Gotcha Day!

Remember This???

 

 

Well here she is four years later!!!

 



 

She was so excited about Gotcha day and is quite proud of the fact that none of her sisters qualify for this special day.  It is hers alone to celebrate!  Since she is still having to eat mushy food she requested Peach Wave for dinner...a local frozen yogurt experience. She was thrilled to have dessert for dinner!  After that we took her to see Despicable Me 2, which she thought was very funny.

 

We love you so much Miss Miah!!!!!

 

 

Before you were conceived I wanted you. Before you were born I loved you. Before you were here for an hour I would die for you. This is the miracle of love!

Day 7 Comparison

Today we had a quick follow up with our Orthodontist. He admitted he was not the expert when it comes to this procedure, but in order for us to prevent another trip down to Vancouver, he took some photos and sent them to Vancouver to our surgeon. He said it looked good in terms of no infection.  Here is the comparison photo...one taken last week and one today.  You can see just how low the gum line is now by looking at that tooth on the right. I am curious to see what it will look like when the swelling comes down, or if that tooth will eventually be brought down lower with braces.

 

Today she is still bruised...it seems to be turning darker each day. Her nose also continues to bleed. The surgeon recommended we try some Otrivin to see if that helps.

 

 

Day 5

She is a trooper...woke up this morning, walked down the stairs herself and has been basically on her feet all day...except for the mandatory mother required nap time this afternoon.  Her nose is still bleeding during the day, but today she only had one dose of pain meds in the morning. The swelling is definitely going down although today there is some bruising starting under left eye. The treat of today was graham crackers soaked in milk until they were very soggy...yummy!

 



Day 4

Miah is doing really well today. She is on about half of the pain medication we gave her yesterday and has discovered that she can walk short distances unassisted.  She even went up and down the stairs a couple of times. She even jumped once while she was playing Wii....until Mommy ruined the fun and told her to sit down. Her nose still bleeds periodically but the swelling in her face is starting to go down.  The inside of her lips are still very dark blue and the skin on her lips has started peeling.

Her biggest complaint today was that she wants to eat some real food. Today, mashed potatoes with gravy are no longer good. She enjoyed a banana smoothie for breakfast and discovered that she really likes these Lil Kid fruit pouches from Heinz. She was even able to squirt it into her mouth independently.

What she really wants is cheese and crackers or chips and salsa...gonna be a while for those baby!

Day 3 post op

 



It was said that today will mark the peak in facial swelling. If that is the case, I think she has gotten off easy this time around. As you can see from the photo, she is still quite puffy on that left side. Her nose still continues to bleed, which they said is to be expected.  I noticed today that her lips look blue. At first I thought it must have been something she ate, but when we were rinsing her mouth after lunch, I lifted her upper lip a bit and noticed that the inside of her upper lip and gums are very bruised. I hadn't even thought about her being bruised inside.

She walked around a little this morning, putting more weight on her leg than yesterday. We joked that yesterday she was as fast as a snail, and that today she was as fast as a turtle.  She made her way to the kitchen table twice to do some painting...but we quickly discovered that she did a little too much activity and her pain intensified.  Her walking slowed down again and she was no longer walking flat footed, but on her tip toes and bending forward instead of standing straight.  She has been on the couch ever since.

She again enjoyed mashed potatoes and gravy for lunch and homemade shepherds' pie for dinner (well blended of course.) For snacks she had mashed banana, some rice pudding and strained pears. I feel like all I am doing is preparing food, spoon feeding her, cleaning dishes and filling syringes with meds. It makes for a full day.

The surgeon said that we should see a decrease in the swelling starting tomorrow. It only gets better from here...fingers crossed :)

The Boss!

 

 

48 hours since surgery and she is looking great! We have been expecting the swelling to increase, but I think it is actually going down.  Her upper lip is still quite swollen and that really restricts how wide she can open her mouth. She no longer wants us to ice her face so it must be feeling a bit better too.

We have nicknamed her "The Boss" as she can be very assertive when letting us know what she wants using one word demands  requests!  "Blanket," " Juice," " Hungry," "Popsicle," "Bathroom," and " Stuffie" are the most popular words in her vocabulary.  We hope we aren't creating a monster!

She is able to put a bit of weight on that left leg. She got up twice today and shuffled her way to the washroom.

She still has her sense of humor. Some of the cute things she has said the last few days include:

• She looked over at my cot in the hospital and says "You gonna be comfortable on that?" I said "Probably not" and she responds "Yeah probably not..."
• In the hospital she said "Mom can you try to not be so funny...just be your normal self. Its hurts to laugh."
• Laying in bed today I overheard her singing "My hip hurts, holy holy, my hip hurts, it hurts a lot."
• When we call her The Boss, she tries to keep a straight face, but there is a twinkle in her eye that reflects just how much she is liking her new bossy self.

Today she was able to eat a bit of soup with the noodles mushed up really well and some mashed potatoes with gravy.  She has never been a fan of potatoes, but today she said they tasted really good! I also picked up some toddler strained pears. She loved those. We are still giving her liquids with a syringe.  Her lips are still a little too puffy to master drinking from a cup effectively.

Day 1 Post Op

Overnight in the hospital went well...She was able to get a bit of sleep in between the nurse coming in every hour. Her nose bled quite a bit in the night as well.  She was given Tylenol every 4 hours in the night, some antibiotics and didn't need any morphine until mid-morning when we tried unsuccessfully to get her up to use the washroom. Her face is getting more puffy by the hour even with all the ice we have been using.  We were able to get her up on her feet once and she shuffled/hopped to the washroom.  When she stands it is a classic stork stand, with the left leg bent...

The surgeon came by and liked what he saw.  He was actually surprised that her face wasn't more swollen.  He discharged her and will see her again only if we feel she needs to be seen or if we have any concerns. He was great. He said we could call him anytime.  All her follow up will be done here with our orthodontist.  Basically he said the biggest concern is infection.  We need to be super diligent to keep her mouth clean, hence the rinsing guidelines and brushing instructions.  He said to watch that we don't see any white on the gum line as that would be bone and that the stitching could tear easy if the gum gets infected...he said not to worry so much about the graft itself not taking, but to be concerned of the affects of infection. She will have an x-ray done in 6 months and that will tell us if the whole graft was successful.

We drove home right away after being discharged...they gave her some Tylenol with codeine and she was a trooper for the four hour drive. We stopped once for a potty break and to get her a popsicle.

Once home she has some soup broth and we set her up on the couch to watch some TV...she didn't last long and fell asleep on the couch. 

Surgery Day

This morning Miah had a bone graft at BC Children's Hospital.  She was scheduled at 10:30 and they even got her in a little early.  The oral surgeon had three surgeries booked for today...all three were young girls having their bone graft surgeries.  This was one of  the reasons we chose this particular surgeon...he apparently does these procedures all the time. On the way to the hospital Miah kept telling us her new stuffed Squirrel was scared.  We kept reassuring the squirrel that God would be with him the whole time and Miah did her best to reassure him that he would be ok. Miah never admitted to being scared though...

Our pre op procedures were a little different than we were used to.  There was no meeting with the anesthetist prior to surgery day and she was allowed to drink clear fluids up to 3 hours before her surgery time. Having a drink when she woke up made the morning a little more bearable.  We only had to check in one hour before surgery time and they had a great play area set up in the surgical waiting room.  We were allowed to all come into this area as a family and wait with her.  Parents are allowed into the OR with their children if they choose...I didn't have to even ask. I was able to gown up (Miah said I looked even more funny than last time in my fancy blue hat), and walk her into the OR. I lifted her onto the table and within 2-3 minutes they had her IV in and she was asleep. They didn't even make her wear that hat she hates so much!

Her surgery took 2.5 hours and I was able to wait in the parents waiting area right outside the OR while Drew and Mackenzie toured the aquarium for a change of scenery. When the surgery was finished, the Dr. came to speak to me in the waiting area and sat down with me, going over all the post op instructions...a very long list of do's and don'ts....some of which include:

• Clear fluids for the first few days, then we can move to pureed food once she is able to brush her teeth well. He said this transition could be as soon as Miah can tolerate a good brushing after every meal. Soft mushy foods for at least three weeks and then on week four we can try some softer pieces that she can chew with her back teeth. He said it would be at least five weeks before she can bite into something like a sandwich with her front teeth and even longer for foods such as a raw carrot stick.
• No bathing for 1 week, then on week 2 she can start having showers...then on week 3 she can have a bath.
• Rinsing her mouth with salt water...up to 20 times a day. Brushing as soon as possible three times a day.
• She is on antibiotics for 10 days and medication for pain.
• Icing her face a few times per day to help with the swelling

I was able to sit with her in recovery. She never did wake up until we got transferred to her room.  Her pain was pretty well managed the first day with Tylenol and Morphine. She never complained about any face pain, only pain in her hip.

Grandma and Grandpa came by later in the afternoon as well as the Epps. Miah loved having some familiar faces come to visit. She was a little drowsy, but enjoyed the gifts she received.

Her face started to swell about 8 hours post op. The surgeon said that this would continue and that Monday (Third day after surgery) we would see the worst of it...after that, it should start to get better. She says that her "Cleft feels funny."  I am assuming that it is the swelling that feels different...or perhaps the stitches are bugging her.

Surgery # 7-Pre Op Photos

Tomorrow we head to Vancouver. Miah will be having surgery on Friday at BC Children's Hospital.  I'm pretty sure this is surgery # 7, although Miah says it is 10.  Maybe it feels like 10...poor sweet thing.  She has been VERY anxious this time. She talks about the upcoming surgery constantly and breaks out into spontaneous tears when least expected.  I think that last experience in the ER when she broke her arm is still fresh in her mind...the ER experience where they tried unsuccessfully to start an IV.

I'm planning on blogging our experience with Miah's bone graft in hopes that it can help someone else prepare their child for this same surgery, as well as document this process for Miah to better understand one day.