Home from the Hospital

Surgery went well. Ear tubes in. Cleft palate repaired. Huge tooth strangly located under the left nostril removed.

Matthew didn't do well for the first few hours (quite mad at Mommy and Daddy for letting this happen), but slept most of the first night. (Many thanks from his Mommy for that.) We struggled with "oral adversion". The kid just didn't want to eat or drink. We finally introduced him to vanilla pudding which went down like a charm. But he refused liquids for the most part. We finally realized that ice cream is tecnically a liquid in the medical world, so with a vanilla and a chocolate in tummy, we were finally allowed to go home.

By the time he got home, he was running around like his normal self, only with arm restraints (to keep him from putting things in his mouth).

This morning he was working through the grief of losing his arm movement. He was just plain ol' mad. He couldn't stand not being able to play like normal and just let the world know. But he's hanging in there, and since all this misery is temporary, we're just taking one day at a time.

He still isn't drinking very well. Doesn't want a bottle at all. All liquid has to be spoon fed or dropped with a dropper. I think the flow of liquid in his mouth is so different than before, he can't really stand it without feeling a little clausterphobic and panicked (remember his mouth cavity is significantly smaller now). Please pray that he will get past this.

Awaiting Surgery

Tomorrow Matthew will have his cleft palate repaired. We've known this was coming since the first time we had heard about Matthew, so it's not something we're necessarily worried or scared about. We trust the reputation of the Craniofacial Clinic at Children's Hospital, but mostly the Protective Hand that brought our little one all the way to our arms from the far reaches of Vietnam. Mommy is a little bit nervous about the recovery, hoping that Matthew can be comfortable and also not damage the surgical area.

He will be on soft food (equals "yuck" to Matthew) for maybe up to a month. He will also be wearing arm restraints for the same period of time to keep little fingers, hotwheel cars, and anything delicious from his mouth. That sure sounds like fun. (Read heavy sarcasm).

I'll be spending the night with him in the hospital and he should be home on Friday. I'm mostly worried that I'll get morning sickness (misnamed...trust me!) sometime in the middle of the night when the cafeteria is closed. Please keep the little guy in your prayers.