It has been a crazy busy time right now. First of all, we had her hearing tested, which was inconclusive due to the amount of fluid in her ears. Then we went to the family doctor to see if she had an ear infection. Also inconclusive due to the amount of wax, nonocclusive though. She did burst into tears upon seeing her doctor who, up to this point, has only given her needles... sorry kid! A week later, we return to the doctor for her flu shot! She got over it much quicker this time.
We also received her permanent resident card finally! Yeah!!!! Now, at any time before she is 18, we can apply for her citizenship!
We also had first hair cut, first snow fall, visit from Gramma Mary, and many other antics!
Then we did the big visit to the cleft palate clinic at the children's hospital here. We met some really nice parents of kids who have been attending the clinics for longer than us and have assured us that this really is the best clinic. They had to travel to other provinces for a few surgeries and were grateful that this hospital was their home base for everything. The team of employees we met were very, very nice and informative. It was a heck of a lot of information thrown at us in a few hours (still much longer than I had anticipated and Dania did wonderfully being trucked around from office to office and only getting cranky at the very end!). The cleft palate coordinator and head nurse met us first and went over standard protocol of who we would meet and who might be in our future. We didn't need to meet with their speech pathologist or pediatrician because we had prior appointments with them outside the clinic and nothing has changed. That probably saved us 2 hours of time! They talked about preparation and recovery procedures. A lot of prep had to do with weening kids off of bottles, soothers, sucky things that can pop the incisions - we are ahead of the game there! Then the recovery had to do with the possibility of bracing the arms so the kids can't get their fingers at the incisions, how to eat, and how to clean and care for the wounds properly. Then we were sent to the ear surgeon and met with him and his nurse. They looked in her ear, confirmed the presence of fluid still, and said that she probably always has a build up of it because it cannot drain properly. He showed us the tubes and how they would be inserted during the main operation. They will stay in for a year and we will reevaluate at that time, and after hearing testing post operation, if he needs to intervene further. There was a lot of post tube care that seems different from when I had tubes, but nothing drastic. She didn't mind him poking around in her ears and was very good. Overall, the big question of whether or not she has ever heard us correctly (due to constantly present fluid) has been raised. We may sound a whole lot clearer post surgery ie. M and B or G and K not sounding the same.
We then had to go back to the shared surgery section and be directed to the oral maxillofacial surgeon. He and his resident were so nice and gentle. She was cranky at this point, hungry and thirsty too, and she has never liked people poking in her mouth - I assume it is because she has always had that! My nose started gushing blood due to dryness and I got over a sink only to discover the tap didn't work. Mike had to find someone to show them so it could get cleaned up... well, that resulted in me being heavily questioned and I kept insisting it was just dry nose and I only wanted to ensure the blood got cleaned up! Afterward, we started playing a game with Dania. The crush-up-tissue-and-throw-it-out game while we waited and waited. When the surgeons came in it was actually pretty quick. They both looked in her mouth and she semi-cooperated. She didn't bit the mirror in half, at least! The main surgeon then drew up some diagrams for us and I now have an even better understanding of what will happen. He says he can do it all in one surgery since her jaw isn't too wide and he wants to get it done before she is 2. She turns two in two months and a week! I asked if this could happen in January. He seemed to imply that he just had plans change with a different client so there is a distinct possibility that that could happen (next month! holy smokes!) but if not, this winter for sure. Wow! Now I'm nervous! The procedure will be: we come in the day before for prep, go home and come in first thing the next morning with her having fasted. The actual surgery is 1.5-2 hours and, if all goes smoothly, 2 days in recovery. The first day with strictly IV food, the next day and the next 3 weeks will be soft food only. We will stay with her in a private room and decide if we need the arm braces. They look to be fun fabric covered bamboo place mats that tie around the elbow so kids cannot bend the hand to the mouth but can still use their arms for arm-length play.
Now, we wait for a call, probably next week, with the proposed date!
Wow! All of that, my play going on (3 more shows to perform as of this moment!), my last two weeks of my course, AND Christmas!
I'm tired hahaha. Now, hopefully, you can understand why I had almost a month gap in between blog entries! Sorry and thanks to those of you who still follow! xoxo
