I had my hard palate repair on Sept. 24. Since mommy and daddy knew we would have to be at the hospital early we went down the night before again. This time we stayed with one of mommy's friends from high school, Andrea and her husband Charlie. It was very nice for them to let us stay in their house and it was a lot of fun!
My surgery started a little later this time but didn't take as long to finish. First the drs. put another tube in my left ear because the other one had already fell out. Then they fixed my hard palate. Once I was done the dr called mommy and told her I was ok and had done fine. He said he had a hard time getting me to go to sleep and putting the tube in my throat but everything else went great.
Mommy and Daddy got to come see me in recovery and then I got to go to my room. I sounded better this time and I was much more alert and awake this time. I ate quicker this time and mommy said I would probably get to go home the next day. Mommy noticed in the middle of the night that I sounded a little loud and seemed to be breathing hard so she called in a nurse. the nurse told mommy my lungs sounded ok and my oxygen was ok, but she kept a tight watch on me after that. She said I wasn't the only one having problems after a cleft repair that night and she stayed busy! I didn't have to go to the PICU like last time and I didn't have to wear oxygen this time.
I got better as the day went on and I was eating but not a lot. Dr. Argenta came by about 5:30 that evening and said he wanted me to stay another night just in case and i could go home first thing in the morning. That night I slept very well and came home bright and early Thurs. morning.
Once home, I was ok but still hurting and feeling kinda bad. I had some pretty bad diapers Thurs and Fri. Fri. night I started running a fever of 102.9 and mommy was really scared. I was real seepy and just wanted to rest. I didn't want to eat or drink so mommy called Dr. Johnson. He said that if my fever didn't come down in the next hour to take me to the ER and if it did come down he wanted to see me Sat. morning. My fever did come down to normal Fri. night so I saw him Sat. By Sat. I had started throwing up so he decided to admit me to the hospital just to make sure my mouth was ok and I got some liquids.
I got to the hospital and the nurses put in an IV. I really didn't like that! They had to poke me 6 times because my veins were so weak from dehydration, and finally ended up putting one in my head!
I stayed Sat. night and by Sun. morning I was feeling much better. I was eating and drinking, and I was laughing and playing so the dr let me come home. That made me feel VERY good!
Since I have been home, I have felt really good. At first, I didn't want to drink much-I just ate. But, as time went on I did drink better and now I am drinking and eating normally and back to my old happy self! I am so glad it is all over and I can now just get back to my old routine. My new favorite thing to do is watch cartoons, and mommy says that is good because that was one of my vision goals anyway so I can do it all I want! I am pretty much sitting up and will be all the time before long. I am also starting to reach and play and I have a lot of fun with the switch toys that my OT brings. I am working hard on a lot of stuff and I know I will sooner or later meet all my goals. Mommy and daddy are very proud of me and of what a big boy I am.
