Surgery Update

This past Wednesday Miah had a nose/lip revision done. Initially they were also going to close a fistula that she has, but since then a lovely adult tooth has come down right into the fistula. Good news, is that it is blocking the hole, but bad news is that they will have to repair it at a later date (yet another surgery). The thought being that the tooth will stimulate more bone growth in that area. Kids born with clefts do not have a lot of bone in the affected area and many require bone grafting. The doctors like to encourage as much bone growth as possible in order to minimize the need for a large bone graft. This is a surgery Miah will have in a few years. They will take bone from her hip at this time to build up her gumline.

I was so happy that I was allowed to accompany Miah into the OR at 9:00 am. She was so brave, although I could tell that she was really nervous. We laid her on the table and she only whimpered a bit when they put the IV in. I was able to talk and pray with her while she went to sleep. The surgery took just over 2 1/2 hours. This was a bit longer than they anticipated so Mommy was getting a little worried around the 2 hour mark.

At noon we were able to meet Miah in her room and cuddle her. She was a trooper. She did not cry the whole time we were there, just the occasional moan. She kept pointing to her nose and asking me to "take it off." Her one reconstructed nostril has packing in it and it is sutured in place with a bolster stitch (you can see the gauze on the bridge of her nose.) It must feel like something is on her face. That has been most bothersome for her. The Doctor will remove that gauze next week. The surgeon also said he got a really good repair of her muscles in her upper lip area. Hopefully this will help her with her speech.

She was in good spirits while we were in hospital. She enjoyed been fed bits of broken Popsicles and ice cream. If we were playing she would say to me "I can't smile or laugh. If I am happy I will say Hee Hee and you will know I am happy." She is so darn cute.

I am little disappointed with how her nostril is currently looking. To me it looks like it will end up being larger than her left. When I asked the surgeon about this he said that there was not a lot of cartilage left to work with and it will require another surgery at some point to add cartilage from another area on her body. I almost cried when he pointed out yet another surgery in her future. I sure hope they can start to piggyback some of them.

Day One
Day Two