September 26, 2019
Cleft palate repair is scheduled for October 10th. Cleft palate repair is the surgery to fix the cleft, or hole, in the palate or the roof of the mouth. Oz has a complete cleft palate, so there is a hole dividing both his hard and soft palate regions.
Children with cleft palates often have higher chances of ear infections and hearing difficulties than children without cleft palates so most cleft teams will incorporate protocol for ear tube surgery at either the lip repair or cleft palate surgery so that the infant only has to go under anesthesia the one time instead of on two separate occasions. Oz has only had a couple of ear infections since birth - but I do have concerns that he currently has one with the frequent tugging/swatting at his ear. We are hopeful that the addition of ear tubes will reduce his discomfort and allow for continued normal hearing development.
The left side of Oz's top lip is visibly thicker than his right side. To reduce the thickening of the scar tissue that built-up at the site of his lip repair, our surgeon will give Oz a steroid shot in his lip during surgery as well. It's so ironic how cosmetic 'imperfections' like his cleft lip, the thickening of his lip, his scar itself are some of the most perfect things in the world to me. I mean, that smile 😍
According to Dr. Munson, surgery should take about 1-1 1/2 hours and we are hoping for only one night stay in the hospital, but he will need to be adequately eating in order for this to be the case. We have to say goodbye, farewell, sayonara to bottles come post surgery - only sippys, open cups or the good ol' syringe feeding will be allowed. This might be cause for 2 nights in the hospital so I will safely pack accordingly.
If you have followed our journey, you can recall our cleft lip repair and recovery experience was challenging, I would deem it a traumatic time for me. Naturally then, I am a little [a lot] anxious about the upcoming surgery with a realistic understanding of the added difficulty that this surgery and recover process has in comparison to the lip revision. I vividly remember our surgeon once telling us that the palate surgery is 'a big one' and this seems to be unanimously confirmed by my Cleft Mom Support group [11,000+ members]. However, there are a couple prominent positives in place this time around which should contribute to a less hellish experience overall.
Cleft palate repair is scheduled for October 10th. Cleft palate repair is the surgery to fix the cleft, or hole, in the palate or the roof of the mouth. Oz has a complete cleft palate, so there is a hole dividing both his hard and soft palate regions.
Children with cleft palates often have higher chances of ear infections and hearing difficulties than children without cleft palates so most cleft teams will incorporate protocol for ear tube surgery at either the lip repair or cleft palate surgery so that the infant only has to go under anesthesia the one time instead of on two separate occasions. Oz has only had a couple of ear infections since birth - but I do have concerns that he currently has one with the frequent tugging/swatting at his ear. We are hopeful that the addition of ear tubes will reduce his discomfort and allow for continued normal hearing development.
The left side of Oz's top lip is visibly thicker than his right side. To reduce the thickening of the scar tissue that built-up at the site of his lip repair, our surgeon will give Oz a steroid shot in his lip during surgery as well. It's so ironic how cosmetic 'imperfections' like his cleft lip, the thickening of his lip, his scar itself are some of the most perfect things in the world to me. I mean, that smile 😍
According to Dr. Munson, surgery should take about 1-1 1/2 hours and we are hoping for only one night stay in the hospital, but he will need to be adequately eating in order for this to be the case. We have to say goodbye, farewell, sayonara to bottles come post surgery - only sippys, open cups or the good ol' syringe feeding will be allowed. This might be cause for 2 nights in the hospital so I will safely pack accordingly.
If you have followed our journey, you can recall our cleft lip repair and recovery experience was challenging, I would deem it a traumatic time for me. Naturally then, I am a little [a lot] anxious about the upcoming surgery with a realistic understanding of the added difficulty that this surgery and recover process has in comparison to the lip revision. I vividly remember our surgeon once telling us that the palate surgery is 'a big one' and this seems to be unanimously confirmed by my Cleft Mom Support group [11,000+ members]. However, there are a couple prominent positives in place this time around which should contribute to a less hellish experience overall.
- I feel more emotionally prepared for what's to come. The bar of expectations is low, not because I'm being a pessimist but because I'm being a realist. It will not be easy, but with one day at a time, we will get through it.
- Derek will also be taking time off during the 3 weeks of recovery. With the lip repair, there was a 2 week recovery time period and I took those weeks off of work to stay with Oz. I'm very relieved to have Derek take Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays to stay home and care for Oz while I go to work and I"ll return the duty by taking the Thursdays and Fridays of those weeks.
- With the lip repair, we couldn't really cuddle Oz in fear that his lip would get bumped. With the palate being internal, we can fully embrace that sweet child....minus the annoying no no contraptions that will have him looking like Randy from The Christmas Story when he's dressed in the snowsuit that keeps his arms permanently stuck out at a 45 degree angle. If all else, the mental image of that movie scene can bring me comical relief in an otherwise less than ideal circumstance.
With 2 weeks to go and the germs spreading like wildfire already for the season, we are praying hard for Oz, Dr.Munson and his staff to remain healthy and optimally prepared for surgery day. If you don't mind, please include Oz in your prayers and/or throw positive thoughts and vibes for him out into the universe like like confetti - whichever your method, we would be grateful!
Next up, surgery #2!
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