Pre-Op Appointment

Max and I went to the hospital for his pre-operation appointment. If all goes well, and Max can stay healthy, he'll have his second surgery on Tuesday 10/13. The last one was mostly an exterior soft tissue fix. This one will be inside his mouth, and will patch up his soft palate. The surgeon will use tissue from his mouth and sew up his hole that extends from just where the bone/cartilage ends, down beyond his uvula. That area is called the soft palate, and is necessary for his speech development.

Max will also get some eartubes put in, since cleft palate patients are prone to ear infections.

Unlike the first surgery, this one will not be as rewarding visually. It was amazing how Max's face changed after he had his lip fixed. We won't be able to tell much at all with this one, and on top of everything, this surgery will be much more painful and invasive for him. We might stay in the hospital for two nights this time, depending on how well he can drink and eat food - that will be his ticket home.

I am planning to take at least a week off from work, and more if I have to. Max's Fairy Godmother, Carolyn, is also flying in for the occasion, and of course we are already surrounded by an incredible support team. In fact, Jemae, Vanessa and Heidi all took turns and came to the pre-op appointment with Max and me in shifts. It was incredibly helpful to have them take care of Max while I got to talk with the doctors.

So hopefully Max can stay healthy and we'll still be able to go ahead with it. (I kind of want to get it over with.) I'll use the blog to keep people updated on our progress.

Thanks for keeping us in your thoughts.

Hugs!