Let Me Out of These Things!

I had my palate repair surgery this Tuesday. Riley Children's Hospital called Mom and Dad on Monday and told them that I was scheduled for surgery at 10:00 AM on Tuesday. So, Mom packed my suitcase and we all tried to get some sleep.

This is a picture of Mom and me in the Day Surgery waiting room. A nurse stopped by and took my temperature, measured me, and weighed me. It was a little too early in the morning for all of that poking and prodding. This picture does not even come close to conveying my mood. I may have my Mom's good looks, but I definitely have my Dad's temper. I threw a full blown, screaming, kicking, red faced, tear filled tantrum.

After I got through that, I was as happy as a clam in my peach surgical jammies. The doctor gave me some sleeping medicine to knock me out a little or at least slow me down. I relaxed a little after that. But when it came time for the nurse to take me back to surgery, I still didn't want to go.

The surgery lasted for a little over two hours. Mom and Dad waited in the surgery waiting room.

Dad wore a sweatshirt with lots of letters on it - I think that Sesame Street was sponsored by the letter "J" recently.

The surgery went a little longer than Mom and Dad were expecting. But in the end, Doctor Havlik came out and told them that I was doing fine and would be in Recovery soon. Mom and Dad were absolutely relieved that surgery was over.

This part Dad is writing.

Jill and I thoroughly enjoy writing about our beautiful daughter and all of her exploits. We know that we are so very blessed that all of her challenges are temporary and correctable, and that we have such wonderfully supportive family and friends. As such we always try to put a light hearted touch on our frequent visits to Riley Children's Hospital and some of our day to day challenges.

However, there are no words to describe seeing our daughter in Recovery or the next day that we spent at Riley Children's. To say that our hearts were broken seems wholly inadequate. Even though we know it's not possible, it is our most fervent wish that no other parents have to see their child in such pain and feel so helpless to comfort them.

We cannot tell you how much strength and comfort we find in all of the thoughts and prayers from our family, friends, and even friends whom we have not yet met. We appreciate all of these powerful prayers, and hope you will continue to pray for us during this critical time in Macy's life.

This is me writing again.

After I left Recovery, I went to my room on Floor 2C. It is a 24 hour observation unit that kids stay in and go home the next day. This is a picture of my bed. I did not sleep one minute in it.

I didn't let Mom put me down for 24 straight hours.

Lots of things have changed for me since the surgery. First of all, I have a palate now. Using a Z pattern, Doctor Havlik over-lapped and stitched my palate together. As you can imagine, my mouth and throat are incredibly sore.

I have a lot of swelling and it is pretty hard for me to breathe when I sleep. I think if you heard me you would be pretty frightened that I wasn't able to breathe at all. I am just not used to having this size of airway and I obstruct a lot. I also have arm restraints that I have to wear a minimum of three weeks or longer. As you saw from the pictures of above they never come off - not even for baths. I am still teething and if I put my fingers in my mouth I could undo all of my surgical repairs.

I have another appointment with Doctor Havlik this coming Friday - and probably quite a few more after that. It will take about 6 or 8 weeks for the surgical repair to heal fully. After that, I guess we'll just have to wait and see what happens next.

In the meantime, I am going to watch some tv.

And after that, I will probably practice my ski jumping lean to get ready for this winter's season.

See you all next week!