.  That will be when he is 8 or 9 years old, so that’s a little way down the road.  If something happens in the meantime, and we have to make a trip to the hospital again, we’ll just take it as it comes.  We’ve been there, done that!  

We want to thank those of you who offered prayers and words of support during this time, and those who brought by meals, too.  We really appreciate it and it meant a lot to us to know we have a whole bunch of people who are thinking about us and our little guy.  

Thanks for reading!

Mixed emotions

Levi’s palate repair surgery is tomorrow, and I can’t quite decide how I feel about it.  

I’m excited to get it over with and have this surgery behind us.  I’m scared that it will be worse than the last surgery we went through.  I’m nervous that something will go wrong and the palate won’t heal properly, or that Levi will have a lot of trouble learning how to eat during the healing process.  I’m also hopeful that everything will go smoothly and that all of my concerns will be unfounded.

I’m just one big bundle of mixed emotions today!  As a parent, it's hard to let my little one have this procedure done, knowing that he will be in pain and uncomfortable for a while afterward.  However, on the other hand, I know that this is in his best interest and will help his eating and speech development in the long run.

Man... parenting is tough sometimes. 

Going into this procedure, I do feel that Ryan and I are a bit more prepared to handle what might come our way.  In February, for Levi’s lip repair, we had no idea what was to come and that made it a bit more challenging to deal with some of the bumps along the road.  For example, we were told that it would be a day surgery and we would be able to take Levi home for night.  However, this didn’t end up being the case and we had to scramble to get our things to the hospital to stay the night.  Also, because he originally wasn’t supposed to be admitted for night, there were no doctors available to properly assess him or prescribe him the proper pain medication.  

This time we’ve been told ahead of time that he will be kept overnight, since the surgery is a bit more difficult.  This is nice to know, so we can bring everything we need for an overnight stay.  There should also be a better system in place for Levi’s post-op care, as everyone knows that he will be admitted.  Having gone through one surgery already, I now feel as though I have a little bit more knowledge as to what might happen and the questions to ask.  

A big prayer request that we have is that Levi will be able to come out of the anesthesia comfortably and that his throat won’t be as sore from the breathing tube.  That was one of the big issues we had with his last surgery.  He couldn’t sleep comfortably because his throat was so sore, his breathing was laboured and he kept coughing.  I hope that this won’t be the case this time.  

The other prayer request is that he would be able to learn how to eat during the period of healing time.  I’m actually not certain on how we are going to feed him, as we aren’t able to use a spoon or his bottle.  We can’t use anything that would touch the roof of his mouth.  I’m sure we will be instructed on the proper procedure, and I anticipate that we will see his feeding specialist after his surgery.  From the research I’ve done, it sounds like they will have him on IV for a while after the surgery to keep him hydrated and to give his mouth a break after the trauma of the procedure.

I’m not sure how surgery will go, but we do know that God’s got it all under control and He’ll be right there for every step.  We’re also thankful for your thoughts and prayers… your support is very much appreciated!  

Thanks for reading!