January surgery

Today, we had the follow up appointment for Maddy's cleft palate. The team agreed that Maddy is now ready for surgery and we will proceed to schedule it for January after we get back from Australia. 

In the surgery, they will first be repairing Maddy's cleft palate and secondly they will be placing ear tubes to help dry out the middle ear. After this, they may or may not be able to perform the ABR hearing test while she is still under anesthesia.

There were a lot of questions that I forgot to ask - I need to learn to write them down before the appointment! I think I was more focussed on whether or not the surgery would be performed and when, rather than asking questions pertaining to the surgery itself. 

Any surgery for Maddy (or for any person with any form of dwarfism, for that matter) is more risky as the airways are often more narrow, and the overall structure is a bit different than doctors are used to. Maddy has never been intubated before, and that is my main concern with the surgery itself. For Maddy, that is probably the greatest risk... 

After surgery, the recovery may be difficult on us all. Maddy will need to be on a liquid/puree diet for a few weeks, which will be fun now that she is eating the same as the rest of us, and prefers to eat from my plate than her own! She probably won't be able to have a pacifier - which she currently cannot sleep without. And she will need to have her arms splinted so she can't put her hands, or anything else in her mouth. Although knowing Maddy's arms, I'm not sure how successfully they can be splinted - and even when they ARE splinted, I bet she could still get some stuff in her mouth regardless ;) 

We do not yet have a date scheduled - the hospital will be calling us to let us know when to come in. But please keep us in your thoughts and prayers over the next two months as we go ahead with this surgery. 

As a funny side-note, while we were waiting for our appointment, Maddy was scooting all over the room. She was the centre of attention - people were smiling at her, waving, clapping... One lady even got out her phone to start taking pictures of her.

Maddy was so attracted to the phone that she made a beeline for it, grabbed it and ran away ;) I think the lady was scared of taking it back and making Maddy cry, so Maddy just played with it for a good 10 minutes, taking lots of photos of her feet in the process ;)