Saturday, February 21, 2009

Home at last!

We got to bring Nathan home late last night!

Nathan and I woke up bright and early Thursday to register at 8 am at the hospital. At 9:30 they brought us back to pre-op, and he was rolled back for the surgery around 11:45. It was a complicated surgery this time around, and took about 2 hours, so he went to recovery about 1:45.

It actually took longer than she expected, because the area she worked on last time had dropped down for some reason, and she had to pull it back up and tighten it up before she could work on his palate. Later she told me that she has never done that much in a child's mouth before, but the sphinctor repair was un-anticipated, but couldn't be helped. So he had work done all the way from the valve at the back of his mouth, to the muscles above his palate. Poor little guy!

He did fantastic this time around, nowhere near as much coughing and crying in pain, just lots of sleeping. For the first 24 hours he just slept and turned over and slept and turned over... got tangled in his IV line, dislodging his heart rate moniters.... Good stuff! But it was in all a much calmer day than the last time. He didn't want to put anything in his mouth, but he did go to the bathroom earlier this time around. We nearly had to spend a second night, but by 5:30 he was agreeing to a yogurt smoothie, and we were discharged at 9:15 last night!

There will still be a month of swollen mouth parts, and lots of stitches in there, 14 days of absolutely soft foods, and no therapy for a while. But he's doing great, and I am very proud of how cooperative he has been through all this. He has been a real champ, and everyone who has to work with him comments on how sweet and willing to work he is.

Mark was a sweetheart this whole time too. He worked on the kitchen, and the dining room. He stayed home with William and Oren, got Oren off to school both Thursday and Friday, and kept things running smoothly. Thank you honey!

5 comments:

Stephanie said...

I'm so glad that it all turned out well. I hope that the area in the back of the throat doesn't fall again, yikes! Good luck with all the recovery, and congratulations to Nathan for being such a brave boy! It sounds like he's doing a great job.

Give me a call if you want to chat. :-)

Melinda said...

Sounds like a real trooper! We're so glad that the second surgery went as well (or better). You're a great mom to keep up with all this and demand the best for your child. Way to go! I don't think I could keep Evie away from cold (frozen) peas for two weeks...mayby she'd be placated with icecream and yoguert, though. Have fun, and we can't wait to hear the full results after a little therapy and all!

Nicia said...

Wow! So glad things went well. I hope he is able to heal quickly!

Sarah said...

That's great that everything went so well. I hope the recovery is fast

Kathy and Dave Whittle said...

It's good to hear that things went okay with the surgery. Let's hope for a quick recovery! What a wonderful husband you have, too, helping out so much.