Mia not yet awake in the recovery room - post op.
She is now awake playing her Leap Frog waiting for a room.
Finally in a room swollen and not quite with it yet. She is enjoying her balloon.Mia had what is called a Double Furlow Z-Plasty of her palate today. Surgery was scheduled for 7:30 this morning. We arrived at the hospital at 6 am. They took her back shortly after that. She was given happy medicine and then I put on the "bunny" suit and walked back to the OR with her. I was there with her until she fell asleep. I gave her a kiss and went back to wait.
Dr. Marcus at Duke University performed the surgery. I found out he is quite an advocate of adopting children with cleft lips and palates. He said he would be willing to talk with potential adoptive families concerning the issues related. He also has spent time working in the SMILE Train hospitals in China.
Surgery took just about 2 hours though she was under for about 3 hours. I was called back to the recovery and she had been given pain medicine. She was quite sleepy until about 2pm. She asked for medicine for pain 2 more times before we were sent to a regular room. Also in recovery she drank 4 oz. of water. The SLP was amazed. She didn't have any choking issues.
We are now settled into a regular room. Mia is being her active self after a hour of TV. We went for a walk and even stopped by to visit her new friend J. She was also adopted from China a week before Mia. The girls are both 5 and had the same surgery today. PTL both girls are doing wonderful. They spent some time watching PBS and coloring together. God has a way of putting people in our lives when we need them. J.'s mom and I traded e-mail so we can keep in touch.
When we arrived back to the room dinner had come. Mia was so hungry! She was so excited to see a Popsicle, jello, chicken soup, and more apple juice sitting on a tray for her. Mia has already drank 12 oz. of apple juice this afternoon. She ate almost all of it. I have also noticed that her swelling has gone down some now as well. It has been over 5 hours since she had her last dose of pain medicine and she told the nurse she didn't want anymore. I am thinking when she comes in again we will ask for oral Tylenol with codeine instead of the IV morphine. Her IV is really bothering her and she wants it out.
I don't think I mentioned that Dr. Marcus seemed pleased with the outcome. He said her soft palate had not ever been worked on before. He was able to attach the muscles and lengthen it quite a bit. We are hoping that this will improve her speech so that a P-flap won't be needed. Her voice is really low right now and sounds more slurred than before surgery. She is praying for a miracle and wants to be able to talk before she turns 6 years old. The SLP said it would be more likely a year before we see the full results from the surgery. She will have to learn to use these new muscles and will have many habits to break. Five years without these muscles, we need a miracle. Mia - mommy is praying right along with you!
Dr. Marcus at Duke University performed the surgery. I found out he is quite an advocate of adopting children with cleft lips and palates. He said he would be willing to talk with potential adoptive families concerning the issues related. He also has spent time working in the SMILE Train hospitals in China.
Surgery took just about 2 hours though she was under for about 3 hours. I was called back to the recovery and she had been given pain medicine. She was quite sleepy until about 2pm. She asked for medicine for pain 2 more times before we were sent to a regular room. Also in recovery she drank 4 oz. of water. The SLP was amazed. She didn't have any choking issues.
We are now settled into a regular room. Mia is being her active self after a hour of TV. We went for a walk and even stopped by to visit her new friend J. She was also adopted from China a week before Mia. The girls are both 5 and had the same surgery today. PTL both girls are doing wonderful. They spent some time watching PBS and coloring together. God has a way of putting people in our lives when we need them. J.'s mom and I traded e-mail so we can keep in touch.
When we arrived back to the room dinner had come. Mia was so hungry! She was so excited to see a Popsicle, jello, chicken soup, and more apple juice sitting on a tray for her. Mia has already drank 12 oz. of apple juice this afternoon. She ate almost all of it. I have also noticed that her swelling has gone down some now as well. It has been over 5 hours since she had her last dose of pain medicine and she told the nurse she didn't want anymore. I am thinking when she comes in again we will ask for oral Tylenol with codeine instead of the IV morphine. Her IV is really bothering her and she wants it out.
I don't think I mentioned that Dr. Marcus seemed pleased with the outcome. He said her soft palate had not ever been worked on before. He was able to attach the muscles and lengthen it quite a bit. We are hoping that this will improve her speech so that a P-flap won't be needed. Her voice is really low right now and sounds more slurred than before surgery. She is praying for a miracle and wants to be able to talk before she turns 6 years old. The SLP said it would be more likely a year before we see the full results from the surgery. She will have to learn to use these new muscles and will have many habits to break. Five years without these muscles, we need a miracle. Mia - mommy is praying right along with you!
