On Wednesday Peng Peng will have his first big surgery in the States. His lip was repaired at about seven months old in China, but now we are on to the next big step, which is to start repairing his palate. What we were told is that the plastic surgeon at the craniofacial clinic is going to cut along the gum line on the roof of his mouth behind his front teeth. He will then patch and stretch the tissue to close off the hole that encompasses the full top of his mouth all the way through his uvula. It sounds so painful, but our little man has been through so much already in life and is so tough, I have no doubt that he will be a trooper through the process. I am so thankful that I am able to be there for him and to comfort him when he needs it. Knowing that he didn't have anybody who loved him as I do when he was a baby just breaks my heart, so I have lots of making up to do this time around.
While he is out the ENT will also give him tubes in his ears. Once he is healed we will need to having serious hearing testing done to see if/ how much hearing loss he has. It is common for kiddos with cleft lips/ palates to have some hearing loss, and the fact that he has failed the previous hearing check concerns me.
This will be it for surgeries (hopefully) for the next few years. His next surgery will be when he is preschool age on his palate again, then bone graft surgery when he is seven or eight, and then more work done when he is older and finished growing.
We have been preparing AJ and Abby for this as best as we can. They have seen inside his mouth (he loves to be flipped upside down and laughs really hard when we do this, so this has been a good way to get a good and quick peek). Last night I drew out a calendar for this week so they could see what days of the week Peng Peng and I will be gone and when my mom will be here. Friday should be interesting as that is the day we are scheduled to come home and it is also Halloween. I have to be honest, I am not looking forward to the doorbell ringing every five minutes while my little one is miserable, but maybe that will prove to be the distraction he needs.
When the surgery is complete Peng Peng will have arm restraints. These look like molded pieces of plastic that have Velcro on them. They are not casts and there is nothing wrong with his arms, but it will prevent him from going anywhere near his mouth and hurting either his stitches or putting things in there. All food will have to be liquid or pureed for two weeks minimum. It will be very important that we keep getting nourishment in him so he doesn't loose any weight and can heal quickly. We have been trying different baby foods, yogurts, and pedialyte so we know which foods he likes and which ones to stay away from.
A few days ago we had his pre-op appointment and had his height and weight recorded. In the past five weeks he has gained TWO pounds and grown an INCH & A HALF! Whoo hoo! For the second time since we have been home they also heard a heart murmur. Sounded like no need for concern at this point, just to keep a close eye on it over time.
In the area of signing, we haven't been working on adding new words this week, but Peng Peng has more and more consistently initiated these words and continues to amaze me with his communication skills!
Current Signs (bold new): all done, apple, ball, banana, bath, bike, bird, book, brush teeth, bug candy, car, cat, cereal, clean up, cold, color, come on, cookie, cow, cracker, dad, diaper, dog, down, drink, eat, fish, flower, go, grandma, hat, help, horse, hot, hot dog, jump, laundry, milk, mine, mama, more, monkey, music, pig, play, popcorn, shoes, sit, sleep, socks, slide, swing, time out, wait, walk, wash hands, water, up
Thank you all for your continued prayers.
No comments:
Post a Comment